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Holly Warlick Opinions
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:38 pm
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:38 pm
Short version (my opinion): she isn't the one.
Long version: Holly Warlick was a great choice. Transitioning from the GOAT to anyone outside of the program was going to be career suicide for whoever took the job. Warlick was already involved and the swap was smooth and mostly painless. She eased the pain of losing Pat.
Now, after 5 seasons, is it time to move on? I believe so. Although her stats look great (Elite 8 appearances, SEC season/tourney champs, overall W-L, etc), I think we are underachieving for the program. This past year it was painfully obvious. An all SEC Championship game that doesn't involve the (Lady) Vols? Seems wrong. A decade since our last title? Again, seems wrong.
Coaching seems very suspect. The talent is there but isn't being developed (sounds like Butch). We look woefully under prepared for games that should be solid wins.
Does Holly have what it takes? Are there better options out there?
Long version: Holly Warlick was a great choice. Transitioning from the GOAT to anyone outside of the program was going to be career suicide for whoever took the job. Warlick was already involved and the swap was smooth and mostly painless. She eased the pain of losing Pat.
Now, after 5 seasons, is it time to move on? I believe so. Although her stats look great (Elite 8 appearances, SEC season/tourney champs, overall W-L, etc), I think we are underachieving for the program. This past year it was painfully obvious. An all SEC Championship game that doesn't involve the (Lady) Vols? Seems wrong. A decade since our last title? Again, seems wrong.
Coaching seems very suspect. The talent is there but isn't being developed (sounds like Butch). We look woefully under prepared for games that should be solid wins.
Does Holly have what it takes? Are there better options out there?
7
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:45 pm to Torch
Short version: Don't watch or follow the sport but results have been totally unacceptable from the outside looking in so to speak.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 2:31 pm to Torch
If not for the amazing recruiting class that she's bringing in I think she may have been let go or came dangersouly close to being let go at the end of this past season.
This upcoming year is without question make or break for her. Anything less than a final 4 appearance and I think she's toast
This upcoming year is without question make or break for her. Anything less than a final 4 appearance and I think she's toast
Posted on 4/13/17 at 2:38 pm to Torch
Don't know of any coach that has done less with more than Holly. I think she was invaluable on Pat's staff...but sometimes great assistant coaches don't translate to great Head Coaches. If they did, UT would have won with Wade Houston.
Holly will need an exceptional season to keep her job, in my opinion.
Holly will need an exceptional season to keep her job, in my opinion.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 2:49 pm to madmaxvol
quote:
I think she was invaluable on Pat's staff...but sometimes great assistant coaches don't translate to great Head Coaches
This. The examples in football and basketball are pretty endless. Holly stayed an assistant too long and tbh, given her ties to Knoxville and UT, I can't really blame her. She probably made more money being an assistant at UT than 90 percent of the head coaching jobs she could've gone to in order to get experience.
However, now that she's been HC for a couple of years she's got to prove she deserves to remain HC. With Diamond deciding to return and the class coming in there's no excuse for the kind of post-season we had this year.
Posted on 4/15/17 at 9:02 pm to Torch
quote:
Short version (my opinion): she isn't the one.
First, compared to Pats men's equivalent (Rupp) Holly has been a serviceable (Hall) and remember Hall had a .500 season and a year in the NIT before he won the NCAA in his SIXTH year at the helm of Kentucky. Holly has at least been to the NCAA all 5 years and has no WNIT or 0 postseason years. Holly certainly is loaded for bear next season but her teams need to STAY HEALTHY!
Second, unlike Hall for men, the SEC is the most competitive conference from top to bottom in the sport. If Holly goes, it will not change folks like Gary, Vic, Dawn, and Matthew are not moving anytime soon from their respective schools. In this conference you are already top heavy in coaching talent.
While I think a top Tennessee team is good for the SEC they will never enjoy the uncluttered top where they held sway under Pat.
Posted on 4/15/17 at 9:38 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
While I think a top Tennessee team is good for the SEC they will never enjoy the uncluttered top where they held sway under Pat.
Yea I'm not familiar enough with our program to say whether Warlick should be fired or not but I've thought this myself, the sport is far more competitive than it used to be and won't be dominated aside from maybe UCONN like it used to be
Posted on 4/16/17 at 8:22 am to Wishnitwas1998
quote:
I've thought this myself
Rupp won 4 Nattys as an SEC school while no other SEC team did
After Rupp, UK has won 4 more titles but all were different coaches and no subsequent coach won 2. In the meantime 2 other SEC schools (Florida and Arkansas) have won 3 titles.
quote:
dominated aside from maybe UCONN
Huskies are similar to the Bruins in that an outside source helps them win. Wooden had Sam Gilbert for his impressive run and Geno has ESPN to thank for theirs. This is not to say that either Wooden were not good coaches but that their benefactors may have helped move them up another 10 to 20 percentage points on their final W / L tally.
