Pat Summitt Head Coach Emeritus

[alexrgct]

Although this is not unexpected, I don't know why Tennessee wasn't planning for this all season. I can't believe Warlick is the best person for the job, I understand they want continuity, but it almost seems like they are going to try this approach for a year to see how it works...if I'm a recruit, no way am I getting near that.

It's like we were thinking the exact same thing, except you put a finer point on it.

 

[doggydaddy]

My lack of sleep catches up to me.

Though he did once roll his eyes at the thought of sticking around to 1,000 wins. Hopefully the Uconn AD is going to watch the TN transition very closely to see what does/doesnt work.

God willing, it won't be even close to the same situation. No one could have been prepared for the horrible disease that created this need for transition.

Geno is only 58. I can see him coaching for 10 more years. Especially if he continues to be able to recruit as he has.

 

[Icebear]

This is what I had suggested immediately when the news of Pat first broke. Given all aspects of the situation it is the one that provides the best options. It maintains the connections for Pat and the legacy of the Lady Volunteers. It establsihes Holly as the person who is now clearly the one in charge rather than being one chef among many. It is not something that would necessarily be ideal in any other situation.

One of the questions that would remain is the reality of how this plays out in the reality of staffing under the NCAA rules which is very specific as to the number of coaches one may have as well as the number of people who can be identified as involved in recruiting.

 

[VAMike23]

804–129.

That is 294 short. 8-9 more years. Geno can do it if he wants.

Besides having a shot at the overall wins record, if he sticks around to 2022 Rebecca's oldest daughter will be 18 and ready to join the Huskies

That would be a nice capstone; coaching the daughter of the player most closely identified with Championship #1 (even if she walked on).

 

[sarals24]

It's like we were thinking the exact same thing, except you put a finer point on it.

Alex, you're my Boneyard doppelganger. Must be a Texas thing.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Video Carolyn Peck - Link

 

[UConnCat]

With this now being firmly Holly's team, she MAY have a chance to do things a bit differently from last year. We really don't know everything that was going on behind the scenes or what Holly ended up having to do versus was expected to do preseason, etc.

Having said that, I don't think she's the best HC available (i.e., who would make him/herself available for LV job), and although this direction may make the most immediate sense, it's not a five-year plan by any means. If I'm Tennessee, I have a strategy that includes a national coaching search if and at such time it becomes clear that Holly is not the best long-term fit.

I don't think this is firmly Holly's team, but certainly more than last year's. No way a better long-term fit would accept the job under the conditions as we now know them. This situation is a perfect fit for Summitt, which she's entitled to after her career.

 

[doggydaddy]

Video Carolyn Peck - Link

No offense (well , to you) but there is no way I care to see or hear what she has to say.

 

[sarals24]

I don't think this is firmly Holly's team, but certainly more than last year's. No way a better long-term fit would accept the job under the conditions as we now know them. This situation is a perfect fit for Summitt, which she's entitled to after her career.

It's a perfect fit for Summitt, but maybe not for the program in the long run. Holly will always be her assistant, has no real head coaching experience, and didn't do a very good job this year. Yes, I understand the circumstances were difficult and unique. But they don't seem to be changing next year. Just the titles have been shuffled around.

 

[alexrgct]

I don't think this is firmly Holly's team, but certainly more than last year's. No way a better long-term fit would accept the job under the conditions as we now know them. This situation is a perfect fit for Summitt, which she's entitled to after her career.

But that's exactly the problem: by not biting the bullet now, you're making for a smoother transition for Pat, but you're not really quelling any of the speculation that this is some sort of interim solution, or at best a "temp-to-perm" solution.

 

[UcMiami]

Very interesting. I think this had to happen. You cannot run a recruiting program for a college sport effectively if everyone knows the head coach is not going to be there in a year's time. And you really cannot coach a team by committee as this past year proved. Good luck to Holly, she is going to need it.

If I read the duties/responsibilities correctly, Pat can observe practice and games, can help the coaching staff scout upcoming opponents and can advise them on coaching outside of game situations, but cannot directly coach the players at all nor address them individually or as a team during halftime. The wording is a little vague, but I believe she is not allowed to contact recruits/families outside of written communication except when they are on campus or at a recruiting function near campus. The only contact she is allowed with the individual players/team is in a personal guidance roll and not as a coach.
This all makes sense as the NCAA has strict limits on 'assistant' coaches, and on the number of college employees allowed to make recruiting contacts.

I think the 2013 class will be very interesting to watch. TN is still TN, but will they be able to recruit a strong class with out Pat spearheading the effort. I think as a team they are in need of reenforcements from 2013/2014 classes.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Geno's reaction to Pat Link

 

[ctfjr]

A great legacy left behind

 

[EricLA]

804–129.

That is 294 short. 8-9 more years. Geno can do it if he wants.

