Tennessee Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who has the most victories (1,005) of any Division I basketball coach and has coached UT to eight national championships, was ranked No. 11 among the 50 greatest all-time sports coaches by the Sporting News.
Top 11
1. John Wooden, college basketball
2. Vince Lombardi, NFL
3. Bear Bryant, college football
4. Phil Jackson, NBA
5. Don Shula, NFL
6. Red Auerbach, NBA
7. Scotty Bowman, NHL
8. Dean Smith, college basketball
9. Casey Stengel, MLB
10. Knute Rockne, college football
11. Pat Summitt, women's college basketball
Source: Sporting News
The list was selected by a panel of 118 Hall of Famers, championship coaches and other experts.
Former UT star Michelle Snow recounted a 1997 recruiting anecdote about Summitt in Sporting News Magazine.
“On a piece of paper, she wrote down Tennessee and another school I was thinking about going to,’’ Snow wrote. “She folded it in half. She wrote ‘championships’ and six under Tennessee and one under the other. She wrote ‘Olympians’ — (eight) under Tennessee and zero under the other. She wrote “Players in the WNBA’ (six) to two. She just continued down the page.
“She wasn’t really looking at me — she was burning a hole through my head. This had to be one of the most nervous moments of my life — my hands were sweating and clammy. As bad as I wanted to go to the other school, I knew everything she said was right. Not long after that, I decided to go to Tennessee. It ended up being a great situation for me. But that was definitely one of the scariest moments of my life.”
For the record, the other school was North Carolina.
To read the 50 greatest coaches of all time go to Sporting News.
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Comments » 31
Waldorf writes:
Where's Foolmore? According to the way some of you gush on about him, I would have thought he would have been at least top 5.
And a women's coach ahead of Coach K...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
teampenny#658108 writes:
She is a great coach and person for sure. I do not think comparing her and her record to men's is not fair to the other coaches-level of players and competition is different. Go Vols
Thy_blood_runneth_Orange writes:
Top 10, courtesy of the Sporting News:
1. John Wooden, college basketball
2. Vince Lombardi, NFL
3. Bear Bryant, college football
4. Phil Jackson, NBA
5. Don Shula, NFL
6. Red Auerbach, NBA
7. Scotty Bowman, NHL
8. Dean Smith, college basketball
9. Casey Stengel, MLB
10. Knute Rockne, college football
11. Pat Summitt, women's college basketball
Congrats, Coach. You have set a level of professionalism within the coaching community that will never be rivaled. Your legacy has been cemented into the world of college athletics. This is a very well-deserved honor, IMO.
CHS52VOL writes:
Did any of these voters ever hear of a pretty fair football coach by the name Of General Robert Neyland?
riversetvol writes:
I have all the respect in the world for Pat but including her and Geno in this list is ridiculous.
Winning a NC in women's basketball is like winning the East in the SEC. There are only 5 or 6 legitimate conetenders in women's BB to win the National Championship.
Why no Suzanne Yoculan, who retired after winning 10 NC at UGA in gymnastics?
UCFgradVOLatHEART writes:
I bet Pat is laughing she is ahead of Geno. And she is way ahead of that horses behind
Go4Two writes:
Not suprised the first post takes a shot at coach Fulmer. Sad
CrankE writes:
I started to say, "Pat at #11?!" But there's some fine coaches ahead of her.
Herb Brooks at #50?! For Lake Placid, 1980 alone he should be a top ten pick. USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
DennisVols writes:
No coach on that list has done more for their sport that Summitt, nor has any won as many D-1 basketball games.
Summit develops champions on and off the court. Her leadership, teaching, accountability, and responsibility as a coach is second to none no matter what the sport. When Summitt started coaching womens basketball at UT few even knew there was such a program. It now has national attention and coverage by the media mainly due to her success.
#11 is too far down that list.
volnbig11land writes:
Nice post Dennis and I agree!
Congrats CPS, you have set the bar too high for any to reach. Good for you!!
