Duke’s Joanne P. McCallie resigns

[domerduck]

In a similar vein, I'm still thinking this replacement job is Kevin White's gig. He's gotta make a good hire, with North Carolina (Banghart), ND (Ivey) and BC (Bernabei-McNamee) all having stellar young coaches on board.

I am surprised you are not that high on Beth as a Head Coach again as you compare to those 3. Her age at 45 is similar to Banghart (42), B-M (45), and Niele 42. Beth is as much a proven winner as Niele (who had no head coaching experience) and to me more than either Banghart or B-M who neither got their teams as a HC to the 3rd round of any post season tourney while Beth got VCU to the 3rd round of the WNIT the year before she left to ND. Her last 5 years at VCU all had at least 19 wins and neither Banghart/B-M has a NC or 5 Final 4's on her resume as an assistant like Beth. She certainly did well when she was a head coach at VCU and if she wants it she would be a good get.

 

[newfrontier]

Bizarre timing, a midsummer resignation. There was no way she was getting an extension.

More like a midsummer night's dream.

 

[southie]

More like a midsummer night's dream.

Some would call it the twilight zone . . .

 

[WestsideWaltz]

Caldwell doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I really do think she could be successful at the right school.

She recruited well at UCLA and she always has LSU playing above their talent level. She just hasn’t gotten the talent to join her at LSU. Doesn’t matter now, but I think if she had gotten the Tenn job over Holly—we would already be “back”. (FWIW I like Kellie and am happy with her so far, but I don’t think we would’ve been in this hole with the right hire after Pat.)

Could see Langley being a big candidate for Duke. Wonder if Jolette Law would want another go at being a head coach. Also bet Joy Cheek will be in play.

Caldwell recruited dismally at UCLA. With the exception of Markel Walker, she signed a bunch of unranked combo forwards who couldn't shoot. Had Jasmine Dixon not transferred in, there's a good chance the LSU offer would not have come. I think she's a strong Xs and Os coach but I think the place she could do best would be either the WNBA or in the commentators booth.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

I didn't keep track of Duke in the last few years but it does seem as if Coach P mellowed a bit. I thought maybe she had her meds adjusted. Seriously. At any rate, Odom went through four high schools in four years in California yet stuck out her entire career with Duke and Coach P. so that was a surprise to me.

 

[tnvolfan65]

Caldwell recruited dismally at UCLA. With the exception of Markel Walker, she signed a bunch of unranked combo forwards who couldn't shoot. Had Jasmine Dixon not transferred in, there's a good chance the LSU offer would not have come. I think she's a strong Xs and Os coach but I think the place she could do best would be either the WNBA or in the commentators booth.

She wasn’t there long, but the Dixon xfer was big and she had the number 3 class in the country in 2011 before leaving for LSU. Didn’t follow them after she left, and I believe the class fell apart but I wouldn’t say that’s dismal.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

She wasn’t there long, but the Dixon xfer was big and she had the number 3 class in the country in 2011 before leaving for LSU. Didn’t follow them after she left, and I believe the class fell apart but I wouldn’t say that’s dismal.

Her classes:

2009
#4 Markel Walker
UR Mariah Williams

2010
UR Rhema Gardner
UR Thea Lemberger
UR Corrine Costa

2011

#25 Kacy Swain
#26 Sheila Boykin
UR Moriah Faulk

Williams and Lemberger were both points but not Div 1 starters, although Lemberger would eventually acquit herself well. That left UCLA without a strong starting point. They were also consistently losing the recruiting battle to USC with players like Crook Williams, Cassie Herberts and Southall.

 

[Coler]

Bring Gail back!!!

 

[Go/huskies]

Raegan Pebley is still a bit of an unknown, but she has TCU headed in the right direction, Duke should give her a look.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Caldwell recruited dismally at UCLA. With the exception of Markel Walker, she signed a bunch of unranked combo forwards who couldn't shoot. Had Jasmine Dixon not transferred in, there's a good chance the LSU offer would not have come. I think she's a strong Xs and Os coach but I think the place she could do best would be either the WNBA or in the commentators booth.

bingo. Although she is so concerned with building a team around defense, she doesn’t recruit enough pure shooters to execute at a high level offensively. Which is why she will never go far or anywhere in the NCAAT

when she took over at LSU, van left quite a few top 100 recruits on roster. That was when we had most our success. As soon as it was all her players, we either didn’t make the NCAAT or we get bounced first round

