Harper new Tenn coach?! | The Boneyard

Harper new Tenn coach?!

Meh.....underwhelmed. She was the safe choice. Has the player legacy from the Holdsclaw era but IMO her coaching stats are underwhelming. Her run to the Sweet 16 this year definitely raised her profile again and helped her to land the Tenn job.
 
From what Ive heard it was between Harper and Waltz. Parker is out. Waltz would be to expensive. It is my understanding that Tenn would have to buy out Holly for around $700,000 and Waltz and then pay Waltz. Just looking ahead I think Waltz is already a good recruiter and has built a great program at LVille but I just think its to much money that Tenn wouldnt want to spend. Kellie imo will be offered.
 
Tonyc said:
From what Ive heard it was between Harper and Waltz. Parker is out. Waltz would be to expensive. It is my understanding that Tenn would have to buy out Holly for around $700,000 and Waltz and then pay Waltz. Just looking ahead I think Waltz is already a good recruiter and has built a great program at LVille but I just think its to much money that Tenn wouldnt want to spend. Kellie imo will be offered.
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I've never been able to understand what the attraction would have been for Walz? He's already a #1 seed coach at Louisville, a school that's as well known, if not more so, in many ways than Tennessee. What is the upside for him to go to a failing program with personality problems at which he will always be beneath the stature of Summitt? Will he get paid more? Unlikely. It's not as if he's going from, say, Marist to UT. Or from UC-Santa Barbara to UT? And to move to UT would have earned him the enmity of yet another school and the recruits he left behind.

What would be the point?

For Kelly, on the other hand, you're going from the backwoods to, well, the backwoods with a great WCBB tradition. The money has to be far better, and you come in with recruits desperate for a leader. And you played there.

That would make sense. Indeed, the day that HW was fired, one of the talking heads on ESPN pointed immediately to Kelly. So I wouldn't be surprised if the AD at UT had had quiet conversations with Kelly well before he pulled the trigger on HW.
 
It certainly looks like KJH has the job at TN. While she checks off several boxes (woman & played for Pat), the reaction from LV fans has been mixed at best. Obviously, she lead a surprising MO St team to the Sweet 16 this season, but had previously been fired at NC St.

LV fans always had an unrealistic expectation that they could land a big name coach like Walz or even Mulkey if the AD wrote a big enough check. Such foolishness has lead to their disappointment with the hiring of a solid coach, with ties to TN that has paid her dues.
 
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As a whole, Vol Nation is pleased.....As in all group of people with opinions, some will be pleased, while others will be disappointed.....Thus is the nature of mankind....
 
Big Shoulders said:
As a whole, Vol Nation is pleased.....As in all group of people with opinions, some will be pleased, while others will be disappointed.....Thus is the nature of mankind....
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That may be a stretch. I think the general consensus of VN is to give the new coach the benefit of the doubt. It’s more of a wait and see attitude. There is certainly an expectation of a quick turnaround on the court.
 
Big Shoulders said:
As a whole, Vol Nation is pleased.....As in all group of people with opinions, some will be pleased, while others will be disappointed.....Thus is the nature of mankind....
Expand ...

So true, even if it was Waltz (or any other high profile name), there would have been some not agree with the selection.
 
The on court coaching will be improved. Over time it will be a question of how she recruits. The fan base won't give her too much time to make her mark given their frustrations over the past three or four seasons.
 
I'm of two minds:

On the one hand, given that the Tennessee AD was reported to have a pretty limited budget, I think she ticks all the necessary boxes: former Summitt player, ties to the program, female, solid coaching experience.

On the other hand, I was not impressed with her on-court coaching versus Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen, and I was surprised how much it seemed like her husband was taking the lead in making in-game decisions. During the game, before I knew he was her husband, there were one or two times the camera panned to the Miz St. bench and I was thinking, "who's this guy, and why is he in charge?"

I am probably biased because I mostly follow the most experienced, most basketball-literate coaches (Geno, Tara, MM, Mulkey, Rueck, Walz, etc.), and it's an admittedly limited sample size, but I have not been impressed by her in the several interviews I've watched. Her comments all seem kind of superficial and not very revealing in terms of X's and O's. I also can't help but shake how weird it is that her husband is her assistant coach. Doesn't that create bad conflicts of interest? Wouldn't that inherently create odd dynamics among the assistant coaches and players? Can't she find someone in the whole wide world other than her husband to be her assistant?

I'll say this: I could be wrong, but I don't think either Huskies or Cardinal fans should be worried that UT is about to nudge their way back into the running for national championships. But hey, what do I know, I'm just a fan.
 
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Big Shoulders said:
As a whole, Vol Nation is pleased.....As in all group of people with opinions, some will be pleased, while others will be disappointed.....Thus is the nature of mankind....
Expand ...

