A rising star in the profession, Caldwell has quickly forged a reputation as an elite head coach at two different stops and makes her debut at the game’s highest level as the leader of the all-time winningest program in women’s hoops. She previously led NCAA Division II Glenville State and DI Marshall to championship seasons with a high-octane approach on both ends of the floor.
Simply put, Caldwell is a winner. In eight seasons as a head coach, she has compiled an impressive 217-31 (.875) career record. Those numbers include an astounding 149-13 (.920) mark in conference games. Along the way, her teams have earned berths in eight NCAA Tournaments, and she has directed those squads to one national championship, two NCAA DII Final Fours, seven conference championships and five conference tournament titles.
Statistically, her teams have excelled in scoring, three-point shooting and steals. As a head coach, her teams have led the nation five times in scoring, finishing second twice and never placing below fourth in points per game. Her squads have been the top team on four occasions in three-pointers made per game, never placing lower than fifth. In steals per game, Caldwell’s units have never finished below fourth.
Prior to coming to Tennessee, Caldwell guided Marshall to a 26-7 overall record and 17-1 league mark in her only season there in 2023-24. She was named the WBCA’s Spalding Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year and the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year after piloting the Thundering Herd to both the league’s regular season and tournament titles as well as the school’s second NCAA Tournament berth ever and first since 1997.
After being picked ninth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll, Marshall proceeded to generate 85.3 points per game (4th in NCAA) and force 24.2 turnovers per contest in notching a program best for wins. Caldwell’s victory total stands as the most by a first-year coach in MU women’s hoops history and marked the first 20-win regular-season campaign by the school since 1990-91.
Caldwell got her start as a head coach at her alma mater under her maiden name of Kim Stephens. She led Glenville State to the 2021-22 NCAA Division II National Championship in her sixth year at the school and helped the Pioneers earn seven overall NCAA Tournament berths.
For the 2021-22 season’s accomplishment, she was presented the Pat Summitt Trophy, which goes to the WBCA’s NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. Caldwell also earned the 2022 Furfari Award, which is presented to West Virginia’s College Coach of the Year in all sports by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. She also won that award in 2022 and 2019 as well.
In seven seasons with the Pioneers, from 2016-23, the 2011 GSU graduate compiled a 191-24 mark, including a 132-12 slate in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Her final two editions forged a 68-4 combined record, including the 35-1 national championship season (22-0 in league play) in 2021-22, and a 33-3 outcome after advancing to the national semifinals in 2022-23. Her final unit there led NCAA Division II in points per game (91.2) and turnovers forced (27.3).
She guided Glenville State to six MEC regular season titles (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023) and four MEC Tournament trophies (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023), earning MEC Coach of the Year honors four times in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Prior to her stint at GSU, she served as an assistant at Sacramento State for three seasons from 2013-16 under Bunky Harkleroad, for the 2012-13 season at Glenville State as an assistant to Harkleroad and began her college coaching career at Ohio Valley University, filling a role as an assistant there from 2011-12.
A native of Parkersburg, W.Va., Caldwell helped lead Glenville State to the 2010-11 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship as a player and earn an NCAA Division II Tournament berth. She was named the WVIAC Student-Athlete of the Year that season and academically made the WVIAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll as a junior and senior.
Caldwell is married to Justin Caldwell, who was head coach of the men’s basketball program at Glenville State from 2018-23 and served as a men’s hoops assistant at Marshall in 2023-24.
WHAT UT VICE CHANCELLOR/DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS DANNY WHITE SAID…
“From the beginning, our goal has been to find a dynamic head coach who can restore our women’s basketball program to national prominence. Kim Caldwell is the ideal person to lead us,” said White. “Kim has a winning formula that she has successfully implemented everywhere she has coached, with a fast-paced, high-octane offense and pressure defense that has led to remarkable results. In this new era of college sports, it was vital that we found an innovative head coach with a strong track record of winning titles. We are eager to return the Lady Vols to a championship level, and we’re confident that Kim Caldwell is the coach who can lead us back to the top.”
WHAT NEW LADY VOL HEAD COACH KIM CALDWELL SAID…
“I am honored and humbled to accept the role as head coach of this historic program at the University of Tennessee,” Caldwell said. “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’s Year-by-Year Head Coaching Record |
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| Year | School | Position | Overall/Conf. (Pl.) | Postseason | |
| Years | Glenville State | Head Coach | 24-6/18-4 (1st) | NCAA First Rd. | |
| 2016-17 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 24-6/18-4 (1st) | NCAA First Rd. | |
| 2017-18 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 31-2/22-0 (1st) | NCAA Regional/MEC Trn. Champs | |
| 2018-19 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 30-3/21-1 (1st) | NCAA Regional/MEC Trn. Champs | |
| 2019-20 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 26-5/19-3 (1st) | NCAA/MEC Trn. Champs | |
| 2020-21 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 12-4/10-2 (2nd) | NCAA Regional | |
| 2021-22 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 35-1/22-0 (1st) | NCAA Champs | |
| 2022-23 | Glenville State | Head Coach | 33-3/20-2 (1st) | NCAA Final Four/MEC Trn. Champs | |
| 2023-24 | Marshall | Head Coach | 26-7/17-1 (1st) | NCAA 1st Rd./SBC Trn. Champs | |
| 8 years | Total | Head Coach | 217-31/149-13 | 8 NCAA Tournaments | |
