But I'll stand by my previous comment. When a coach is called out by the NCAA for sending a congratulatory message to a girl pitcher on an eighth grade baseball team that made the Little League World Series (2014) and it makes national news, I consider that a pretty high level of scrutiny.

As to Holly being the best we could get for succeeding Pat, I'll stand by that too. With all due respect to Geno, Tennessee is THE preeminent women's basketball program in America. Pat is to the women's game what John Wooden was to the men's. There will never be another Pat.

But Pat's ending was sudden and tragic. And, as such, we lost not only a great coach, but we had to rebuild a new culture and coaching dynamic with a fan base that viewed Final Fours as the norm. They are not.

So we handed the ball to Holly, who wasn't looking for it, caught it before it went out of bounds and set up the play that scored before the half. Her record speaks for itself. If you've followed the team, then you understand that a large part of the problems they've faced have come from establishing a culture change. That's a nice way of saying lots of things.

Holly needs a strong, and aggressive number two. I think Bridgette Gordon is a great move. I hope she's mean and tough enough. Holly needs to recruit strongly. She's done that. And she needs some time and space to establish herself as a head coach in her own right. And frankly, that's where we are.

This program could, and probably should have fallen off the table after Pat's death. The grieving of the fan base is minuscule compared to the grieving of the staff and players. But the program didn't fall off the table. There have been struggles we're not used to seeing, but there have also been unexpected victories when we didn't expect them. And heartbreaking losses. These are the things that come with establishing a coaching identity. I can remember, when Pat was starting out, wondering if we were ever going to beat Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech. It seemed like we were going to be a second tier program forever. It was a time much like the present for our program.

Should she choose to, Holly could make more money in a far easier circumstance. She hasn't gone that route. She's a different person than Pat. She's her own person. And the game has changed. There are more programs, more players, more good coaches and more money and prestige involved with the sport. In short, there is no reason to believe that she would be able to make the NCAA's every year of her tenure. Yet she has.

Haters are going to hate. I get it. Alabama has no business beating us four times in a row. I get it. We want back in the final four. I get it. At times, it doesn't seem like we're playing up to our potential. I get it. But what I also get is that Holly stepped into the toughest situation in the toughest coaching job in America. The players think winning is automatic. The fans think winning is automatic. Your opponents know the program is in mourning and transition and that, while losing is expected, beating you while you're down will be viewed as a major achievement by their fan base. And so it goes.

And yet, the five hundred pound gorilla is Holly's age. The seven hundred pound gorilla is her loyalty to the program.If Holly keeps doing what she's doing for five more years, top five recruiting classes, making the NCAA's, competing for SEC championships and drawing fans, winning 20+ games per year, this job goes from being the impossible task of following Pat Summitt to the natural progression of following a great coach at a great institution.

Holly had a lot to do, and we are not a patient fan base. She's getting it done though and every year her flames burned brighter. Things will be all right.