[old spanish trail]

Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, Geno Auriemma, and many others are demanding coaches - but as far as I can tell, they show their players that they care about them. This has continued into the "professional" era. There are certainly exceptions, but you don't see entire teams from the coaches go into the transfer portal. This has to reflect on Kate, her staff, and the Athletic Department.

IMO one can't ignore the fact that  Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, and Geno Auriemma have been successful coaches for years. That gets them a lot of slack from their players (and the administration). Players will put up with a lot if they are winning. I don't doubt for a second that all three of these coaches put winning above player satisfaction and happiness. That often isn't fair or pleasant,  but winning covers most of the warts. Nobody complains out loud and loyalty to the program keeps a lid on discontent. Kate Paye wasn't winning and had no accumulated "slack" from previous successes. She isn't Tara. All the things she did that the players didn't like came to the fore.
 
Losing also probably made Ms. Paye a lot more testy than she would otherwise have been. I am guessing that the coaches blamed the players and the players blamed the coaches (and probably each other to some extent). It takes a special personality to coach through such a situation. Kate Paye has had little experience with losing. She probably didn't handle it well. The coaches didn't know how to "fix" the problems and that undoubtedly led to frustration. In a situation like that it is easier to blame the players than question what you as coaches are doing wrong.

I agree with Goose's whole post.

[old spanish trail]

Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, Geno Auriemma, and many others are demanding coaches - but as far as I can tell, they show their players that they care about them. This has continued into the "professional" era. There are certainly exceptions, but you don't see entire teams from the coaches go into the transfer portal. This has to reflect on Kate, her staff, and the Athletic Department.

IMO one can't ignore the fact that  Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, and Geno Auriemma have been successful coaches for years. That gets them a lot of slack from their players (and the administration). Players will put up with a lot if they are winning. I don't doubt for a second that all three of these coaches put winning above player satisfaction and happiness. That often isn't fair or pleasant,  but winning covers most of the warts. Nobody complains out loud and loyalty to the program keeps a lid on discontent. Kate Paye wasn't winning and had no accumulated "slack" from previous successes. She isn't Tara. All the things she did that the players didn't like came to the fore.
 
Losing also probably made Ms. Paye a lot more testy than she would otherwise have been. I am guessing that the coaches blamed the players and the players blamed the coaches (and probably each other to some extent). It takes a special personality to coach through such a situation. Kate Paye has had little experience with losing. She probably didn't handle it well. The coaches didn't know how to "fix" the problems and that undoubtedly led to frustration. In a situation like that it is easier to blame the players than question what you as coaches are doing wrong.

I agree with Goose's whole post.