 

[DefenseBB]

I have an audio tape of the call between AD White and JPM so here's my translation for my fellow WCBB Brethren:
White: "Hello, AD White here, I think I have seen this phone number before but I don't have it in my contact list who is this?"
JPM: "It's Coach McCallie and well, I wanted to talk to you about my contract"
White: "What about your contract? I see in my records, you have one year left on it at $1.1 Million per year"
JPM: "Yeah but I will be a lame duck as a coach and given all that I have done for Duke, I think I am owed an extension so that we show support for the program"
White: "You know coach, with this pandemic going on and it would not be fiscally responsible for me to enter into negotiations or announce a new contract when you are already under contract and we are not even sure of when or if college athletics will be allowed to resume".
JPM: "No, seriously, we need to talk about an an extension so that we each show faith in the program and in support of the great program I have built here".
White: (crickets, no sound but mild breathing)
JPM: "No, seriously, I think we need to talk about this or I am going to resign!"
White: "Ok Great, your resigning, got it, thanks for the call...soooo DO YOU want to call the press release on your resignation or do you want me to hold a video conference call announcing our search is starting a year earlier than I expected?"
JPM: "No really, I am going to announce I am resigning...I am going to count to 3, 1....2....3...?
White: (again, crickets, no sound but mild breathing)...


BTW please tell @triaddukefan and @CamrnCrz1974 to be responsible and wear the mask while staying as socially responsible as they can at the bars tonight!

 

[eebmg]

So to be clear, I guess resignation means she forfeited her last year's 1.1 million?

Why did she not stay for the final year and get the money or force Duke to fire with some buyout activated?

 

[j66kicker]

So to be clear, I guess resignation means she forfeited her last year's 1.1 million?

Why did she not stay for the final year and get the money or force Duke to fire with some buyout activated?

She said she opted "to forgo the majority of my final year of compensation to support my staff during this incredibly challenging and transitional time overall."

Um... Right!!

McCallie exits as Duke's women's hoops coach

Joanne P. McCallie, who led the Duke women's basketball team to a 330-107 record in her 13 seasons and was a three-time ACC Coach of the Year, will not be returning, she said.

www.espn.com

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

While I might have done a dance while singing "Hava Nagila" earlier (before texting @EricLA , @ucbart , and others), two things that really struck me about Joanne P. McCallie's statements in the video upon my second viewing:

1. She appeared to infer that because Duke did not offer her a contract extension (and she was, in fact, told by Duke that she would not be receiving one now or at the end of the contract), Duke was responsible for the uncertainty that would follow a coach in her last year of the contract.
2. She stated that because of the pandemic, the 2019-20 team “has not been fully recognized for the record-setting crescendo to the season.”

These two statements encapsulate a number of my thoughts and opinions about McCallie and her tenure at Duke.

• Not taking responsibility for her actions and failing to acknowledge that certain events are the results of HER conduct/behavior; and
• Attempting to glorify mediocrity and insist on praise for “not bad” achievements by referencing them as somehow historic

 

[EricLA]

While I might have done a dance while singing "Hava Nagila" earlier (before texting @EricLA , @ucbart , and others), two things that really struck me about Joanne P. McCallie's statements in the video upon my second viewing:

• Not taking responsibility for her actions and failing to acknowledge that certain events are the results of HER conduct/behavior; and
• Attempting to glorify mediocrity and insist on praise for “not bad” achievements by referencing them as somehow historic

Excellent post. I especially wanted to highlight the part of your post I bolded. For your first observation, I recall her constantly blaming poor results on injuries, or other things that were "beyond her control". She was never able to play the hand she was dealt without a bunch of excuses.

But I really liked the second part of your thoughts - I do have to admit - the team REALLY surprised me the lats month or so of the season - they really came on gangbusters. perhaps it was in part due to playing more man to man instead of 100% zone defense, or perhaps it was a combo of many other things.

The only thing I really will miss about her (actually 3 things).

