With the inexperienced coach in charge of resurrecting the ancient program as a title contender, Kim Caldwell and the Tennessee Lady Vols are making a very significant jump together.
And fast as well.
In her eight years as a Division I head coach, Caldwell has only coached one game. She will be operating in the shadow of the late Pat Summitt, whose eight national championship banners hang in the rafters. When Caldwell was introduced on Tuesday, he talked about how Summitt transformed women’s basketball.
“I am not going to be Pat Summitt,” Caldwell declared. “It’s impossible for anyone to be someone she would be proud of, but I will try every day.”
Shortly before the women’s national championship game on Sunday, Tennessee announced the hiring of the fourth Lady Vols coach in fifty years. Danny White, the athletic director, stated that during the week-long search, Caldwell stood out in her interview.
“This legendary program needs to be restored to where it belongs, and we have a very competitive new coach who wasn’t afraid of the challenge,” White stated.
Caldwell will have to exude confidence beyond measure. She is switching conferences, going from the Sun Belt to the Southeastern, which has produced the last three national champions.
Additionally, she is the first non-Tennessean coach of the Lady Vols since Summitt took over in 1974 at the age of 22. In her illustrious career, Summitt went 1,098-208, and her Lady Vols placed fifth nationally five times.
Caldwell replaces Kellie Harper, who won three titles playing for Summitt in the 1990s only to be fired April 1 after going 108-52 in five seasons. Her predecessor, another Lady Vols former player in Holly Warlick, took Tennessee to three Elite Eights — a place last reached in 2016.
