The Kim Caldwell System

[Volstylexx]

I’ve seen this so many times in the last few days. All they’ve done with the roster reset is set the floor for “she needs a 4th year.”

Danny better pray football goes well this season.

 

[Cb153181]

I’ve seen this so many times in the last few days. All they’ve done with the roster reset is set the floor for “she needs a 4th year.”

Danny better pray football goes well this season.

A 4th year if she does bad

 

[chuckiepoo]

I think Kim's system should be judged by her first year. It's obvious that last year's team never bought into playing it correctly. It doesn't matter whether that bc of Kim, the players or the assistant coaches.

1. In year one, Our offensive efficiency improved from 25th in the nation(Kellies last year) to 3rd in the nation.
2 Our 3 point % was the highest since 2018.
3. Even last year we were just 1-2 3's made from being a top 3 3 point team % in the SEC.
4. Shooting fast helps our offensive rebounding. The defensive team always has the advantage but playing fast gets them out of possession. We had over 100 more offensive rebounds per game in 2024 than in 2023.
5. I hate teaching people to bos out right away. Go to where the ball is going to bounce and rebound once you get there.
6. We want to do everything fast bc in theory it should make the other team play faster than they want and cause them to more mistakes
7. The press only works if everyone is 100% bought in bc being out of position leads to wide ope layups.

There main questions about this team is:

1. Can you get buy in from all the players?
2.Can you get elite enough talent to compete for championships
3. Will the press work against elite teams?

I look for ward to this season. Go Lady Vols!

Thought you were looking for Ward for a second…

 

[volsagain]

I think that is the most frustrating part for me. If I thought she was willing to make a few small tweaks in the offseason, I could say okay so she sees some things that need to be fixed. Her doubling down on it totally deflated my belief in her though.

In any case, she will be the coach next year. It is what it is at this point, and nothing we say on here will change what’s going to happen. I will support the new players and hope they are given more grace than any of our former players were given.

As long as I see effort and hustle no matter the score I will see it as a positive. Don't want to see anyone arguing with coaches or waving them away. She seems to have gotten a couple of good shooters but still a ways to go to get a competitive team. But some tweaks have to be made for me to believe she will be successful.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Athleticism and conditioning are also core components necessary for a system like this to succeed.

This is a concern moving forward. Conditioning was an issue at the end of year one and didn’t seem to improve in year two, although adjustments were made.

 

[spojo13]

As long as I see effort and hustle no matter the score I will see it as a positive. Don't want to see anyone arguing with coaches or waving them away. She seems to have gotten a couple of good shooters but still a ways to go to get a competitive team. But some tweaks have to be made for me to believe she will be successful.

Yes and wins, I just want to see them win again,

 

[KB5252]

That's the only positive to come from this mess. She has zero, and I mean ZERO reasons to deflect blame next season. No more "snake" assistant coaches to blame. No more "undertalented 5 star all americans" to point the finger at. She may have been Teflon Kimmie this year (nothing bad stuck to her) but there will be noone left to point at next year than her.

Funny because for your pointedly negative framing of here last season was the one she had the least influence, with the timing of her pregnancy/birth.

She was just fine the season before and by most accounts overachieved.

 

[Volstylexx]

Funny because for your pointedly negative framing of here last season was the one she had the least influence, with the timing of her pregnancy/birth.

She was just fine the season before and by most accounts overachieved.

Oh I forgot that one too. That became a very popular point on social media. Between the snake assistants, untalented 5 stars, and the baby… the poor thing had the whole decked stacked against her. At least she is now free!

 

[VolFan_stuck_in_the_901]

I’ve seen this so many times in the last few days. All they’ve done with the roster reset is set the floor for “she needs a 4th year.”

Danny better pray football goes well this season.

And then they'll find a reason to say "she needs a 5th year" after year 3 I don't think she'll get year 4, though. I still think this next year will be an absolute car crash; we'll miss the NCAA tournament, and I don't think it will be particularly close. The noise around her will get even louder and ADDW won't have a choice but to pull the plug

 

[volfan102455]

You can criticize her for what she has done at Tennessee but what she did at Marshall and Glenville state was amazing. She led Marshall to its first ever NCAA tourney since 1996. Won the only conference championship since 1988. At Glenville State, she won the conference 6 out of 7 years including a National Championship and a final four. She is the best coach either of those two schools have ever had.

