Kim Caldwell is officially in the hot seat. The Tennessee Volunteers’ season, which was barely holding up, descended into rock bottom. They finished the season with 7 straight losses. But more importantly, that was not all. When combined with multiple off-court controversies, the situation is turning into a nightmare for Caldwell.

First, she blamed her players for “quitting on her” after a blowout loss to South Carolina. Then, Kaiya Wynn cited Caldwell’s snub on senior night as the “breaking point.” Then, Caldwell substituted Talaysia Cooper in a 76-64 loss to No. 11 seed Alabama as a “coach’s decision.” Now, Angel McCoughtry, a 2-time Gold Medalist and former Minnesota Lynx star, has rained down criticism on the Lady Vols coach. 

“Kim Caldwell, you are about to be on my list for rinky-dink coaches,” she said on the “Court Vision” podcast. “Signs of a rinky-dink coach. What are they? They lack responsibility and blame their players when they lose instead of it being a collective group. They are not leaders; they don’t communicate,” she explained.

Caldwell herself agreed that her comments on players quitting on her were “not a flattering moment.” Andraya Carter, a former Lady Vol, also condemned Caldwell’s treatment of her players. “There’s very little belief in this Tennessee locker room when I watch them,” she said. “You can believe when things are going well, but when things are hard, what do you believe in? and Tennessee, taking the intangibles out … they don’t seem like they’re having fun; they don’t seem like they enjoy each other.”

At least from the outside perspective, it seems the locker room has lost trust in their coach. Even if her tactics of constant pressing and hockey-like turnovers took them to the Elite 8, it needs trust to work. If the players don’t buy into the idea, the execution becomes exponentially difficult. That explains their 16-13 record, 38th-best offense, and 42nd-best defense (per Barttorvik).

“I think Kim Caldwell lost the plot. And in doing so, might have lost the locker room,” Ros Gold-Onwude said. “I think she lost track of the human side of coaching that goes beyond the X’s and O’s.”

Despite it looking like the program is in ruins, Athletic Director Danny White gave her his full backing. “I think she is doing a great job,” White said earlier this week, as reported by the Knox News. “I’m as confident in her as I was the day I hired her. (I’m) more confident just getting a chance to work more closely with her and see how talented she is as a basketball mind and as a leader.” Well, people around him don’t agree. 

Tennessee AD Danny White Urged To Fire Kim Caldwell

Kim Caldwell replaced Kellie Harper as the head coach before last season. Harper led Tennessee to 2 Elite 8s and two second-round appearances. And as a 21-year coaching veteran, Harper is far more experienced than Caldwell. On the other hand, Caldwell came to Tennessee after serving as Marshall’s head coach during the 2023-24 season. She guided Marshall to a 26-7 (17-1 SBC) record and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Caldwell did serve as head coach at Glenville State from 2016-23, where she compiled a 191-24 record and won the 2022 NCAA Tournament Division II championship. As the situation deteriorates, insiders like Tony Basilio suggest that Director Danny White is unwilling to admit he made a hiring mistake.

“Multiple people have gone to the AD, including, I believe, kids around the program, and have encouraged him to make a change,” said Basilio. “I don’t think he (White) wants to admit that he made a mistake. But here’s the truth: There are no secrets in sports. Everybody knows this thing is totally volatile. The people they bring in next year, player-wise, are going to be brought in for monetary reasons only, and you’re right back where you were. A bunch of people are going to transfer out.”

Tennessee is on the edge of not making the NCAA Tournament. Remember, it is the only women’s basketball program to make every NCAA Tournament since its inception. Currently, the latest bracketology has Tennessee (16-13) as a No. 8 seed after its loss to Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Despite sneaking in, Tennessee is set to tie the mark for the fewest number of wins by an at-large team over the last 40 years. “He’s hearing from people that, ‘Hey, you’ve got to pull the plug,'” added Basilio. Caldwell will officially learn her NCAA Tournament fate during Selection Sunday on March 15.