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Message: [QUOTE="DefenseBB, post: 2625886, member: 7492"] First, I need to lie down after this post as I am about to be sick as I come to the defense of the Tennessee Lady Vols...:eek: Holly, for all her shortcomings, has a 152-53 W/L record overall (.741) and a 71-25 (.740) record in the SEC in 6 years of coaching. She was thrust into an impossible situation of a program already on a down swing fro 2011-12 at 27-9 and no notable recruits coming in. The negatives: Yes, she inherited a storied program who was still doing pretty well so she really only had to "drive the car" and not rebuild. Her coaching travails are well documented as is her "I don't know..." catch phrase after tough losses and subpar performances by her teams. She does not command the outward show of respect from the team that Pat did, nor is she the "screamer" that Pat was. She' is not a dynamic personality to the media or the fans. She has too much respect for her predecessor and mentor to upstage any of that legacy. The positives: She has made it to one 2nd rd, 1 sweet 16, 2 elite 8's in her 5 previous trips. All very good by any other programs standard, save UConn, Stanford or maybe ND. She has shown an ability to keep the Lady Vol mystique alive with the recruiting of top classes coming in and even a top transfer or two coming in. The attendance is maintaining in relation to the rest of WCBB and is still top 3. Her players seem to really like her and support her. Russell came back for a 5th year and many have stated how they like the family Holly has created. She has the support of all the former players and many in the Athletic Department who know what abject failure from coaching looks like-see UT football or basketball prior to Barnes. Her winning will NEVER satisfy that fan base unless she goes 38-0 for 3 years, wins 3 straight SEC titles, 2 NCAA titles back to back and makes it to 10 straight final fours. All of which are unrealistic. Now, think about if Tenn does decide to move on, who the heck is out there that is known to be better and would take on that task with the unforgiving fan base? Would they dare hire outside of Pat's legacy? There is no former disciple of Pat that is a top quality coach who could run that program to even the level Holly has it at-Nikki Caldwell Fargas might be the closest but her track record at LSU is not as strong as Holly's. I do think Holly's days are numbered as we can see the stress in all her press conferences, but her actually W/L record could be significantly worse. Take a look at Virginia with Boyle following Debbie Ryan, Kevin Ollie following Jim Calhoun or Gail Gostenkors following Jody Conradt at Texas after a stellar Duke career, even look at Joanne P McCallie following Gail at Duke, a near impossible situation that still has many detractors despite how well Duke as really done. Following a legend and fanatic fan base is never easy. Something we should be acutely aware of. Humbly submitted-DefenseBB (my head feels woosie). [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach