Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell drops quote after loss to LSU that shows exactly why she was hired by UT AD Danny White
The Lady Vols nearly pulled off a big upset win on Thursday night. Tennessee took unbeaten LSU down to the wire on Thursday before the Tigers escaped with an 89-87 win. A loss is a loss, but the Lady Vols showed with their performance against LSU that they can compete with anyone in the country. […]
The Lady Vols nearly pulled off a big upset win on Thursday night.
Tennessee took unbeaten LSU down to the wire on Thursday before the Tigers escaped with an 89-87 win.
A loss is a loss, but the Lady Vols showed with their performance against LSU that they can compete with anyone in the country. It's another reason for fans to believe in new head coach Kim Caldwell, who is now 13-2 through her first 15 games at Tennessee.
After the loss, Caldwell spoke to reporters and she made it quite clear that isn't interested in taking time to "rebuild" the program. She wants to win and she wants to win now.
"I think for me personally…I get offended with [people saying] you have time to rebuild, you have time to rebuild, these seniors aren't your players," said Caldwell. "That offends me. They are my players. They chose to stay and I chose to coach them. And so I don't want to wait. I don't want people to say 'when you get your players in here' — these are my players. I want to win for them and I want to win right now. So these games that we can't get back, and they can't get back, yes maybe they are establishing something for the future, but I want them to be able to have the experience, too. I want them to get what they deserve."
That kind of competitive mindset is exactly why Volunteers athletic director Danny White hired Caldwell to replace Kellie Harper last year. Caldwell's comments sound similar to things we heard Josh Heupel say when he took over the Tennessee football program a few years ago. It's obvious that they share some traits (and those are traits that White apparently looks for when he's hiring a coach).
Caldwell and her players are building for the future. There are no shortcuts to building a dominant basketball program. But the fact that she feels a sense of urgency to win should be incredibly encouraging for fans of the Lady Vols.
The potential gamechanger for Tennessee in 2025 that could help the offense look like the 2022 version of the Vols
It could be a huge deal for the Vols
