After leading Marshall to arguably its best season in program history, head coach Kim Caldwell is leaving to guide one of the country’s most storied programs.
Sources told MetroNews Caldwell has agreed to a deal to become the next head coach at Tennessee, where she now looks to help the Volunteers return to their days of contending nationally on an annual basis.
Tennessee has eight National Championships and 18 Final Four appearances, though its most recent of each came 16 years ago.
“I am honored and humbled to accept the role as head coach of this historic program at the University of Tennessee,” Caldwell said in a UT release. “I can’t help but reflect on accepting the Pat Summitt Trophy three seasons ago and be moved by the great responsibility and opportunity of now leading and building upon the incredible Lady Vol tradition she built. I am so excited to get to work and can’t wait to see what we all can accomplish together.”
Caldwell made the most of her lone year in Huntington. The Thundering Herd finished 26-7, won the Sun Belt in the regular season and then the league tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history and first time in 27 years.
After losing four of its first six games, Marshall adapted quite well to Caldwell’s unique system and defeated Florida, the start of 24 victories over a 26-game stretch for the Herd.
Marshall entered the Sun Belt Tournament 17-1 in conference play, and after defeating Appalachian State and Old Dominion in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively, the Herd got past James Madison in overtime in the league title game. JMU was the only Sun Belt team to defeat the Herd, and Marshall followed it by winning 10 straight games, before being awarded a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Herd suffered a 92-49 loss at No. 4 Virginia Tech in its opening-round NCAA game.
Prior to accepting the job at Marshall, Caldwell, then known as Kim Stephens, led Glenville State to unprecedented success at the Division II level. Her seven-year tenure featured a career record of 191-24, a National Championship in 2022 and a Final Four appearance the following season — her last with the Pioneers.
Glenville was 68-4 over Caldwell’s final two seasons and thrived in her system, which features consistent full court pressure off made and missed shots and relies heavily on conditioning and depth.
Caldwell often makes wholesale substitutions, somewhat similar to line changes in hockey. There were questions as to how and if that system could translate to the Division I level, and Caldwell dispelled the notion that it couldn’t while with Marshall. Eleven players off last season’s Thundering Herd team averaged at least 11 minutes per game, and Marshall finished second nationally with an average of 24.2 turnovers forced. The Herd’s plus-7.94 turnover margin was No. 3 nationally.
Caldwell’s offensive system has largely been predicated off three-point shooting, and Marshall finished No. 1 in the nation with an average of 31.9 attempts from long range and No. 3 with its average of 10.6 made.
A 2011 graduate of Glenville, Caldwell played at Parkersburg South High School for her father Scott Stephens before also playing collegiately for the Pioneers.
Stephens won three state championships with the Patriots and had two runner-up finishes over 13 seasons. His tenure at PSHS ended when he accepted a position on his daughter’s staff at Glenville. Stephens passed away in 2020 from a brain tumor.
Caldwell was also an assistant coach for three seasons at Sacramento State before returning home to guide her alma mater.