Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell makes statement that should have Tennessee fans extremely excited about the 2025-26 season
Kim Caldwell had an incredible first season as the head coach of the Lady Vols. Caldwell, who replaced Kellie Harper as the program's head coach last year, led Tennessee to the Sweet 16 while also guiding the Lady Vols to their first win against UConn in nearly two decades. In year two, however, Caldwell is […]
Kim Caldwell had an incredible first season as the head coach of the Lady Vols.
Caldwell, who replaced Kellie Harper as the program's head coach last year, led Tennessee to the Sweet 16 while also guiding the Lady Vols to their first win against UConn in nearly two decades.
In year two, however, Caldwell is looking to take the program to the next level. And to do that, Caldwell says the Lady Vols need to average 10 more points per game than the 87 points they averaged this past season.
"Everything we're going to do from this point forward is how to get 10 points better," said Caldwell during an appearance on The Mike Keith Show. "And if we are 10 points better, we make it to the Final Four, in my opinion. The majority of our games, with the exception of one, was eight points or less. And so how do we get 10 points better? Is that who we sign? Is that how we prep in the summer? Is that our portal class? Is that just because we're a little older [and] more experienced as we do different drills in practice?
"And so the obsession of finding those 10 points has already started. Our portal class that we are going to bring in right now, on top of our freshmen and on top of the return of the players that we have, they're going to be here in talks of helping us get to the Elite Eight or the Final Four. And that's going to be the conversations that we have. And so I think our core is back. I think our freshman group is here. And so we need a few more players that are going to come in and be hungry and be dogs and help us get to where we want to go."
"We like to score," added Caldwell. "If you want to play and you want to score….one year (at Caldwell's previous coaching stop) we averaged 106 (points per game). And I know it was Division Two, but we we want to get players on the floor that are aggressive, that can score, that can go downhill. We take more shots than any team in the country. Our players take more shots and so there's a lot of opportunity."
Year one of the Caldwell era was a great success. But it's clear that Caldwell is looking to make a big jump in year two. And that should be exciting for Tennessee fans.
It's been far too long since the Lady Vols were in a Final Four (the last time was in 2008 under Pat Summitt, which was also the program's last national championship). And Caldwell is looking to end the Final Four drought in 2026.
