Longtime Lady Vols writer talks firing of Kellie Harper 

The loss snatched from the jaws of victory to South Carolina in the SEC tournament sealed the deal. As it is Dawn Staley is poised to take over the region for a long while, A conundrum has been created trying to keep it constrained to Pat's lineage and Tennessee. So now 2 coaches dismissed in as recent a decade.

I agree, sad to see Kellie go and cast a wide net... seems like a good call to not limit it to prior Lady Vols. Wishing Kellie the best for the future

Maria is a legend in her own right! I trust her on all things lady vols! Can’t wait for her to give us some news on possible candidates for the job!

She was in an impossible situation, following in the footsteps of the best women's coach ever. Women's basketball is much more competitive than it was 20 years ago with several more powerhouses.

I hate it. KJH is as loyal VFL as you can wish for. Class act. I realize it’s all about the win column.

Good move DW. Lady vols can and should do better.

It's about time Vols need a coach that can recruit elite talent

What I don't understand is Tennessee hasn't been good since Pat Summit earlier days of coaching. I thought she done a good job.

Everyone wanted her to succeed- and while she was good she wasn’t great and didn’t meet the standard this historic program expects. These are hard decisions but necessary

Good job, Maria. No one better covering the LVs.

Good move DW. We need a top level coach. I want to win a championship.

Kellie Harper is not the one that should have been fired ... and as a result it will be a hot mess going forward

Seems a lot of Pat's former players are getting fired. Kyra Elzy just got fired but UK made a homerun hire with Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech

Wes Moore would never accept this coaching job. He is a very close friend of Jon & Kellie.

Kara Lawson? You hope when you make a fire like this you have a replacement in the wings.

Whomever they get is gonna be after the 3-4 Year Bag💰💰💰 Because if they don’t Win like Pat Did (Which is Not Gonna Happen) they already know they are going to get the Axe!!! Hope Coach Harper goes on to have a Very Successful Career Somewhere that She isn’t Competing with a Legendary Coach and is Appreciated for Her Hard Work!!!

It's firing season. This is when you can get the biggest draws. Pony it up for a proven coach.

Wes Moore would be great. Loved him when he was at UT Chattanooga. But he’s doing great things at NC State.

Many Volunteer fans (and I'm one of them) were shocked and dismayed by the injustice of Kelli's dismissal and like Pat Summitt remain proud of her on and off the hardwood. With a resume sporting significant athletic accomplishments both as a fierce player and demanding coach she is a role model for young women and an ambassador for the sport and Kellie will land on her feet to coach again. But in my opinion the future of women's basketball at UT is not as bright or certain. What sane coach would want to coach there doomed by high expectations from the Pat Summitt era at Tennessee? Kellie made the NCAA Tournament four out of her five seasons coaching Rocky Top and the Lady Vols have been in the Sweet 16 in each of the past two seasons! And injuries for key players which kept them on the sidelines prevented even better results. Few active college coaches in women's basketball can boast a better record today. UT needs to seriously consider that if not carefully managed the biggest enemy of excellence in college sports can be unreasonable demands by the alumni association for perfection.

YET they didn't ask the question,was she FIRED because of that SC LOSS!!

It's South Carolina time and era. You have to compete will Texas NIL money as well. LSU not going anywhere. And other schools around the nation are competitive. You're going to the final four or competing for SEC titles every year.

I think they made a mistake 😢

SHE HAD TO GO...BOTTONLINE __CRY BABY 😢 & WEAK...

The lack of recruiting was the main issue for me... She couldn't bring in HS talent... Only portal talent... And this was before having to deal with NIL...

Simply put, Kellie could not bring the LV to dominance. Instead, after 5 seasons, we only got mediocrity. Time to move on and find a winner. Danny White will do just that. GO LADY VOLS!!!!

decent coach but a horrible recruiter.

Vanderbilt,Memphis, Tennessee State, or Tennessee Tech, SMU all the universities in the State of Tennessee should be interested in hiring Kellie Harper as their new coach we all make mistakes & sometimes an new chance of scenery is good.......

You are judged on wins and loses. Having a losing record against top 25 competition in five years isn't going to get the job done! Danny White will make the correct hire!

Nick Saban!

❤ Maria

What star recruit would wanna come this yr, now, star 5n4 Star high Schooñ Jr. Also crossing out Tenn now

That's hard as player esp when you've been switching to try to find the right fit and you do. I know its hard as a coach as well.

Gotta give more time 5 yrs is just not enough sorry

I don’t think it matters because the glory days for Tennessee is over

Maria is awesome, best reporter in the business. Kara Lawson has a worse record than KJH, and it has been said she uses negative recruiting against the Vols on the recruiting trail.

So if the Lady Vols don't make it to the Final Four every year they're just going to keep firing the coach?

Well I hate to say this because they should not fired her and so since they fired her and they should fired rick Barnes because he didn't make the final four and how long since Tennessee win the championship

This is a ridiculous firing. if they won the SEC title and they were probably one play away from doing so is she fired? Yes they should have beaten South Carolina in the semis they probably would have beaten an injury plagued and controversy plagued tiger team in the final. But even just beating an unbeaten South Carolina team in the semis of the SEC championship they would not have fired her so that one play made all the difference. I hope Harper goes to another conference gets a team and has some success. Or hell I hope she goes to the Gators and can build them up but that will take a few years and she probably wants a ready-made team.

Tennessee basketball 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Speak for yourself. I am glad a change has been made. And why would anybody dress like that on national TV. Smh

She is fired well can they make a better choice?

She's not a reporter, she's a zealot.

Tenn will never ever have another Pat Summit because Pat Summit as I have read made the Lady Vols what it had become from scratch. Tenn lady vols time as the most dominate team in ladies basketball is over. You can't recreate another dominate very talented coach the likes of Pat Summit

She made her season about making the games against S Carolina Close. They would play SC close and get blown out by LSU… Why??

20 plus wins every year to the big dance. U found one better.?

Tennessee has made a big mistake kellie was a great coach danny white is a terrible athletic director

nothing personal but she had to go … NOW PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THE RX PLAYER BS AS COACH

Here we go again. Typical FICKLE Tennessee sport leadership. Danny, ….controlled by big money booster donors. Big money with little brains! K. Harper is an excellent coach. (I hate that this happened to you. The Lady Vols will suffer as a result!) Hate to break the news to you big money boosters, but the dynasty that Pat Summitt built can never be repeated. Pat Summitt changed women’s basketball / changed its status / changed its competitiveness / set the new high standards for all other women’s basketball programs across the nation. Now it is extremely competitive and extremely difficult. And now with “transfer portal” a big factor, it only adds greatly to the difficulties coaches face. Good luck Kellie. You will be quick hired into another coaching position. After the big money boosters cry a while over the next 2-4 years when they see how much worse it will be for the Lady Vols, and after they replace a few more head coaches over the next few years,…they will realize the huge mistake they made in firing you.

She could have been given more time to turn the program around. 😢

I can't believe they fired Kellie harper after her tourney success

Firing Coach harper is a dumb move. She had a winning record. The next coach better be a big name.

Kara lawson

Can we offer Bruce Pearl?

She is a good Coach. This is a bad decision.

Kara Lawson

Fire the AD. Not patient

Glad she is gone now get her out of knoxville forever she is a horrible coach

I hate to see Kellie leave but the only one I see to take her place is Candace Parker she knows how to win!!!!

“Expecting” conference and national championships is naive and disrespectful of every other program in your conference and across the country!!!