Holly may or may not win a Natty for Knoxville but she will not win 3 or more before she retires or is let go. Bigger question is who fills her slot that does not do more damage. Uk was unhappy with Tubby but knowing what they do now about Billy Clyde do you think he was a better replacement?
Posted on 4/16/17 at 1:54 pm to Cheese Grits
While I agree and this is moving things to a different subject, if they hadn't fired tubby they likely wouldn't have ended up with Cal and in the situation they are in now
Of course we will never know but their fans may say that the Billy years were worth it
Of course we will never know but their fans may say that the Billy years were worth it
Posted on 4/16/17 at 9:14 pm to Wishnitwas1998
quote:
if they hadn't fired tubby
Who said they fired him?
I think a very different scenario was in play. Schools like Indiana and Kentucky have strong stances on nepotism and do not allow it in basketball.
Rupp was not an issue
Hall was not an issue
Eddie wanted his son to carry on and 1,000 in an envelope cost his job
Rick wanted his son and wound up at Louisville where this was allowed
I am pretty sure as sudden as it happened and that Billy Clyde was the replacement a more correct theory:
Tubby demanded his son be allowed, UK said no. Tubby thought they were bluffing and looked for a job where Saul was welcome. UK said OK, and he went. It is telling that the first act as the new Gopher coach was to hire Saul.
I know some other stuff that will not be repeated here that further reinforces this line of thinking.
The more interesting though (assuming Pat's son was not such a screw up) is if the Vols would have hired him as the head coach. I would argue that no matter how good the offspring, you never get to a better place. Look at John Thompson's son @ Georgetown or Ray Meyer's son @ DePaul. These may have been some of the better father / son options out there.
Posted on 4/16/17 at 10:48 pm to Cheese Grits
All that me be well and true but to date we have no proof of it
Regardless through whatever avenue U.K. Might've retained Tubby, if they had I think it's unlikely Cal is there now
Again, we will never know
Regardless through whatever avenue U.K. Might've retained Tubby, if they had I think it's unlikely Cal is there now
Again, we will never know
Posted on 1/17/19 at 9:38 pm to Wishnitwas1998
Crypt keeper digging deep for this one boys...she ain't the frickin' one.
Posted on 1/17/19 at 11:11 pm to Torch
Yea it’s gettin bad
On another note, it took some deep thinking and reading going backwards trying to figure out wth me and Grits were talking about
On another note, it took some deep thinking and reading going backwards trying to figure out wth me and Grits were talking about
Posted on 1/18/19 at 10:02 am to Cheese Grits
quote:
First, compared to Pats men's equivalent (Rupp) Holly has been a serviceable (Hall) and remember Hall had a .500 season and a year in the NIT before he won the NCAA in his SIXTH year at the helm of Kentucky. Holly has at least been to the NCAA all 5 years and has no WNIT or 0 postseason years. Holly certainly is loaded for bear next season but her teams need to STAY HEALTHY!
Joe B. Hall was Runner Up in the NCAA tournament in his 3rd season, and won the National Championship in his 6th. His team won the SEC 4 of those 6 year, and finished 4th in the other two. So in his first 6 years, Hall made 2 Final Fours (winning one), and two Elite Eights.
Holly is in her 7th year. She has won the SEC in 2 of those seasons and has finished 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th in her other four seasons. She has yet to make a final 4, and has made 3 elite eights and one sweet 16.
Granted, Holly has been to the tournament every year...but they take 64 teams to the tournament now. When Hall started coaching, they only took 25 teams to the NCAA tournament. In his second year, they started taking 32 teams, and the year UK won it all was the first year they seeded teams regionally. So, if you didn't win the conference...you weren't likely to get in those first few years...by contrast, there were 6 SEC women's teams taken in last year's tourney...in most seasons, Holly would not have made the NCAA tourney under the criteria when Hall coached.
Joe B. Hall was SEC coach of the year 3 times in his first 6 years. I would say that Holly isn't our Joe B. Hall...she is our Ray Perkins. Calling her our Joe B. Hall is an insult to Joe B. Hall.
Posted on 1/18/19 at 12:55 pm to madmaxvol
Cheese grits has no respect for Joe Hall CONFIRMED
Posted on 1/18/19 at 5:04 pm to Torch
quote:
Crypt keeper digging deep for this one boys...she ain't the frickin' one.
Posted on 1/18/19 at 5:08 pm to TRUERockyTop
Gross lol
Posted on 1/18/19 at 6:19 pm to Torch
Posted on 1/18/19 at 11:48 pm to TRUERockyTop
LAWDS. 
Posted on 1/19/19 at 12:28 am to Prof
On a scale from one to even....I can't...
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