at Tennessee, I got the Lady Vols
Kudos, yes. It's the closest she could come to scheduling UConn without undermining The Legacy, IMO.Got to give Holly credit for even scheduling this game though , knowing that the LadyVols had little chance of winning.
My thoughts exactly. Way, way, way too early to declare this, but I'm wondering whether Muffet herself is starting on the downside of her career. I know she has lots of energy left, but everyone faces new challenges, mental and physical, in their 60s and it's hard in any profession--much less an extremely visible coach--to keep up the focus and intensity. Muffet's career, ultimately, will be measured by the same yardstick as is Geno's: national championships. And this must weigh on her. It's an incredibly brutal occupation: to recruit 12 months/year and play 6 months/year, with all the travel and crisis-solving and press conferences, etc, and then have the entire year's work ultimately evaluated by whether or not you win the NC.Notre Dame is the better coached team by about a mile but there's something wrong I can't put my finger on. The players play hard but sometimes the Irish goes into a weird funk offensively. I haven't seen them play recently, though, so perhaps Muffet's got that problem straightened out.
but there's something wrong I can't put my finger on
The money currently has Notre Dame by 10½. Sooo, maybe it won’t be a BUNCH. On the other hand ...maybe it will.Notre Dame by a BUNCH.
I believe Geno had the same effect on Pat Summit, although her level of championship success at Tenn exceeded every other coach with the exception of the short Italian guy in Storrs. Over the coming years, it will be interesting to see if the "Geno effect" takes its toll on Kim, Brenda and Dawn as well.Geno has sucked all the air out of the room, and the one who is probably most vulnerable to feeling dismayed sometimes has to be Muffet.
My thoughts exactly. Way, way, way too early to declare this, but I'm wondering whether Muffet herself is starting on the downside of her career. I know she has lots of energy left, but everyone faces new challenges, mental and physical, in their 60s and it's hard in any profession--much less an extremely visible coach--to keep up the focus and intensity. Muffet's career, ultimately, will be measured by the same yardstick as is Geno's: national championships. And this must weigh on her. It's an incredibly brutal occupation: to recruit 12 months/year and play 6 months/year, with all the travel and crisis-solving and press conferences, etc, and then have the entire year's work ultimately evaluated by whether or not you win the NC.
Only a very small handful of coaches are blessed/cursed with that burden of expectations. But Geno has sucked all the air out of the room, and the one who is probably most vulnerable to feeling dismayed sometimes has to be Muffet. When they were in the same conference, she had her chance to have UConn in her sights constantly, and now that's no longer nearly so immanent. It must be very, very hard for her to keep up the energy and focus, even as Geno keeps inventing new ways to be in the national limelight.
Regarding Muffet, my feeling is that she's a great coach who now just seems to lack killer instinct, which is a necessary component of winning. Case in point, the 2015 NCAA final, when they were within five or six of us with upwards of two minutes left in the game, and Muffet chose not foul. Dave O'Brien brought it up it twice during the play-by-play, calling it a "head-scratcher", and Doris Burke agreed.
My thoughts exactly. Way, way, way too early to declare this, but I'm wondering whether Muffet herself is starting on the downside of her career.