Does a loss to Vanderbilt seal Holly Warlick’s fate?
Dropping a home game to the Commodores for the first time ever, Holly Warlick’s seat has never been hotter.
The calls for Holly Warlick’s job are nothing new. After Thursday night’s 76-69 loss, they’re going to get louder.
They started three seasons ago when the Lady Vols finished 22-14 (8-8), tying them for 7th in the SEC, their worst finish ever. That team made a run to the Elite Eight, however, so the cries died down.
As it turned out, those silenced cries wouldn’t remain muted for long.
The next season, they went 20-12 (10-6) and were bounced in the second round of the NCAA tournament. They followed that up with last year’s performance of 25-8 (11-5) and another second round exit.
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Through it all, an argument for holding onto Warlick could be made pretty easily. The program continues to bring in Top 5 recruiting classes, only three schools have reached the Elite Eight more than Tennessee in the past six seasons, and this season’s team is very young.
After the first ever win by the Commodores in Knoxville in 34 attempts, however, even the strongest Warlick supporters are left speechless.
Vanderbilt came into the game with a 6-21 record, 1-13 in conference. The lone win came against Ole Miss, a team who is 3-11 in conference themselves.
I’ve been a pretty loud supporter of Holly from the get-go. Following Pat Summitt was always going to be a no-win situation for whoever took the job, and three Elite Eight appearances in her first four seasons was incredible. I also think Tennessee supporters have an inflated view of what their program is in relation to the rest of the country.
It is still a premier job, of course. But it’s not the premier job anymore. Final Four or bust is a foolish level of expectation for any program, save the one up north.
What isn’t foolish is expecting the team to remain competitive in the conference year in and year out, even in “down” years. After tonight’s loss, they sit in tenth place.
Look, it is unlikely anything will happen in-season. It would be shocking news tomorrow that Holly has been relieved of her duties or that she is stepping down. Her newest contract takes her through the 2021-22 season.
With that said, for the first time, I’m allowing to believe that maybe the offseason will be a different story. The team cannot keep going down the path they are currently on, and the job would be the most coveted job to open in years.
Maybe the school wants a fresh voice and they throw the checkbook at Becky Hammon, or maybe the call up the legend in Kara Lawson and convince her to leave the booth. Maybe they even stray from tradition and allow themselves to consider hiring a man, reaching out to Jeff Walz or Vic Schaefer.
What I do know is that regardless, the Holly haters have never had more ammunition, and they will run the night unabashed. I still believe the Lady Vols can be successful under her leadership; I just don’t know if she has enough time to fix what is clearly broken.
In a game that might have saved the job of her counterpart at Vanderbilt, Steph White, tonight could very well be the most damning piece of evidence in the case of Holly Warlick v. The People.
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