Everything New Lady Vols Basketball Assistant Coach Bill Ferrara Said in First Press Conference

This offseason, Lady Vols basketball added two new assistant coaches with the departures of Gabe Lazo and Roman Tubner. To replace them, Kim Caldwell made the splash hires of Bill Ferrara from Florida State and Isoken Uzamere from Georgia.

On Wednesday, Ferrara met with the media. He was asked about working with Caldwell, the craziness of building the roster through the portal and more. Here is what Ferrara said in his first time meeting with the media at Tennessee.

More From RTI: WATCH: Lady Vols Basketball New Assistant Coach Bill Ferrara Meets With the Media for First Time

On playing against Kim Caldwell, the Lady Vols with Florida State two years ago

“Through the years, I had a chance to meet Kim because I was at GW a long time ago while she was at Glenville State, and so very familiar with how she’s always coached and played, but leading up to that game, as a personal point for me, just so you guys know and everybody will know this, like, I’ve always wanted to lead the nation in scoring everywhere I’ve been and I knew that it was going to be Tennessee and Florida State that year. Like, I just knew it.

“And so going up to that game, I was like, this game might be 150-149. And that was an incredible game. Now it’s amazing now that I get to, instead of go at her and go against her every year for that kind of stuff, man, is it exciting to merge the two styles that way. And, yeah, we’re gonna try score 150 a game.”

On the similarities, differences between his and Caldwell’s offensive approach

“She loves to advance the ball with the pass. You guys know I had TaNiya Latson at Florida State, we’re going to advance it by just ramming it down your throat and dribbling all the way to the rim and then spraying. So I’d say that’s the main difference. She’s more of a five-out system and I’ve always been more four-out to five-out hybrid.

“And so, yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of similarities. Now, the math is all the same. We’re trying to get as many possessions as possible, and we did that. My teams have always turned it over at a low clip, like 11 times a game, and that’s a point of pride for me, and something that I know me and Kim have talked about. It’s like, hey, if we can figure out a way to play uber fast like this and then turn it over a little bit less, while still shooting a million threes, while still getting to the free throw line all the time and getting to the paint and spraying, it’s gonna be really fun.

“And I think that you can be extremely fast, extremely effective and efficient all at the same time. And so that’s gonna be fun for us to figure it out and add some of these new pieces to it and see where we land.”

On Northern Arizona transfer Naomi White

“She’s incredible. I’m super excited about all 15 that we have on the roster this year. Naomi, bringing the ability to score at literally every level and being fearless, because she’s one of the first ones to run to this, guys. Like she was the second one to commit to it in the portal season. Obviously, Gabby had said she was coming back, but for Naomi to do that and bet on herself a little bit and not be scared of a huge level jump from Northern Arizona to Knoxville. And for me, with her, she can shoot it off the dribble, she can shoot it off the catch, she can shoot it on the run, she can shoot it off of screens. I mean, man, that’s a weapon. So yeah, I’m very excited for that.”

On the team and staff reading a Pat Summitt book

“Well, literally, just got the book here from the Pat Summit Foundation last week and gave it out to the players. Okay, so it is just now in the infant stages of us starting to read it. But the most exciting part about it that is obviously, like, that’s a huge reason why I’m here. The tradition of Tennessee, and what Pat did for this place, this city, even, and this university, that’s super attractive to even the players that we’re talking to right now in the high school class of 2027, we’re trying to get back to that tradition and be in addition to that tradition.

“And so we have to know where we came from. And so Kim has spent the last couple of weeks reaching out to alums and to former coaches even that have been here. And so we’re bringing all these guys back. You guys will see some of that. I can’t tell you who all is coming back yet, but there’s going to be a lot of them coming back. And obviously, with Candace going into the Hall of Fame here pretty soon, some of them are naturally going to come back to celebrate her but, yeah, the book itself, that’s just a start, and I think that it’s going to be a fun bridge from the New Age Lady Vols to obviously the historic and Pat Summitt Age Lady Vols. And it’s super fun to get everybody to understand what that means.”

On if he has a favorite part of the book

“I have not read the book yet. So we got the book last week, and I haven’t read it.”

