You all make some good points. Some of the orange folks are delusional as always and think they could land any coach. I can almost guarantee you if she's fired mid season, they will get NO ONE. Not a single coach out there in a quality program should consider jumping ship mid season.
They would likely promote Lockwood as interim head coach and then start their search. The chances of landing anyone like Schaeffer, Graves, Ruek, Walz, Frese, etc etc. are slim to none. They have floated names like Goestenkors (why she'd take that job would be a huge mystery), Nikki Fargas (Caldwell) has also been floated around along with some other mid-major types.
Fargas did nothing good at UCLA - on paper her record was good the 2nd and 3rd seasons (horrible the first season), but she recruited poorly and left the cupboard mostly bare. She's been no great shakes at LSU - but again, did better the first 3 seasons with other coaches' recruits. In the last 4 years she's lost in the 1st round of the NCAA's 3 times and missed them entirely once. From my perspecteve, she'd be the perfect replacement for Holly - a lot more of the same for Tennessee. Frankly i'm not sure why so many of their faithful are enamored with her, except for the fact that she's an attractive black woman.
Maybe Kristy Curry? Lisa Fortier (Gonzaga)? Jenny Baranczyk (Drake)? Karl Smesko (FGCU)? Sue Guevara (Central Michigan)? I'm sure there are others.
Given how well Tenn has recruited the last 3 years, and the fact that Holly has a contract running a few more years, I just don't see the point in the Administration firing her now. Maybe after the season is over if they miss the NCAA's, but I don't see that happening unless they completely implode.
Side note - I am no longer the least bit worried that they would beat an "undermanned" UCONN team next season. They really are a delightful train wreck...
If Holly is canned midseason, an assistant would take over for the remainder of the year. I can't imagine she gets canned mid year though...coaches are usually given the full season and are let go after it's over. If she steps down it wont be until after the season IMO unless there's a players protest or something big going on behind the scenes. Right now it appears to be primarily a disgruntled fan base issue.
I agree Tennessee wouldn't get any of the top coaches listed above, especially if they're not willing to shell out big bucks. Holly is paid as a mid-level SEC coach right now, and they'd need to offer a good chunk more to get a top coach IMO. The only one who I think could maybe consider leaving is Rueck since he could make 2x as much at Tennessee, but it'd be a long shot. Plus I don't see them hiring a man for the position.
Fargas did a better job than you give her credit for at UCLA, but I don't think a lot of fans are all that excited by her based on her results at LSU. I'm definitely not. She'd by the obvious choice if they wanted to keep it in Pat's coaching tree, but I'm hoping they don't go that route.
Goestenkors would be a dream but unfortunately I don't think she has any desire to get back into coaching. Top candidates IMO would be Banghart, Fortier an Baranczyk.
The idea of Lawson or Catchings is a nice one, but neither has coaching experience, so how well they teach/motivate is unknown. Love them both as announcers though.
At the rate Tennessee is going, they're not going to be a tournament team unless the team digs deep and makes a massive turnaround. They're 1-5 in the SEC, and the SEC is the weakest its ever been. Plus they haven't played the 2 best teams yet. If that isn't imploding, I'm not sure what is.
