Kim Caldwell gives thoughts on carrying Pat Summitt’s legacy with Lady Vols
You can’t talk about Lady Vols basketball without discussing the impact Pat Summitt had on not just the program, but women’s sports.
At Tennessee, Summitt pioneered the program to eight national championships while being a trailblazer for the game of women’s basketball.
Now, less than eight years removed from her passing, the Lady Vols are welcoming in a third head coach since her tenure. This time, it’s Kim Caldwell attempting to return the program to its former glory.
Taking this job comes with its fair share of pressure. The expectations are as high as can be and the patience with not reaching the goals is limited.
Caldwell understands that there is history in play and that comparisons to what Summitt accomplished comes with the territory. She doesn’t look at it as being the next Summitt, though. Instead, she wants to be someone the former coach would respect.
“Pat Summitt changed the game of basketball and wouldn’t she love to see where the game is now,” said Caldwell. “I will never be Pat Summitt, nobody can. But I will strive every day to be somebody that she would be proud of.”
Caldwell is familiar with Summitt’s legacy but understands there are other aspects to catch up on. To assist with this, she met with Joan Cronan, the school’s former Women’s Athletic Director.
The day the hire was made official, Cronan gave her advice to deal with this unique scenario.
“I haven’t been here long and I know I have a lot of history to catch on,” said Caldwell. “Thank you Joan Cronan for meeting me Sunday and the advice that you gave me. And trust me, as soon as I’m done here, I’m going to get back to work.”
Caldwell is also the first coach since Summitt to take over the program who didn’t have ties to the school. Holly Warlick was a former player and assistant coach under Summitt and Kellie Harper who three national titles as a player.
Athletic Director Danny White admitted that being a former Lady Vol didn’t effect the search. They just wanted to find the best fit.
There is still the understanding of the importance that Summitt has had on Tennessee, though, and White made sure to point it out when introducing Caldwell.
“Obviously, an enormous part of why we’re here and why women’s basketball and women’s sport at large is where it is in this country is because of the legendary Pat Summitt,” said White. “We understand the enormous responsibility that being a caretaker and a steward of this program has because of all that she accomplished here.”
Caldwell now takes over a program that reached back-to-back Sweet 16s before falling in the Round of 32 in 2024. The expectations are high, but White has showed faith that his hire can get it done.
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The expectation isn’t to just win in the future, the Lady Vols want to win now.
This doesn’t change with a new coach. As Tennessee introduced Kim Caldwell as the new head coach, Athletic Director Danny White quickly pointed out the timeline.
There is a goal of winning SEC and National Championships, and the will to be competitive in that goal starts in the upcoming 2024-25 season.
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Where does a coach who just arrived in Knoxville and has the task of leading a program with the proud history of the Lady Vols begin?
There are a number of steps to start a quick turnaround but Caldwell is ready to check them off.
“There’s a lot to do,” said Caldwell. “We need to get a great staff put in place. I need to form relationships with the current players that are here and then we need to make some additions and get in the portal and start to recruit. It’s all hands on deck right now.”
What makes these tasks easier to accomplish is the familiarity with the situation. Not only has Caldwell been tasked with the same goal prior in her career, it was only a year ago that she went through these steps.
While taking over Marshall, she turned the team from a 9-9 record in Sun Belt play and 17-14 overall into a well oiled machine that went 17-1 in the conference slate, swept Sun Belt titles and made the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
“It’s helpful,” said Caldwell on doing the same task so recently. “It is helpful. It’s nothing that I planned. I was planning to be at Marshall for quite some time. It was not something that we planned to do but it does help the fact that less than a year ago, I was doing a press conference. And less than a year ago, I was trying to recruit the roster that we had while recruiting on the team and putting the staff together. So, it’s familiar in that sense.”