On who’s idea it was to read the book

“Coach Kim, yeah. And that was one of the first things that Kim said to me when I first got here, like, hey, listen, one of my blind spots here has been not educating our players on truly the tradition of the program, and just assuming that they knew. And so now that’s a huge part of it, and that’s all these like, as far as calling all the players back, the alumni back, calling the former coaches, like she’s doing that herself. And so it’s super exciting for me to see all that come together.”

On where he got his offensive approach from

“So it’s interesting, when I talked to Kim about it and asked her that question, it’s like, obviously, as a player, you were always taught a certain way of playing. She learned it from her coach in college, right? My style came from, I wasn’t a player in college, so it’s like, okay, how do I do this? Like, I was a video guy back then. And when you’re a video coordinator, and back then it was, I was filming practices for Billy Donovan at the University of Florida on the men’s side, okay, go over to be the graduate assistant for Carolyn Peck at Florida. You get tasked in those rooms with, hey, find out about this. And that’s how it started. It was literally like a video task for me.

“And back then it was Mike D’Antoni, seven seconds or less was that era with the Phoenix Suns. Everybody wanted to know what they’re doing, all that. So I studied that first as a kid growing up in New York, like I didn’t have up-tempo basketball as a part of my DNA. It was Pat Riley’s Knicks, which was the complete opposite. But back then it was on. And for anybody that grew up in New York, and maybe there’s a lot of people in Tennessee that did, you would on Saturday morning, there would be a movie you just had to watch. What was ever on guys like, for the Netflix era, like, you just watch what was on TV back then. And back then, it was the Hank Gathers story, which was a Loyola Maryamount Heart Attack Attack with Paul Westhead. And so as a kid, I only knew that was like, man, people are scoring 115 points a game. And then I start studying D’Antoni stuff. And then also, at the same time, Vance Walberg is helping John Calipari at Kentucky with his attack offense.

And so I kind of like merged all three of those things. And my first ever coaching job was at Central Michigan University for Sue Guevara. And Sue said, Mr. Bill, we’re at Central Michigan. We cannot recruit the best players in the country. However, I think we can build a system that will excite people and go find me an offense. Mr. Bill is literally what she said. And so I merged those three things, and we finished fourth in the country in scoring at Central Michigan and signed Crystal Bradford, who ended up being the first-ever WBA draft pick out of Central Michigan.”

On his reaction to getting a call from Caldwell

“First of all, it’s Tennessee that’s calling and so that is the no-brainer. That’s the hard stop. Like, whoa. Okay, you’ve got to take this call. Kim is somebody I’ve always respected as a coach, and the fact that we are aligned basketball-wise, is just a cherry on top to me to not have to sell playing this brand of basketball to a head coach or somebody. I’ve been a career assistant, like, I’ve always had to go to whoever I’m working with and be like, hey guys, like, I got this cool idea, you know. But for Kim, Kim knows how I see the game, and we see the game very similarly, and so that’s very fun for me. So yeah, I mean, it was because of Tennessee, and then the fact that it was Kim and me knowing how she wants to play. And honestly, like, at this stage of my career, guys, like, I want to be somewhere where I can have a chance of going to a Final Four. Tennessee hasn’t been to a Final Four in quite some time. I think that’s a pretty cool thing to chase. And so that’s what came about.”

On the impact Pat Summitt has had on him

“At the University of Florida, we brought up my time with Carolyn Peck as a graduate assistant, I was tasked with a scout. Like you don’t get scouts as graduate assistants. Okay, this is before video coordinators and one of our assistant coaches got sick. And when they get sick, it’s like, oh, you can still work from home, right? But, no, so Carolyn said, she called me Billings, she’s like Billings, I need you to help with the Tennessee scout. Okay? First ever scout I ever worked on was Candace Parker’s senior night, and we won the game, which was crazy. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of.

“But what you learn, and I learned more about the game of basketball in that week preparing for Tennessee and preparing for one of Pat’s teams than I ever did in all those years leading up to that, and Pat’s teams played so hard. They played with passion. They made you earn every single basket, they made you box out every single time. Otherwise, they were getting an offensive rebound. And so when you’re building a scout, I was basically just trying to be like, okay, where you try to find a weakness or whatever. That wasn’t it. There was no weaknesses. That’s the best player in the country in Parker, an incredible point guard, you know?