1. Her continued insistence on referring to opposing players by their numbers, not their names. I don't know how many other coaches do that, but I found it annoying and really did not understand the purpose of it (or maybe I did and just found it silly)
2. After almost EVERY loss, there were always comments about "lessons learned". You would think after 13 or so years at Duke, she would shelve that tired old phrase
3. Her constantly referring to herself as "Coach P". Never understood the Joanne P McCallie whenever someone used her name, or why she insisted on being called Coach P. I'm sure there is a reason, I don't really care. It was dumb.

By the way Barry, I found a picture of you doing the Hava Nagila. Which one are you?!

 

[triaddukefan]

BTW please tell @triaddukefan and @CamrnCrz1974 to be responsible and wear the mask while staying as socially responsible as they can at the bars tonight!

Well the bars are closed here in NC.... and the earliest they can open is July 17th ..... but I did have a big smile on my face this evening while I cut the backyard.

While I might have done a dance while singing "Hava Nagila" earlier (before texting @EricLA , @ucbart , and others), two things that really struck me about Joanne P. McCallie's statements in the video upon my second viewing:

I actually haven't seen the video yet. At this point think imma wait til I have something cold and refreshing to drink before I watch it

 

[Plebe]

1. She appeared to infer that because Duke did not offer her a contract extension (and she was, in fact, told by Duke that she would not be receiving one now or at the end of the contract), Duke was responsible for the uncertainty that would follow a coach in her last year of the contract.
2. She stated that because of the pandemic, the 2019-20 team “has not been fully recognized for the record-setting crescendo to the season.”

The phrase "record-setting crescendo" is a first-time collocation to my ears. Not exactly sure how the "crescendo" gets measured for proper recordkeeping, but maybe she can elaborate on that in her retirement.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Raegan Pebley is still a bit of an unknown, but she has TCU headed in the right direction, Duke should give her a look.

I have always liked her and think she is a good coach. But she played at Colorado, and I think started the program at a school in Idaho? before heading to TCU. So I'm not sure she is east coast likely.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

1. Her constantly referring to herself as "Coach P". Never understood the Joanne P McCallie whenever someone used her name, or why she insisted on being called Coach P. I'm sure there is a reason, I don't really care. It was dumb.

Yeah, a bit weird. I mean, she was Coach P (Palumbo) back when she was at Maine, but once she got married, you would have thought . . . Or, if she liked it so much, she could have kept her maiden name, as many coaches do. Gail, actually, was married when she was at Duke.

Then again, over the years some don't understand the "C Vivian Stringer", either. She even went along with folks who said it stood for coach, actually, its just her first initial, Vivian is her middle name.

 

[triaddukefan]

The phrase "record-setting crescendo" is a first-time collocation to my ears. Not exactly sure how the "crescendo" gets measured for proper recordkeeping, but maybe she can elaborate on that in her retirement.

Unfortunately I was there for the end of that crescendo

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I guess declining to renew or extend a contract is slightly different from firing, but I've been pretty surprised at the level of expectation shown by Texas and Duke this year.

I guess both coaches made a lot of money and were not delivering titles, but difficult to say they weren't consistent winners.

 

[DEpup]

From a Duke AD point of view, with the season still in question due to COVID and their budgets really tight the best fiscal decision is to name an interim HC from the existing staff. Then see how the season plays out and take the time to do a thorough search unless they've quietly been searching for a while and have their choice and just haven't told the public yet....

For instance, who really knows if say Beth Cunningham was chosen a couple months ago and Duke has made her keep it quiet while they dealt with JPM. I'm sure it cost Duke less contract wise for JPM to quit versus being fired so Duke could have been increasingly making JPM's work life more challenging.... this is business.... Another example, it appears TX had made a deal with Vic loooonngg before Aston and the public knew.

 

[TheFarmFan]

The phrase "record-setting crescendo" is a first-time collocation to my ears. Not exactly sure how the "crescendo" gets measured for proper recordkeeping, but maybe she can elaborate on that in her retirement.

I love this collocation and will add it to the verbal repertoire going forward. It and Dawn's Mythical National Championship are two of the (very few) good things to come out of this wretched off-non-season.

 

[domerduck]

The 10 candidates ESPN suggests-Gail tops their list:

How Duke women's basketball can replace coach Joanne P. McCallie

One of the biggest coaching jobs in women's basketball is open, and the Duke vacancy will draw enormous interest. Here are 10 of the top candidates.

www.espn.com

 

[Dooooooomed]

Big loss. Won't do any better.