Former Lady Vol head coach Pat Summitt sat in the stands, watching as her coaching era ended with a loss. The program she worked so hard to build wasn’t able to win without her.
The team lost 80-71 to Chattanooga on Friday.
That, in and of itself, is shocking enough, but there’s more.
The team is 25-7 overall against the Lady Mocs and 8-2 when playing away, but the team hasn’t lost to Chattanooga since 1973. That’s 39 years.
This means Summitt had never lost a game to Chattanooga. From the year Summitt came on staff to the year she stepped down, the Lady Vols had gone 19-0 over Chattanooga.
In her first regular season game, Lady Vol head coach Holly Warlick wasn’t able to pull the team together in time to save the team’s winning streak.
The disappointment is apparent, but no one seems to question whether Warlick is right for the job.
In an earlier press conference, Warlick said she had never coached a game and she didn’t know how she’d do as a coach, but her fans, her friends and more importantly her players had faith that she was the only person who could step into Summitt’s shoes with any authority.
To Lady Vols fans, coaches and players, the loss was an unexpected bump in a road that leads to victory.
It’s rare to find a team with a fan base (including assistant coachers and players) supportive of their coach’s decisions and leadership, especially in the SEC.
But the Lady Vols are a unique set of individuals. They’re supportive, they’re excitable and they’re faithful.
Whether they’re donning “We Back Pat” shirts, flooding into Thompson-Boling Arena for an exhibition game or just discussing basketball by the water cooler at work, Lady Vols supporters have taken on a role they hadn’t sought.
They’re an example to every sports fan, critic, player or coach in the nation.
The negative vibes pulsing throughout the country based on wins and/or losses is overpowering. It takes strength to say something positive about a coach who hasn’t lived up to the high standards set before them.
Regardless of whether a team wins or loses, whether the coach makes bad decisions or makes the game-winning call, sports fans would do well to take a page from the Lady Vols fan book and support the men and women who lead the teams they love.
Sometimes a coaching change is necessary…