“And it was just one of these weird things where it’s like, I’m not going to find weaknesses, but what if you basically go right at the head of it. And so we went at Candace, and I can’t wait to talk to Candace about this, but we had Brittany Davis, who is a lesser-known player, guard her and get in her head a little bit. And it was an incredible basketball game, double overtime game. You guys can look it up. Yeah, but yes, that’s my learning experience about Pat. Obviously, there was championship success and Final Fours and all that, but like, that week of preparing for that game taught me so much about the game. And I was like, whoa, I know nothing about basketball.”

On if he took a peak at Summitt on the sideline

“No. And by the way, back then it’s like, I’m at the end of the bench. I don’t even own a suit at that point. It’s like, whatever. You know, it’s like, just because I had the scout and helped with the scout and all that kind of stuff, I was like one of the end of the bench all stars, which at the time, so was Brandon Miller, who we just hired from NC State. So he was one of the end of the bench all stars in Florida at the time, too. And so he was a part of that game, as well. We went to Calhouns on the river the night before the game. To this day, still the best, at that point, young version of me, best meal in my life. And so, yeah, no, you don’t. I’ve never once looked down. But at the end of the game, though, you do get to shake hands and one of the people that I shook hands with them was Dean, you know, Dean, and he was a male assistant. As a young guy, seeing a male assistant be at Tennessee, that was a big deal for me. And so, yeah, looking up to Dean for a long time, and getting a chance to connect with him too, not just Pat, it was cool for me.”

On what he’s learned about Knoxville

“Man, first of all, this is five times the city that Tallahassee is. Tallahasse is a town, okay? And I loved our time there, but there’s so much to do. And I’m so excited about having my family get here after school is out. They’ll be here in early June. Beautiful mountains. We get to go hiking. Now, my wife is super excited about that food, incredible, huge foodie. So that’s going to be big for me. Like getting a chance to experience everywhere in the restaurant. If you guys have any recommendations for stuff like that, please send them to me. But yeah, no, it’s just going to be an amazing place to live. So excited about that. But when everybody asks, like, oh man, like, what have you done in Knoxville so far, I’ve been on recruiting visits every single day for a two-week stretch. Like I have not done enough yet, but I’m ready to explore.”

On his social media presence

“I guess I’ve been a Twitter guy, right? Like, forever. I like social media. I will be on X, I will be on Instagram. Like, you will see me posting on stuff like that all the time. But the reality is one of the huge reasons why I’m here is our fan base. I know they are starved. I know they are ready for a winner and like, there was also a part of me that was like, there were people, I listened to stuff and people were like, oh man, Tennessee’s got no players, and how are they going to sign a team? And I was like, okay, dude. Like, we’re gonna sign a team here in about two weeks, and so part of me was like, alright, let me just post this out.

“And it was exciting for me, because I knew what this fan base is about, and I knew they would get excited about it and they were, and it was fun for that, they all interact with me. And I’m not gonna respond to every DM, but there are a lot of people who DM me throughout all that kind of stuff. So I did it for the fans. Hope they enjoyed it, felt like they did. And obviously, we won’t be signing 15 players, but you know, we’ll have a couple more gifs to post here in the next couple months.”

On working with Caldwell

“Laser focused. She’s a leader. She has a vision. She’s not scared to do hard things. It’s been incredible for me. I’ve worked with a lot of places, worked with a lot of great leaders. And for me to see from the inside, somebody who took a lot of heat for what happened over the past year and get back to herself, it’s been one of the coolest things for me, and I’ve been doing this for a long time. That is one of the hardest things to do as a leader, which she did, made some tough decisions, and just really is building it the way she wants to build now.

“We’ve been having a lot of conversations like that, where I’m just like, Kim, what did you think about this? What did all this kind of stuff, what was this like when you experienced it? I’m so excited to learn from her. And I know I’m older, but like, man, I walk in her office and I see all her championship rings and that kind of stuff is cool to me. I want to be where she’s been. I want to coach in the Final Four with her, and so I’m super excited. But, yeah, it’s the focus, it’s the vision, it’s the execution of all that stuff. She led a meeting yesterday, and everybody, we have a lot of new people on staff, right? We got Brandon Miller from NC State. We got Coach Eas from Georgia, who played for me at Hofstra. Like, I’m super excited about that, too. Like, all three of us left that meeting were like this is about to be pretty, pretty cool. And so, yeah, that’s the main thing is what a leader she is, and I’m super excited to be a part of it.”

