The Tennessee Lady Volunteers have reportedly parted ways with women’s basketball head coach Holly Warlick. Here’s what made that necessary.
Holly Warlick did not take over in the best of situations. Up until last Saturday, I was saying she probably deserved to coach out her contract: enough time to reap the full recruiting benefits of the revival of the UCONN series and to see what comes of her back to back top 5 recruiting classes that came after the disappointing 2016-2017 year.
Even amidst the regression following that year, I still stuck by the idea of keeping her around. We had to remember that the Tennessee Lady Vols had failed to make a Final Four in the previous four years before she took over full-time, and the situation surrounding Pat Summitt’s departure was not smooth at all.
So failing to make one was forgivable after three straight SEC Championships and an Elite Eight appearance the following year. Just as the program was slipping away, she was regaining her footing on the recruiting trail.
Then Saturday happened. The Tennessee Lady Vols got an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament that nobody thought they deserved. This is after Holly Warlick presided over a record-long losing streak and couldn’t even have her team ready to play in a regular season home game against the Vanderbilt Commodores, one of the worst teams in the nation.
Rather than prove they belonged, they made fools of themselves once again, losing to the No. 6 seed UCLA Bruins 89-77. We could maybe even forgive that considering UCLA stunned the Maryland Terrapins 85-80 two days later.
But the frustration that boiled over in the postseason changed everything. Evina Westbrook, the team’s point guard and best overall player, said in the post game that steps need to be taken off the court in the offseason, especially with the staff. When asked if that meant getting rid of Warlick, she simply said, “I don’t know.”
Westbrook is the star player and one of the faces of Warlick’s elite recruiting class. She missed a game this year due to suspension, and it was against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Her play in their loss was horrendous, to say the least.
So on those two fronts, what she said was indefensible. She was the reason the Lady Vols lost. And Holly Warlick deserves credit for allowing players the freedom to express themselves publicly and be honest.
Here’s the problem, if she’s going to allow that, we have to take what they say at face value. And what Westbrook said at face value is clear: Warlick needs to go. There is simply no way to defend Holly Warlick after that.
Whichever side you’re on, you have to make it a reflection on her. If you think college players are out of line for bad-mouthing coaches, then you point the finger at Holly Warlick for facilitating a culture that allows the team leader to do that. However, again, if you want to give Warlick credit for allowing that culture, then you have to take what the players say seriously.
Either Holly Warlick had completely lost control of the program or the players had completely lost faith in her. Neither is a good sign, and it’s definitely not the program that Pat Summitt led. The players absolutely feared Summitt.
This isn’t about following a legend either. It’s about consistent regression that came after following the legend. People that say it can’t be done ignored Jimbo Fisher’s national championship with the Florida State Seminoles following Bobby Bowden.
They also ignore Tom Osborne, who followed Bob Devaney with the Nebraska Cornhuskers only to become a bigger legend than Devaney. There’s John Robinson as well, who had a successful first stint following John McKay with the USC Trojans. Dennis Erickson followed Jimmy Johnson who followed Howard Schnellenberger with the Miami Hurricanes. All won national titles.
Even in basketball, Dean Smith followed Frank McGuire with the North Carolina Tar Heels only to become even greater. Tom Izzo followed Jud Heathcote with the Michigan State Spartans and became a greater legend. So yes, following legends can be done.
There are other reasons to not defend Warlick either. Some have argued that the landscape of women’s basketball has changed. They would claim increased competitive atmosphere and short contract for Warlick made it hard for her to recruit. But that argument falls by the wayside when you consider that she is working with back to back top 5 recruiting classes.
And if you think recruiting rankings don’t mean anything, that still falls on her for misevaluating the talent herself. Either she misevaluated highly ranked recruits, or she failed to coach them up to their talent. I gave her the benefit of the doubt on both things while the program remained in transition, largely due to the concern that the Lady Vols may not get anybody else.
But the comments from Westbrook were the final straw. Warlick, who is a Vol for Life and a lifelong Lady Vols legend, has given a ton to the university. But her on-court results have underachieved. The program has regressed every year under her. So while the men’s program continues to reach new heights it never thought about, this was the right move for the women’s program.