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Tennessee Lady Vols: Holly Warlick should be on hot seat next year

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 14: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kentucky defeated Tennessee 65-62. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 14: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kentucky defeated Tennessee 65-62. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Lady Vols head coach Holly Warlick has underachieved in six years. It’s time for her to be on the hot seat with the Volunteers.

Things can’t be anymore straightforward for the Tennessee Lady Vols. They have a head coach who has underachieved and failed to make the Final Four in six years on the job. She failed to advance to the next weekend of the NCAA Tournament this year despite the No. 1 recruiting class and the return of two of her top three players.

But if there was any question that Warlick should be on the hot seat going into next year, it’s how she handled Tennessee’s first home NCAA Tournament loss ever Sunday. After Oregon State beat her team 66-59, she pretended to defend the players by calling them out.

"“Sometimes the things that are thrown at these kids are unfair. They come here wanting to learn and get better and just play the game. They get criticized quite a bit.”…“This isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about young ladies getting better on and off the court and I don’t think they deserve half the crap thrown at them.”"

Perhaps Warlick missed the memo. Nobody is blaming the players. They are blaming her. So by making that comment, she’s the one who put the blame publicly on her players. It was a backhanded way of throwing them under the bus.

As John Adams of the Knoxville News Sentinel wrote, she handled the loss way worse than her players by doing that. And it makes things clearer for Phillip Fulmer.

No, he shouldn’t fire Warlick yet. She has one year left on her contract. So it’s the perfect situation for the program.

Lay out requirements for her next year to meet. If she doesn’t meet them, don’t renew her contract. It won’t cost the school any money, and they can go out and find a better head coach.

For those who worry about one-year contracts affecting recruiting, it’s not an issue here. Warlick already has four recruits committed for 2018. And they complement the four commitments from the No. 1 recruiting class in 2017.

So there’s not too much work to do for the 2019 class anyway. And if she manages to succeed next year and earn an extension, then this one year on the hot seat won’t do anything to hurt the 2020 class.

So, in an ironic way, Warlick has recruited to put Tennessee in a perfect position not to extend her contract. The Tennessee Lady Vols can afford to do it. So what should be the requirements for her?

Warlick should have to do two of three things next year to guarantee a contract renewal: Win the SEC regular season title, win the SEC Tournament title, make the Final Four.

Now, a first weekend exit from the NCAA Tournament should automatically qualify for not renewing her contract. But otherwise, she must accomplish two of those three things.

Accomplishing one of those three things warrants a discussion. It depends on that one thing is. But failing to accomplish any of those things mean Fulmer shouldn’t renew her contract. Simply put, it’s a pretty easy way to look at the job. Warlick gets one more year on the hot seat. If the Tennessee Lady Vols underachieve again, they should move on.