Tennessee made a splash Sunday by hiring Marshall coach Kim Caldwell, marking a departure from the Woman Vols teaching line since Pat Summitt’s departure in 2012.
Caldwell’s introduction at a press convention on Tuesday, changing the lately fired Kellie Harper, who coached at her alma mater for 5 seasons, indicators a shift away from this system’s household ties.
Each Harper and her predecessor, Holly Warlick, had sturdy ties to the Woman Vols.
Caldwell, alternatively, brings a contemporary perspective, having revitalized Marshall’s struggling program in her solely season there.
Underneath her management, Marshall captured the Solar Belt championship, posted a report 26 wins and secured their first NCAA match berth since 1997.
Earlier than her tenure at Marshall, Caldwell loved a profitable seven-season stint at her alma mater, Division II Glenville State.
In 2022, she led the staff to victory within the Division II nationwide championship, which earned her the distinguished Pat Summitt Trophy as WBCA NCAA Division II Nationwide Coach of the 12 months.
“From the start, our purpose has been to discover a dynamic head coach who can return our girls’s basketball program to nationwide prominence. Kim Caldwell is the best particular person to steer us,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White mentioned in an announcement.
“Kim has a profitable formulation that she has efficiently applied in every single place she has coached, with a quick, highly effective offense and urgent protection that has led to exceptional outcomes.
On this new period of school sports activities, it was essential that we discover an revolutionary head coach with a robust monitor report of profitable titles.
We’re wanting to return the Woman Vols to championship ranges and we’re assured that Kim Caldwell is the coach who can lead us again to the highest.”
Though Harper had a big Division I teaching background earlier than becoming a member of Tennessee, Caldwell’s expertise at that stage consists of only one season.
Nevertheless, her revolutionary offensive and defensive methods caught the eye of Tennessee’s athletic director, particularly because the staff appears to regain floor within the aggressive SEC panorama in opposition to powerhouses like South Carolina and LSU.
Caldwell takes on the function of Tennessee’s fourth head coach within the NCAA period and is below immense stress to uphold Summitt’s normal.
Regardless of Summitt’s exceptional legacy of eight nationwide championships in 38 seasons, Tennessee has faltered in recent times and has not superior past the Elite Eight since 2008.
Caldwell’s teaching report speaks for itself, with a powerful 217-31 whole over eight seasons. Her success consists of securing eight NCAA berths in two divisions and capturing seven convention championships.
Marshall, initially projected to complete ninth within the preseason Solar Belt media ballot, defied expectations below Caldwell’s management.
The staff achieved exceptional statistics, averaging 85.3 factors per recreation (fourth nationally) and 24.2 turnovers per recreation (second nationally), marking their first 20-win common season since 1990–91 marked.
“I’m honored and humbled to just accept the function as head coach of this historic program on the College of Tennessee,” Caldwell mentioned in an announcement.
“I can not assist however mirror on accepting the Pat Summitt Trophy three seasons in the past and be moved by the nice accountability and alternative to now lead and construct on the unbelievable Woman Vol custom they has constructed. I am so excited to get began and may’t wait to see what we are able to obtain collectively.”
