Coaches certainly invoke their families at press conferences from time to time. But Tennessee Lady Volunteers women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell did so in an interesting way Wednesday after their narrow 87-85 win over the Florida State Seminoles, saying her grandmother contacted her with questions about the 18-point lead they had at one point and lost:
Best opening statement you’ll see this week. #LadyVols
“My grandma texted and was like what happened, I said it was a terrible halftime speech.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/W0q7sEq6rV
— Casey Kay (@caseykaytv) December 5, 2024
“Not a great win, but we’ll take it. Nothing like blowing an 18-point lead. My grandma texted and said ‘What happened?’, and I said ‘It was a terrible halftime speech.'”
That’s a terrific line from Caldwell, not just for the discussion of her grandmother’s comments but for the self-deprecating remark about her own halftime speech after. She’s in her first season coaching Tennessee, and is just the fourth coach in the program’s NCAA history, following Pat Summitt (1974-2012), Holly Warlick (2012-19), and Kellie Harper (2019-24), but entered it with a .875 winning percentage as a head coach across time at Glenville State (Division II) and Marshall. And she’s 6-0 with the Vols so far, and got off a great presser quip here after this win.
[Casey Kay on X]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.