I hesitate to bring this up again...

[Black Diamond Vol]

..because I've done so each of the past two seasons, and have mostly been shouted down.  But here goes:

The Lady Vols' long slog into irrelevance continues.  They lost last night to a mediocre UF squad, in Knoxville.  It's their fourth loss of the year, with several more likely to come.  

It's been a constant downward trajectory for going on 8 seasons now, and yes, I know it didn't begin under Holly- but looking at the state of our recruiting, it doesn't look like it's going to get any better under the current regime.

I bring this up not to say "I told you so" or to change anyone's mind, but rather to take the current temperature of the room on this issue.  Are you still onboard with Holly?  If so, what will it take to move you to the other side of the fence?  Would you be this patient with a male coach of a revenue-producing male sport?

Thanks in advance for your response, and I'll check back again in March, after the inevitable happens (again).

[midtnvol]

I agree and have for some time. I wonder how Rick Insell would feel about heading east? I know at one time he would have jumped at the chance.

[Tnphil]

This started the last 2-3 years before Pat retired. It has gotten worse under Holly. The women's game has changed, they are more athletic and know how to score and coaches know how to coach offense. We are still in the dark ages that defense will win.....if you hold them to 50 and you score 46...you lose. IMO, there's not a coach on this staff that can coach a lick of offense and that goes back to the last 2-3 years of PHS too. Times have changed in the women's game and UT hasn't. Holly's offense is it either goes in or it doesn't and we do little to set up a offense or get the ball into a player with a hot hand when we actually have a hot hand. To me, Holly looks clueless and when things go South during a game she has no clue what to do. It looks to me the players don't respond to her and they pretty much free lance and play on both ends of the court when they want to. Holly has said no less than 3 times I've heard after games that her team didn't follow the game plan.....really....who's fault is that?

I was all for giving Holly a shot and not really sure a top-notch coach would have followed PHS at the time.....I don't see us being a final-4 team under Holly...we have the talent but not the heart. Holly has ZERO commits so far for this upcoming class and last I checked the top 100 recruits have committed to other programs....The top player in Tennessee committed to UConn....

Something is wrong in the program....They will win games because of talent not much on coaching. IMO also, Holly will be here for a while. If I was the AD and wanted to make a change.....The first place I'd look is the staff at UT Martin. Period.

[droner]

I don't whether it's game coaching, high school player evaluation or player development. A lot of schools get great talent these days and UT usually gets their share of the top rated players. But they either aren't really that good or they aren't coached up to ther potential. 

I hate to say this but Geno must be a genius and might be the best women's basketball coach ever. Even with more schools getting very talented players (because there are more very talented players), those that go to UConn are better sooner and get better during their time there.

To make matters worse,I believe that the Lady Vols have no commitments for either 2016 or 2017. And the best player in Tennessee has commited to UConn.

It's easy to say that women's college basketball is better and the Lady Vols can't run through their tough schedule to the Final Four so easily anymore. That's true. But the Lady Vols at this point aren't even a Sweet 16 team.

I won't say that if we don't get to the Final Four this year or next, Holly should be gone. But if things keep going like they are now, I will say it.

[Jethro]

I love Holly and I'm glad that we hired her because I think that she deserved the chance but she is just not getting the job done.  I told one of the Butch bashers to look at direction not location and I'll say  the same thing.  Our location is not awful for now but our direction doesn't appear to be headed North.  Recruiting doesn't seem to provide a remedy.  If there's not some kind of turnaround before the end of the season, I'd say let's get someone else in there to see if we can get it back.

[Creek Walker]

Make the change. It's time.

[RockinGrannyVol]

Holly earned the chance, but she has proven to me that she isn't the one......time to move on.   The Lady Vols are quickly becoming irrelevant in women's college BB -- and that is totally unacceptable!!

[Clockwork Orange]

Sounds like the fans are near consensus now. I haven't watched a minute this year but the results are underwhelming. It will be tough to fire her but if it's going to happen it needs to happen soon, while we are still a big name on that stage.

[BanditVol]

Let's see how the season plays out, but it does look like it's headed the wrong way.  The recruiting is probably the worst of it, especially when the top player in Tennessee goes to UConn.   

The only thing I'll say is, who do you get to replace her, and will it be an improvement or not?  The continuity with Pat has,  I think, carried us for awhile and at least kept the team competitive. 

If the admin finds a coach they are convinced will bring us back the FF, then go for it I say.  Not sure how likely that is though.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Let's see how the season plays out, but it does look like it's headed the wrong way.  The recruiting is probably the worst of it, especially when the top player in Tennessee goes to UConn.   

The only thing I'll say is, who do you get to replace her, and will it be an improvement or not?  The continuity with Pat has,  I think, carried us for awhile and at least kept the team competitive. 

If the admin finds a coach they are convinced will bring us back the FF, then go for it I say.  Not sure how likely that is though.

I've never been a fan of the "if you fire Coach X, who ya gonna get?" excuse.  That's just a justification for inaction.  There are no guarantees in coaching hires.  The next one may indeed bomb.  But if the status quo isn't working, then you have to make a change.  Find someone you like and pull the trigger. 

But since you asked, I've lobbied for UK's Matthew MItchell for a few years now.  He built that program from practically nothing.  He was GA here under Pat, so he knows the expectations in Knoxville.  And I'm sure he'd love to make the step up and get out of Cal's shadow.  But we'd better do it quick before more damage is done, or else our job won't be considered a "step up" anymore.

But at UT right now, gender politics are going to come into play.  Hart will come under plenty of fire just for firing Holly.  But to replace her with a man?  He'd have to hire a bodyguard.

[HerbTarlekVol]

But at UT right now, gender politics are going to come into play.  Hart will come under plenty of fire just for firing Holly.  But to replace her with a man?  He'd have to hire a bodyguard.

About the only male Hart could sell would be Tyler Summitt, and while he will likely be very qualified in a few years after he gets more experience, I am just not sure he is ready for that job just yet. 

[VinnieVOL]

Early on, I thought Holly might just need some time to find her groove.  But I've reached the point now where I don't think she's the right person for the job.  That program is obviously headed in the wrong direction.