Kim Caldwell, a Parkersburg South graduate, takes a job at Tennessee.
As only the team’s fourth head coach in the NCAA era, Tennessee athletic director Danny White moved swiftly and outside the storied Lady Vols program to choose Marshall coach Kim Caldwell.
On Sunday, only a few hours before the women’s national championship game, White made the hiring announcement. The Lady Vols haven’t participated in this match since they won Pat Summitt’s eighth and final national championship in 2008.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Caldwell will be presented, bringing an end to the hunt that began on April 1 when White dismissed Kellie Harper following five seasons at her alma mater with a 108-52 record. After going 172-67 in seven seasons, she was sacked, promoted to replace Summitt, and replaced Holly Warlick.
White released a statement, saying, “From the beginning, our goal has been to find a dynamic head coach who can restore our women’s basketball program to national prominence.” “Kim Caldwell would be a great leader for us.”
Caldwell will receive $750,000 in basic pay annually from Tennessee through March 2029 as part of the memorandum of understanding that was signed this morning. A provision for a compensation increase prior to May 1st of each season in which she wins a national championship is included in the agreement.
Caldwell’s accomplishments at Marshall, where she went 26-7 to secure the program’s second NCAA Tournament berth ever and first since 1997, earned her the 2024 Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award. In her eight seasons as head coach, she is 217-31.
She won seven NCAA Tournament bids and guided her alma mater Glenville State to the 2022 Division II national championship. As the WBCA’s NCAA Division II coach of the year for the 2021–2022 campaign, Caldwell was awarded the Pat Summitt Trophy.
In a statement, Caldwell expressed her humility at being picked for such a significant undertaking.
Caldwell stated, “I am struck by the immense responsibility and opportunity of now leading and carrying on the amazing Lady Vol tradition she built. I can’t help but reflect on accepting the Pat Summitt Trophy three seasons ago.”
Caldwell finished 17-1 in her lone season at Marshall, earning both the regular season and tournament crowns in the Sun Belt Conference.
Within the top five nationally in seven statistical categories was Marshall. With over ten 3-pointers made per game, they ranked third nationally in 3-pointers attempted and first in 3-pointers made. The Herd averaged 85.3 points per game, good for fourth place in the country.
The Herd broke the franchise record for the most victories in a season and were second in forcing 24.2 turnovers per game. Since 1990–91, Marshall had not won 20 games or more.
Caldwell, according to White, has a successful formula that combines pressure defense and a “high-octane offense” that yields results.
“We needed to find a creative head coach with a proven track record of winning titles in this new era of college sports,” White stated. “We are excited to take the Lady Vols back to a championship caliber, and we know that coach Kim Caldwell has what it takes to get us there.”
As a player, the Parkersburg, West Virginia, native assisted Glenville State in winning the 2011 Division II tournament. Later that year, she began her coaching career as an assistant at Ohio Valley University. She then worked as an assistant coach at Sacramento State for three seasons after returning for one season at Glenville State.
Caldwell coached her alma university to six Mountain East regular season crowns and four conference tournament titles after being hired as head coach in 2016. The four-time Mountain East coach of the year finished 191-24, including a league record of 132-12. She finished 35-1 and took home the national title in 2022. In 2023, she finished 33-3 and lost in the national semifinals.
This appointment marks the end of White’s first high-profile search for a Tennessee head coaching position since he hired Josh Heupel, a football coach from Central Florida, a few days after White was appointed AD in 2021.
When White was AD at Buffalo, he hired men’s basketball coaches Bobby Hurley, who is currently at Arizona State, and Nate Oats, whose Alabama Crimson Tide lost in the national semifinals on Saturday. In addition, White appointed Felisha Legette-Jack as the women’s program coach at Buffalo.
After going 199-115 and earning four NCAA Tournament invitations, she was hired in 2022 to coach Syracuse, her alma mater.
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