On January 19, Pat Summitt earned her 900th victory as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Following that achievement, CSTV.com solicited questions from its readers for Coach Summitt to answer. After an overwhelming response, we selected some of the best that were sent in. Here are those questions, along with Coach Summitt's response.
1) In the past, the coaching staff and you sat amongst the players on the bench during games. Now the coaches all sit together at the head of the bench. Why did you change?
When I first started coaching, we sat at the head and we made the change so that we could have coaches sitting on either side with post people to the left, guards to the right. It was for communication as we didn't have the best team chemistry at the time; we wanted our assistants to be able to communicate. We changed back because I felt that we had a team that was together, on the same page and their chemistry was not a problem. We put our graduate assistants now between the players. I wanted to be closer to the court, at a lot of arenas I felt like I was at the end of the bench when I wasn't sitting at the head of it.
2) First of all, congrats on your 900th win - you rock! If Hollywood came to you and said they wanted to do a movie about your coaching success and the empire you've worked so hard to create at UT, who would you like to see play Pat Summitt and why?
Geena Davis because she plays the roles of leaders that take charge in her movies.
3) Hi Coach: You're a pioneer. Your significant accomplishments as a coach have had a major impact on women's sports, and not just basketball. What motivates you to continue coaching women's college basketball versus coaching a professional team or becoming a motivational speaker?
I love the college game, I think it's the best game going and I really have no desire to coach at the professional level. I do three to five motivational speeches a year for various corporations. That is something I may do more of when I retire from coaching.
4) Congrats on your 900th win, Coach Summitt! I am a high school coach and sometimes I find it difficult to get through to some players. I feel as if I am often rambling and not really getting my point across. Can you offer any suggestions as to how I can keep my discussions and explanations clear and to the point without boring my players? Best of luck to you and the Lady Vols for the remainder of the season!
Keep it short and simple, and use the right terminology. It's all about having your system in place. You have to make it competitive, which is my way of making it fun and challenging. Within your basketball system, develop terminology that they understand. Don't use 30 words when five are sufficient. You coach in practice to prepare to coach in a game. You don't have time for excess words in the timeout of a game.
5) The amount of success you've had in coaching transcends both gender and profession. Many times you've said that if you were not coaching, you would be a teacher. What is the passion you have for teaching? How did it develop? I think it is such a great thing you do with the time and effort you put into developing these kids into people of great character both on and off the court. The level of integrity that you yourself display and instill in these young minds is a rare find in any arena these days, especially sports. Congratulations on all your success.
My parents made education a priority for our family. If the doors were open at school, we were there. I never missed a day in 12 years. I had some great teachers along the way. One of my favorites was my first-grade teacher Ms. Davis. She was always about attention to detail and getting things right. I also had some great coaches. Ultimately, we learn from other people and we develop our own style of teaching and coaching. My goal is to teach young people the valuable life skills that my parents taught me and my avenue for doing that is basketball.
6) Obviously, you have one of the most highly recruited teams in women's college basketball history, and quite possibly in men's basketball as well. Do you see this team as the most talented and athletic one that you've ever coached? And do you feel this team has the focus and chemistry to achieve that "settle for nothing less" mentality that is Tennessee basketball?
This team is certainly one of the most talented that we've had at Tennessee. I think that this team is still growing and with the schedule that we have, I'm optimistic that by postseason they will be a very seasoned basketball team ready to make a run in the NCAAs.
7) How do you manage to balance your coaching job and being a wife and a mom?
It's all about time management and setting priorities. I'm fortunate to have great support from my husband and my son, and I also have a personal assistant that does a lot to allow me to do what I do. When I'm at work, I'm at work and when I'm at home, I try to leave the job behind. If there is a game, men's or women's on television, we do watch it. It helps tremendously that my family is into basketball - my son plays it. But during the off-season, we'll go play golf and do things as a family that don't relate to basketball.