I was just visiting Volnation. As a whole, good ole Vol Nation is split apart. I'd say the split is 50 - 50 at best. If I really counted, I think the anti KJH are in the lead.

Too many have an inflated view of their program and unrealistic expectations. If they really thought that the coaches whose names were out there would leave a program they built for a bigger pay day - well, not much can be said.
 
TheFarmFan said:
I'm of two minds:

On the one hand, given that the Tennessee AD was reported to have a pretty limited budget, I think she ticks all the necessary boxes: former Summitt player, ties to the program, female, solid coaching experience.

On the other hand, I was not impressed with her on-court coaching versus Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen, and I was surprised how much it seemed like her husband was taking the lead in making in-game decisions. During the game, before I knew he was her husband, there were one or two times the camera panned to the Miz St. bench and I was thinking, "who's this guy, and why is he in charge?"

I am probably biased because I mostly follow the most experienced, most basketball-literate coaches (Geno, Tara, MM, Mulkey, Rueck, Walz, etc.), and it's an admittedly limited sample size, but I have not been impressed by her in the several interviews I've watched. Her comments all seem kind of superficial and not very revealing in terms of X's and O's. I also can't help but shake how weird it is that her husband is her assistant coach. Doesn't that create bad conflicts of interest? Wouldn't that inherently create odd dynamics among the assistant coaches and players? Can't she find someone in the whole wide world other than her husband to be her assistant?

I'll say this: I could be wrong, but I don't think either Huskies or Cardinal fans should be worried that UT is about to nudge their way back into the running for national championships. But hey, what do I know, I'm just a fan.
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I guess the real test will be after TN loses their 1st game under KJH. At the press conference if she hangs her head, throws her team under the bus and says something like, “We’ve just got to play harder,” LV fans will know they hired the wrong person.
 
Last edited:
The future of the Lady Vols hire will be determined on the basketball court, not in message boards...Let it be written, let it be so.

I don't know how the hiring of Coach Auriemmia was met on the Boneyard, but I'm fairly certain he had his skeptics too...He certainly has lived up to those that championed his arrival, and has brought glory to your program.....

You guys are first class....
Much respect.
 
Big Shoulders said:
The future of the Lady Vols hire will be determined on the basketball court, not in message boards...Let it be written, let it be so.

I don't know how the hiring of Coach Auriemmia was met on the Boneyard, but I'm fairly certain he had his skeptics too...He certainly has lived up to those that championed his arrival, and has brought glory to your program.....

You guys are first class....
Much respect.
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The difference is that when Geno was hired, nobody much cared about UConn WBB. I don’t think the BY even existed at the time. That’s not the case at TN.
 
Big Shoulders said:
The future of the Lady Vols hire will be determined on the basketball court, not in message boards...Let it be written, let it be so.

I don't know how the hiring of Coach Auriemmia was met on the Boneyard, but I'm fairly certain he had his skeptics too...He certainly has lived up to those that championed his arrival, and has brought glory to your program.....

You guys are first class....
Much respect.
Expand ...

Geno was hired in 1985. The World Wide web went public in Aug 1991. No BY.
 
oldude said:
I guess the real test will be after TN loses their 1st game under KJH. At the press conference if she hangs her head, throws her team under the bus and says something like, “We’ve just got to play harder,” LV fans will now they hired the wrong person.
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I really don't think that is going to happen. Even if the team plays no better, wins no more, and recruits worse, I think she knows enough to handle media inquiries better than Holly did. That starts with taking some personal accountability for unsatisfactory results, if that is what happens.
 
.-.
Big Shoulders said:
The future of the Lady Vols hire will be determined on the basketball court, not in message boards...Let it be written, let it be so.

I don't know how the hiring of Coach Auriemmia was met on the Boneyard, but I'm fairly certain he had his skeptics too...He certainly has lived up to those that championed his arrival, and has brought glory to your program.....

You guys are first class....
Much respect.
Expand ...
While the coach that replaces an icon often fails due to high expectations, the next one to come in has a lower bar and less pressure. Not sure how this will work out for Lady Vols but wish you the best. One of the great fan bases for women's basketball.
 
Most fans are happy first and foremost that Holly is gone. Literally anyone would be an upgrade over her, so I dont see any fans wishing we kept Holly in favor of Kellie.

Most fans also recognize that Tennessee wasnt willing to shell out big bucks so we didnt have a chance at a top hire. Somewhat disappointing considering how storied our program is and it shows that our AD doesnt prioritize women's basketball.

In regards to KJH, most fans (including myself) recognize that she wouldn't even be a candidate if she wasnt an alum who had a nice Sweet 16 run. Her team wasnt making the NCAAs if they didnt win their conference tourney. When you look at her resume flat out, she has experience and has done well with two mid majors, is a famous alum and is coming off a Cinderella Sweet 16 run. Not a bad resume, but not worthy to take over a program like Tennessee.