Glenville state is NOT the SEC. Stop pretending it was. And Marshall's play in the NCAA was a warning.

That is not to take away from what she did there - but success at one level does not imply success at the next level. We have seen that in every college sport there is. It is not a given.

Her mistake is trying to push a style that does not seem to work at this level. If she wants a long-term career in D1, she needs to show that she is more than just a coach with a gimmick.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Personally, I just don’t know. It seems likely that there was some discord, but I'll leave creative writing to others.

Seeking center, myself. Patient to check out the roster build out. Gabby, Avery and Naomi appear to yo be a great start. They need to continue to collect and forge their weapons.

 

[volfan102455]

And then they'll find a reason to say "she needs a 5th year" after year 3 I don't think she'll get year 4, though. I still think this next year will be an absolute car crash; we'll miss the NCAA tournament, and I don't think it will be particularly close. The noise around her will get even louder and ADDW won't have a choice but to pull the plug

Yes, they have been sitting up the excuses. So much that it may take a year where we lose a lot more than we win to combat the excuses and unfounded rumors that are circulating,

 

[RespectAPA]

This is a concern moving forward. Conditioning was an issue at the end of year one and didn’t seem to improve in year two, although adjustments were made.

And our director of performance is still the same former Glenville State staff member going into year 3. Oh well.

Even if her in-game system is legit, if the off-the-court S&C is D2 tier, that's going to hold you back no matter who you get -- the subbing is just a bandaid on a systematic issue at that point.

Both our exhibition games, year 1 and year 2, the team had that dawg in them. Just wonder if they aren't getting the right kind of conditioning to sustain that, and just keep on peaking in November-December year after year? Ugh.

 

[JL1231]

Oh I forgot that one too. That became a very popular point on social media. Between the snake assistants, untalented 5 stars, and the baby… the poor thing had the whole decked stacked against her. At least she is now free!

The highest ranked of that talented 5-Star Freshman class is in the portal. SC and Texas are both losing their PG's. What are they waiting on ???

 

[volfan102455]

This is a concern moving forward. Conditioning was an issue at the end of year one and didn’t seem to improve in year two, although adjustments were made.

The LV's were the team that were worn down in every game.

 

[lvocd]

glv98, I distinctly remember Kim saying, more than once, that players will have to unlearn to relearn, and also that it takes a lot of time to learn the system. She said multiple times to expect losses and sloppy looking play until they learn it, and she also has said at least a couple of times that it is typical for her players to hate her for half the season when they are running their butts off and losing games, but that eventually, after they learn the system and they start clicking and winning, they'll love her.

You're not crazy. Well, if you are then I am, too.

 

[chuckiepoo]

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/utsports.com/stats/wbball/2025/pdf/cume.pdf

 

[glv98]

And our director of performance is still the same former Glenville State staff member going into year 3. Oh well.

Even if her in-game system is legit, if the off-the-court S&C is D2 tier, that's going to hold you back no matter who you get -- the subbing is just a bandaid on a systematic issue at that point.

Both our exhibition games, year 1 and year 2, the team had that dawg in them. Just wonder if they aren't getting the right kind of conditioning to sustain that, and just keep on peaking in November-December year after year? Ugh.

I've wondered if what we thought was laziness and quitting last year was sometimes really exhaustion. And this is yet another drawback of the system and another reason more people don't use it- it takes very special training and conditioning that can be hard to tweak.

glv98, I distinctly remember Kim saying, more than once, that players will have to unlearn to relearn, and also that it takes a lot of time to learn the system. She said multiple times to expect losses and sloppy looking play until they learn it, and she also has said at least a couple of times that it is typical for her players to hate her for half the season when they are running their butts off and losing games, but that eventually, after they learn the system and they start clicking and winning, they'll love her.

You're not crazy. Well, if you are then I am, too.

Thank you! The term gaslighting is almost comically overused these days, but I felt positively gaslit in that exchange. It was odd.

 

[Clevervol]

Glenville state is NOT the SEC. Stop pretending it was. And Marshall's play in the NCAA was a warning.