8) If you had to pick one win that was the most important of your career, what was it?
I think the most important win in my career was the 1987 championship game. We had been to seven Final Fours and four title games before we finally won the championship. That win in Austin, Texas, got us over the hump. We knew then that we could win championships.
9) Coach Summitt, I saw the women's basketball program, which aired on CBS on Sunday. I enjoyed seeing the family side of you with your son, Tyler. You said that you wouldn't coach Tyler - has he ever said that he would like you to be his coach? I must say that if you were my mom I would definitely want you to be my coach.
I won't coach Tyler because I don't want to confuse him. I want him to listen to his high school coach. He does ask my opinion and I do work with him in the summer, or I'll go to the gym and rebound for him if he wants me to. He has said that he would like to be a coach and he would like to start his career with the Lady Vols.
10) What is the magic of the Orange? We are amazed at the loyalty it brings forth from fans all over the globe.
It's the history, aura and mystique that have been developed over time. Tennessee Orange is unique to college sports.
11) After playing both UConn and Duke with very different results, do you believe that Duke is that much better than UConn, or was this partly a great night for Duke and a poor night for Tennessee?
I think both UConn and Duke have great teams. Duke played a great game against us and their defense had a lot to do with how we played. A UConn vs. Duke game would be a terrific match-up.
12) As a Tennessee fan, but one who went to school at Duke, I was at the game Monday night. I would like to say the degree of professionalism you showed was tremendous. I was taken back by the negative cheering that the Duke students exhibited. The incident with the Wal-Mart bags was in poor taste. I know you can only be so prepared. How do you mentally prepare your team for crowd reactions such as those? The Duke crowd took the Tennessee fans out of the game very early. Why not bring your band and cheerleaders for added support?
The Duke students and fans provide a great home-court advantage for their men's and women's teams. We thought we had covered with our players the type of environment that they would go into, but we were not prepared for some of what we saw and heard.
13) How do you think Shanna Zolman will take this non-scoring game against a team like Duke?
I think Shanna will learn and grow from the Duke game. So will our team.
14) Are you happy with the way your team has improved on defense and rebounding?
No, I'm not happy with our defense and our rebounding. This has been a point of emphasis over the last five games in particular. The loss to Duke should help our focus and commitment to defense and boards.
15) What was the last year that Tennessee had their names on their jerseys?
The 2003-04 season was the last time. Prior to that, 1978 was the last time we didn't have our names on our jerseys.
16) Who is the best women's player you have ever seen? Coached?
I coached Chamique Holdsclaw and Bridgette Gordon. I was fortunate enough to coach Cheryl Miller in the 1984 Olympic team. I think those three ladies are some of the best to ever play the game.
17) What do you remember about your early years as coach at Tennessee when the players and you were about the same age?
At age 22, with my seniors that were 21 years of age, it was extremely important for me not to be a buddy but for them to see me as a professional and as a disciplinarian.
18) When did you start to realize that Tennessee basketball was Tennessee basketball, an institution in the women's game, and how did you deal with the additional pressure that brought?
The 1996 Olympics and the success of that women's basketball team and the success of women's sports in general brought a different level of recognition and awareness to all women's sports and, in particular, basketball. When we won the 1996 championship, I think that I started to realize what Tennessee had accomplished. I did not look at it as additional pressure, but as a very positive step for all of us in the game.
19) I'm dying for your Jalapeno Cornbread recipe. Pretty please with butter on it!
4 cans of shoepeg corn
1 stick of margarine or butter, your choice
1 stick of Philadelphia cream cheese
1 jar of jalapeno peppers
Directions: Put the four cans of corn in a casserole dish, melt the margarine and cream cheese in the microwave. Stir and pour over the corn. Depending on how hot you want the dish, add peppers and juice accordingly. I usually put a couple teaspoons of peppers and pour a few tablespoons of the juice. Stir and then put it in the oven on 350 for 40-45 minutes.
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