Breaking down her coaching style, it looks like her teams arent very strong offensively and are traditional old school Tennessee teams: defend well, rebound well, play hard but not a great A/TO ratio and low shooting percentages. That style of play worked 10-20 years ago, but it doesnt today at high levels. Look at the Final Four squads the past two years, all of them ran great offenses. I'm not sold on the fact that Jolly can get Tennessee to that level.

Overall, from my standpoint I am a bit underwhelmed by the hire but am thrilled we are going with someone other than Holly. I'll fully support Kellie and wish her all the best.
 
TheFarmFan said:
I'm of two minds:

On the one hand, given that the Tennessee AD was reported to have a pretty limited budget, I think she ticks all the necessary boxes: former Summitt player, ties to the program, female, solid coaching experience.

On the other hand, I was not impressed with her on-court coaching versus Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen, and I was surprised how much it seemed like her husband was taking the lead in making in-game decisions. During the game, before I knew he was her husband, there were one or two times the camera panned to the Miz St. bench and I was thinking, "who's this guy, and why is he in charge?"

I'll say this: I could be wrong, but I don't think either Huskies or Cardinal fans should be worried that UT is about to nudge their way back into the running for national championships. But hey, what do I know, I'm just a fan.
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Husband assistants are not all that weird - or at least unusual. June Daugherty had her husband at her Washington gigs, U of A's assistant coach Salvatore Coppa is Mr. Adia Barnes. I can assure you, he isn't running her team, but he will get up and whisper to her, something you don't see the other assistant coaches do. One of our opponents in the WNIT had (I think) a husband and wife, and there have been and are others.

The one I find odd is Tennessee softball with a husband and wife co-head coach. Who's the boss?
 
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KnightBridgeAZ said:
The one I find odd is Tennessee softball with a husband and wife co-head coach. Who's the boss?
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KnightBridgeAZ said:
Husband assistants are not all that weird - or at least unusual. Nor are coaches and their spouses and significant others.

The one I find odd is Tennessee softball with a husband and wife co-head coach. Who's the boss? You are not married. Am I right? Of course I am!
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Tenn had to pay their men's basketball coach a mountain of money to keep UCLA from poaching him. Harper should be quite affordable due to her relative youth and a relatively obscure conference. Appears there are some issues with the role of her husband. The AD can get a pass from the fans due to her place in the program's history.

I can only go with the one game I've seen that she's coached, Missouri State - Stanford during the tournament. Unfortunately, it was the worst women's basketball game I've seen at that level in a national tournament, and I'm not sure I've seen anything worse on the conference networks, and there were plenty of Lady Vol games on SEC to watch if you're a masochist. It was unclear whether either team's defense was functioning because the offense was so embarrassing. Stanford might have had some excuse because their 3 pt shot wasn't working, but Missouri State repeatedly missed at point blank range for most of the game. The team had not been prepared for the big moment and sometimes looked like a middle school team. I was puzzled at Missouri State's offensive ineptitude in particular because their assistant coach was Jackie Stiles, the premier shooter of her generation in college.

I'm not optimistic, but good luck to her, until the Orange play UConn. I do believe that if she has any initial success, it will be due to Holly Warlick's recruitment classes.
 
bballnut90 said:
Most fans are happy first and foremost that Holly is gone. Literally anyone would be an upgrade over her, so I dont see any fans wishing we kept Holly in favor of Kellie.

Most fans also recognize that Tennessee wasnt willing to shell out big bucks so we didnt have a chance at a top hire. Somewhat disappointing considering how storied our program is and it shows that our AD doesnt prioritize women's basketball.

In regards to KJH, most fans (including myself) recognize that she wouldn't even be a candidate if she wasnt an alum who had a nice Sweet 16 run. Her team wasnt making the NCAAs if they didnt win their conference tourney. When you look at her resume flat out, she has experience and has done well with two mid majors, is a famous alum and is coming off a Cinderella Sweet 16 run. Not a bad resume, but not worthy to take over a program like Tennessee.

Breaking down her coaching style, it looks like her teams arent very strong offensively and are traditional old school Tennessee teams: defend well, rebound well, play hard but not a great A/TO ratio and low shooting percentages. That style of play worked 10-20 years ago, but it doesnt today at high levels. Look at the Final Four squads the past two years, all of them ran great offenses. I'm not sold on the fact that Jolly can get Tennessee to that level.

Overall, from my standpoint I am a bit underwhelmed by the hire but am thrilled we are going with someone other than Holly. I'll fully support Kellie and wish her all the best.
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Thanks for the input
 
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