Kim Caldwell tells ESPN she knows what's at stake in third season as Lady Vols coach

Much of the article included things Caldwell said this spring – it was her “worst year” in her coaching career, and she admitted she did a “bad job.” She tried to change too much, she wasn’t surprised by the departure of her entire roster and she took the blame for the 16-14 season.

But Caldwell did tell ESPN that she was well aware of what was on the line this season with a completely new 15-player roster.

“I feel like if we have another year like last year, then yeah, that’s it,” Caldwell told ESPN. “We have to put a better product on the floor. We have to play hard. We have to look the way I want my team to look. That is more so what I am concerned about and focused on.

“I’m not in a job where I can learn the same mistake twice. I want to be able to stay here and continue to grow. You learn way more from failure than you do success, and I hope I can be living proof of that.”

Tennessee lost all eight returning players after recording the worst winning percentage in a season in program history (.552). It also lost five-star forward Oliviyah Edwards, who was granted her release after the mass exodus. Edwards signed with South Carolina, which was among her original finalists.

Caldwell hired two new assistant coaches in Bill Ferrara and Isoken Uzamere to replace Gabe Lazo, who is now the UCF coach, and Roman Tubner, who was fired.

Tennessee signed 13 players out of the transfer portal and added another signee to its 2026 class to join incoming freshman Gabby Minus, who stayed committed as every player entered the portal.

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social‬. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Kim Caldwell tells ESPN she knows what’s at stake in third season as Lady Vols coach