That is not to take away from what she did there - but success at one level does not imply success at the next level. We have seen that in every college sport there is. It is not a given.

Her mistake is trying to push a style that does not seem to work at this level. If she wants a long-term career in D1, she needs to show that she is more than just a coach with a gimmick.

Several successful coaches come from D2. Winning is hard at any level. You can’t discredit an .800 winning percentage regardless of level.

 

[Max Roguespierre]

I've wondered if what we thought was laziness and quitting last year was sometimes really exhaustion. And this is yet another drawback of the system and another reason more people don't use it- it takes very special training and conditioning that can be hard to tweak.

When the exodus of the Lady Vols' entire roster with eligibility is combined with Tennessee's late season collapse, it's not hard to surmise the Kim Caldwell lost her team over the back end of the 2025-26 season. Even more than conditioning, player buy in is the most important element to the success of systemic pressure over the course of a full season. The effects of exhaustion and poor conditioning can be lessened through frequent substitutions but little can be done to address lack of belief and commitment.

Kim Caldwell will have an entirely new team heading into the 2026-27 season. The positive aspect of this is that she will be able to forge relationships with her players and mold her team unburdened by the end of the season collapse and interpersonal baggage. As I see it, the primary challenge will be building a cohesive team from athletes who have never taken the floor together in a competitive game. A summer trip (if one is in the works) could help build some team chemistry along with team unity and camaraderie. Either way, some level of early season struggles (especially once the SEC slate begins) are almost certainly a given.

I will say one thing, regardless of the level of talent that coach Caldwell is able to attract to Rocky Top, if she can coach Tennessee to a winning record in the SEC and get the Lady Vols into the NCAA Tournament she will deserve coach of the year consideration.

 

[glv98]

I will say one thing, regardless of the level of talent that coach Caldwell is able to attract to Rocky Top, if she can coach Tennessee to a winning record in the SEC and get the Lady Vols into the NCAA Tournament she will deserve coach of the year consideration.

Wow. The arsonist getting credit for putting out the fire. But you know what, that's probably exactly what's going to happen

 

[spojo13]

Wow. The arsonist getting credit for putting out the fire. But you know what, that's probably exactly what's going to happen

Well honestly since Kim hasn’t had a winning record in the SEC yet, that would be considered progress.

 

[KB5252]

Oh I forgot that one too. That became a very popular point on social media. Between the snake assistants, untalented 5 stars, and the baby… the poor thing had the whole decked stacked against her. At least she is now free!

It's almost like you're actively cheering for her to fail. The program will be much better off when a certain segment of the fan base is gone.

 

[Max Roguespierre]

Wow. The arsonist getting credit for putting out the fire. But you know what, that's probably exactly what's going to happen

Well, it may not be likely but there is a nonzero chance of Caldwell pulling it off. Suffice to say, there is little doubt that recency bias is very real in how a fan base evaluates of coaches.

 

[VintageFan]

When the exodus of the Lady Vols' entire roster with eligibility is combined with Tennessee's late season collapse, it's not hard to surmise the Kim Caldwell lost her team over the back end of the 2025-26 season. Even more than conditioning, player buy in is the most important element to the success of systemic pressure over the course of a full season. The effects of exhaustion and poor conditioning can be lessened through frequent substitutions but little can be done to address lack of belief and commitment.

Kim Caldwell will have an entirely new team heading into the 2026-27 season. The positive aspect of this is that she will be able to forge relationships with her players and mold her team unburdened by the end of the season collapse and interpersonal baggage. As I see it, the primary challenge will be building a cohesive team from athletes who have never taken the floor together in a competitive game. A summer trip (if one is in the works) could help build some team chemistry along with team unity and camaraderie. Either way, some level of early season struggles (especially once the SEC slate begins) are almost certainly a given.

I will say one thing, regardless of the level of talent that coach Caldwell is able to attract to Rocky Top, if she can coach Tennessee to a winning record in the SEC and get the Lady Vols into the NCAA Tournament she will deserve coach of the year consideration.

So all she'd have to do is win one more SEC game than last year and get anther 10 seed in the Tourney and she'd deserve COY? I think she'll have to do a lot better than that just to keep her job.