On working with Isoken Uzamare (Coach Eas), her recruiting

“Just wait till you get her in a room like this, like she’s gonna make you guys laugh the whole time. Yeah, Eas is, I’ve known Eas since she was a kid, okay? And technically, I was a kid too. Back then, I was a young coach, but having a chance to coach somebody and now coach alongside her, after coaching against her for a long time. My record against Eas coaching is terrible, like I’ve lost to Eas at literally every school she’s ever been at. But no, she’s one of the best recruiters in the country. She’s one of the best position coaches for post players in the country. Obviously, it’s a huge get for us to have her here, and I’m super excited to work with her now, super proud of her, she’s earned that, and she’s grown into this elite recruiter.

“She’s always been the same. Now she was recruiting like this when she was with me at Hofstra, like, we would just stick her on the best players and have her be the host of everybody. And people were like, well, how’s Hofstra so good? Like, why is Hofstra in the top 25 and all this kind of stuff. It’s like, well, we had a great recruiter as a player, and so, yeah, nice. Was incredible in the portal, the stuff that she was doing for this program, guys, coaching the Nigerian National Team against WNBA players, taking red eye flights, coming back and helping us sign players, and I’m talking good ones, and then go ahead and take another flight back out to help coach that team. Incredible. And if that’s just a tease of what she’s going to do for this program. And I know it’s everywhere, like I will give my all for Tennessee today. She’s been giving it ever since she got here, and everybody should be pumped that she’s here.”

On Texas A&M transfer Fatmata Janneh

“That’s huge. Fats is another personality, though. Watch how you get those two in a room together, and Fats’ commitment is an iconic story. I’ll let her tell the story, but like her actual commitment to Tennessee was one of the coolest things ever. And, yeah, that’s big. We need a rebounder like that. She’s a proven SEC star. She is an older player that is experienced and is a pro and so very excited about Fats. She knows what it’s like to be in the SEC, she’s hungry. It’s a big thing with all 15 okay, they are hungry for more. They are ready. They have a chip on their shoulder. Fats has never been to an NCAA tournament. Okay, well, she’s gonna experience that this year, and she knows that we don’t just have NCAA Tournament expectations either. So very excited for her. Huge get for us…

“And more importantly, like, from a personality standpoint, now you guys are excited about the rebounding like, Fats’ personality is somebody that you want to be around her, she is funny and, like, there’s been a lot of studies on that kind of stuff when you’re building a team from scratch, like we are, obviously, and you inject somebody with that kind of personality. It’s a stressful thing. Everybody’s learning together. She can’t help but make the whole room laugh. And so it’s going to be super fun for us to have that too.”

On not doing fancy recruiting visits, bringing out Lamborghinis

“It’s funny that you say that it’s like, one of the first things I said to Kim, I was like, hey, and this is on the very first phone calls. Like, alright, and I haven’t been offered the job yet, but we’re just having conversations and I was like, okay, here’s the deal. Like, I’m excited. I want to be part of this. Tennessee’s not a place that you do Lambos at. Like, that’s just not it. So, yeah, the pitch is Kim’s personality. We’re going to tell you the real, we’re going to tell you how is, how hard it’s going to be. We’re going to tell you what it’s going to be, really, like, you got a question? Great. We’re going to answer everything, I watched her answer every question honestly.

“And kids in the portal have either had a bad experience or they’re looking for a better one. They had a good one, and they want a better one. You know how valuable it is that I sat in there and watched Kim just tell everybody the truth about every single thing, every single question. So yeah, that’s what we did on all the visits. We just told them how it’s going to be said, it’s going to be hard. We said we’re going to be waking you up at six in the morning on Fridays, and we’re going to be running you on the track. We said that we’re going to be pressing everybody. And that’s the best way to attract what you want. You want hard-working kids with a chip on their shoulder? You have to tell them what it’s going to be like. You can’t roll out Lamborghinis and lie to them. So, it’s been fun for me to watch Kim do that.”

On if that helps build a team

“There’s no question. And I think that Stan Van Gundy has said this multiple times and Stan’s thing is culture is who you allow in the room. Well, I also think that whatever you put out is what you’re going to get back and so we want the hard workers, we want the kids that are going to run to it and know what they’re running into. And so that’s been super fun for me. I think it’s going to help us. From day one, they know it’s going to be hard. They want the hard. Let’s go, let’s embrace it, let’s do it.”