After weighing the options and sifting through possible scenarios, Brian Pensky decided to take the head coaching job at Tennessee.

Then he changed his mind — he was going keep the same position at Maryland.

Then he changed his mind again.

Pensky’s wife, Abby, may have been the one who made the deal happen.

“It’s kind of like jumping in a pool,” Pensky recalled his wife saying. “When you jump in, it’s going to be a little cold at first — a little uncomfortable. And then it’s going to get warm and you’re going to love it.

“You’ve just kind of got to jump.”

Pensky dove in, and was officially introduced as the Lady Vols’ new head coach Tuesday at Regal Soccer Stadium.

“(There was) lots of excitement (in deciding to come to UT),” said Pensky. “But honestly, before that excitement came borderline terror in thinking about telling the people at the University of Maryland.”

The fact that Pensky was weary to leave his home, the players and the program he helped rebuild gave Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart even more confidence that he found the right person for the job.

“I thought we would have had the wrong person had he not felt that way,” Hart said. “Brian Pensky fit the profile absolutely ideally in the sense that he’s a wonderful person, he’s a terrific family person ... deeply cared about the young women on his soccer team. Everyone I talked to said that, first and foremost.”

Pensky echoed the same sentiment and said, above all, soccer is about people.

“It goes back to people, it goes back to relationships,” said Pensky. “Because this stuff, all the greatness that’s going to happen out here (on the field) will end, and it’s going to be about people.”

It was Hart’s first head coaching hire since being hired from Alabama in September.

After 16 years as a UT coach, 12 as head coach, Angela Kelly took the head coaching position at Texas on Dec. 17. The Lady Vols went 15-7 last season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.

Kelly went 160-84-20, while taking UT to nine NCAA Tournaments, including five Sweet 16 appearances.

Joe Kirt, who served as interim head coach in Kelly’s absence, will remain at UT as the assistant coach.

Pensky comes to Tennessee after serving as Maryland head coach for seven seasons, posting a 67-52-20 record. He was named Soccer America’s Coach of the Year in 2010, and guided the Terps to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the Sweet 16 twice.

“This is a big move for me — a life move,” Pensky said. “I thought I was going to die in the state of Maryland. I thought I was going to retire at the University of Maryland ... I’ve been in the state of Maryland 39 of the 43 years of my life.

“In the recruiting process, everybody asks you what’s your dream job. I (was) sitting in my dream job. ... It did take, at the end of the day, a special person, and a special situation to take me away from Maryland.”

Pensky inherited a struggling program at Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference, arguably the toughest women’s soccer league in the country. The Terps improved their record in each of Pensky’s first four seasons at the helm, but did not get above the .500 mark. In 2009, Maryland went 14-6-2 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

In 2010, Maryland went 18-2-3 and earned a No. 1 seed for the tournament.

“We accomplished some great, great things (at Maryland),” Pensky said. “I wouldn’t be here if we couldn’t achieve the same, if not more, at the University of Tennessee. We can be outstanding here.

“This is an adventure, and an outstanding adventure.”