Agreed. also Tara V is 861-200. At 58, she's the same age as Geno. i actually think she has a better chance to stick it out for 10-15 more years if she wants. I hope i'm wrong, but i see Geno with having a lot of other interests and i'm not sure he stays for 10 more years. Still, i think he'd like to be the all time winningest coach as well as the all time NCAA championships for UCONN. he'll get the 2nd in a few years...

 

[Icebear]

It has been tweeted that Tyler Summitt will be becoming an assistant coach at Marquette.

 

[UConnCat]

But that's exactly the problem: by not biting the bullet now, you're making for a smoother transition for Pat, but you're not really quelling any of the speculation that this is some sort of interim solution, or at best a "temp-to-perm" solution.

I agree. Let's be honest, given the awful circumstances, this transition is ideal for one party: Pat Summitt. I'm sure the Univ and Warlick believe she's earned the right to go out on her terms and who's to argue with that. PS will be able to stay engaged in what she loves which should help her overall condition. Neither the Univ nor Warlick were in enviable positions.

 

[pinotbear]

"some..en-Shan-ted evening..."

 

[VAUConnFan]

No surprise there. i guess they feel the program is better off with Holly as the HC and Pat being involved in any way she can. However, players who commit there will no longer be playing for legendary HC Pat Summitt. they surely will get to rub elbows with her, but if the way the team was run this year is any indication of how Holly will be running the team, they are in a bit of trouble...

Tennessee was a Top 10 team. Hardly any cause for concern.

 

[Kevin G]

God Bless her!

 

[VAUConnFan]

I'm a bit surprised that the NCAA doesn't have 100 pages of "guidance" on this. Has it happened before in men'r or women's sports? What was Wooden's title at UCLA post retirement?

Former Coach

 

[alexrgct]

Tennessee was a Top 10 team. Hardly any cause for concern.

They were a top 10 team because they were loaded with talented upperclassmen, many of whom will have graduated. They lost several winnable games to mediocre teams and were rarely competitive with good ones. Oftentimes, they looked out of sync, poorly conditioned, and unsure of what to do if their talent level and/or the Tennessee jersey didn't blow the other team off the floor. Moreover, they haven't had a committment in what seems like forever and have lost a prized committment during that same period. Tennessee has gone from being a top two program for three consecutive decades to being at risk of slipping significantly. I'd say there's cause for concern, and I'm not sure how a career assistant is the best person to manage it.

 

[Jackalope]

Besides having a shot at the overall wins record, if he sticks around to 2022 Rebecca's oldest daughter will be 18 and ready to join the Huskies

That would be a nice capstone; coaching the daughter of the player most closely identified with Championship #1 (even if she walked on).

Given Geno's close relationship with Rebecca, her job on ESPN, and her position as a UCONN trustee, there has to be recruiting violations in there somewhere. He better stop doing ESPN interviews and having conversations with Rebecca and her daughter.

 

[Wbbfan1]

SI Column - Link

 

[UConnChapette]

It has been tweeted that Tyler Summitt will be becoming an assistant coach at Marquette.

Is this for real?

My mother's health started to decline some years back, both physically and mentally. She lived in Omaha, I lived in CT. I had the benefit of my older sister also living in Omaha. Despite my mother's and sister's life time strained relationship, to put it mildly, knowing my sister was there to help my mother was the only thing that helped me cope with the guilt I felt not being there for Mom. Sadly, she passed less than one year after she reached the point she couldn't live on her own and went to first an assisted living center then a nursing home.

Tyler, being an only child and away from Pat for a major chunk of the year as an assistant coach, will be difficult for them both. I know Tyler is now of an age where he has to make a living for himself. I am certain Pat will have given him her blessing. But from my own experience, if I had understood the gravity of my mother's condition, I would have temporarily relocated to help both my mother and my sister get through it. While the guilt I feel is less than it used to be in the nearly four years since her passing, it will be something I carry with me for the rest of my life, a regret that I can't shake.

Going to be unimaginably hard for both Tyler and Pat.

 

[VAUConnFan]

With this now being firmly Holly's team, she MAY have a chance to do things a bit differently from last year. We really don't know everything that was going on behind the scenes or what Holly ended up having to do versus was expected to do preseason, etc.

Having said that, I don't think she's the best HC available (i.e., who would make him/herself available for LV job), and although this direction may make the most immediate sense, it's not a five-year plan by any means. If I'm Tennessee, I have a strategy that includes a national coaching search if and at such time it becomes clear that Holly is not the best long-term fit.

Ms Warlick may, in fact, turn out to be a poor choice to succeed Coach Summitt. But, when an assistant has been on your sideline 27 years, it would be insulting to go out looking for another coach; The only way such an assistant is not hired is if she flat out refuses the job.