Go Vols!!!
huntined#565710 writes:
JO-PA 13 and BOWDEN 24 ????
oldsmokey67 writes:
I think summit should be in the top ten.she got robbed.
crimsonviper writes:
You have a good point about Robert Neyland.Bryant said he was the best.
dwolfcreek#397971 writes:
Being number 11 among those coaches , that an't bad , way to go coach Summit .
gohawks1 writes:
What amazed me was seeing some of those names below Summitt's. What an honor!
halloffamebowler writes:
Anyone notice all the cheaters and others that have questionable character that are included on the list? Just asking.Bear,Geno,Bowden,Woody Hayes,Knight,and others.
senracjr writes:
You left out General Neyland!
mississippi writes:
Sporting News Magazine should teach a certain Sports station in Connecticut how to be bias when reporting the news
SmokyMTNVol writes:
I would love for Pearl to watch a few of coach Summitt's practices. But it will not happen. His ego is way to big for him to admit he is a below average bench coach. Congrats Pat, well deserved.
UTandETSUfan writes:
UT mens basketball has accomplished more under Pearl than it did in the rest of its history combined.
VOLKING writes:
Yawn. How original of you. At least you're staying on the same topic for all of your 1200 posts. Geez.
VOLKING writes:
Oh, and I see your sidekick, SmokyMtn, always has your back. Thanks for playing. Run along now children. Come back with an original post that doesn't hate on our coach. Then, maybe, someone will take you seriously.
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
Guido Aurienema, #42. Pat, #11. Yeah, that's about right. Guido shouldn't even be on the list...cheater's never win, and winner's never cheat! I would put Pat at #3 and move everybody else down one!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The thing that impressed me the most is that Pat is one of only TEN on that list who are still active in coaching--unless you include Pat Riley, who may or may not coach any given year or part of a year these days. If she coaches until she is, say, 65 and wins another championship or two, she might be ranked even higher on such a list 20 years from now. I agree with many others that it is a shame The General isn't on that list, but these things are just for discussion purposes anyway.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Oops! There are at least 12 on that list who are still coaching, and I must confess that I don't know hockey well enough to know if any of the NHL guys are still active. Anyway, I am PRETTY sure Pat is the only woman on the list(;-P).
Seasontickets writes:
Dear Pat,
Congratulations. I have a solution for you to move up a couple of spots. Give us back our game and play Uconn. Beat Geno a few more times and you will be up there behind Wooden.
ETNTigerFan writes:
Well done Pat.
Hayezb writes:
"And a women's coach ahead of Coach K...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Where's your coach at on that list? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Grow up...
FWBVol writes:
Congrats to Pat. As others stated, I think she deserved to be in the Top 10.
Anyone who knows baseball should question what Casey Stengel is doing on the list much less how he ended up in the Top 10. Stengel had a .508 career winning percentage, and he had just one winning season (1938 with the old Boston Braves) other than the 12 years he spent with the Yankees. And that team was 77-75.
Come on, how hard was it to manage Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford? I think even a caveman could do it!
Connie Mack at No. 28 is another head scratcher. The guy managed almost 7,800 games, but his winning percentage was only .486.
Bear Bryant at No. 3...I don't think so. Yes, he was a great coach, but he never beat the General. Bryant's winning percentage was .780 compared to the General winning at an .829 clip. And Joe Paterno's winning percentage is about that of Phillip Fulmer.
And, IMO, Tom Laundry deserved to be higher on the list. He was one of the greatest innovators in the history of the NFL.
98reax writes:
BECAUSE SHE'S FEMALE is the operative phrase here. As always, women must take a back seat no matter what the accomplishment may be. Just as race seems to always play a part in everything, whether it is racism or reverse racism, gender-bias is ineluctable. The female gender will never move beyond that. Women will never be considered 'best' or even slightly comparable in any profession which involves both genders, especially in a venue where the media-recognized population is 99.9% male. The earth will have turned into a sphere of chocolate cheesecake before the media gives props to a sui generis as Pat Summitt.
As long as unctious remarks such as Hayesb and riversetvol, who obviously think women should renounce any desires to do anything that doesn't entertain men's own querulous whims, are allowed to monopolize and saturate opinion polls, women's sports will always struggle for recognition.
Horse's rears such as these two posters obviously have not the prescience of mind to imagine living without women. I wonder if they can comprehend the tremendous strength and stamina required to birth their sorry, disrespectful, ungrateful selves. Guess what, pie holes? That was a woman that accomplished that feat; She maintained that level of strength for 270+ days, too. Do you think your piece-of- arrogant-flab carcass could endure such pain for even ONE day? No, heck no! Your strongest point is your big mouth and you are not in control of that at all. If you were, you would give credit to the gender that bore your worthless self, yet you berate them constantly. How you survive is a mystery indeed.
98reax writes:
What's your point, AVOR?
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