On Sunday, Lady Vols basketball got close, but couldn’t get over the hump against Texas. Instead, despite having a chance to win it at the buzzer, Tennessee fell 65-63.
After the game, Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer met with the media. While fielding a question, he took things in a different direction and began to compare his job to Kim Caldwell’s at Tennessee.
Here is what he said about coaching at historic programs and the weight that comes with it:
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“At the end of the day, I don’t think anybody out there wants to walk in Coach Caldwell or my shoes,” Schaefer said. “At the two of the most tradition-rich women’s basketball programs in the history of the game. In my opinion, Texas, Tennessee and Stanford, those people didn’t show up in the ’90s. Those schools had been here since Day One.
“When I take over at Texas and Coach takes over here, were here not to be good. Good will get you fired. And so for us, trying to get our kids to be great, because that’s what is required at our schools. And that’s what we signed up for. This isn’t a nice life job. If you want a nice life job, go to some three-name directional school where they don’t care. You don’t go to Tennessee or Texas to retire.
“But we know what we signed up for. But before you go criticizing coaches who sacrifice time with family, with children, she’s got a newborn. But before you go criticizing them on social media, you come walk in their shoes. And that’s our job to get it to these kids to let them know. I basically had my legs cut out from under me on so many things with today’s world in how college athletics is, but I will not give in to teaching these kids accountability, responsibility.
“That’s my job. That comes with the territory of being the head coach of Texas, Tennessee and, you know what, should be anywhere. But a lot of people won’t do it because they’re worried about their paycheck. But that’s my job. I care enough about these kids that I want them to learn that.”
