One of the most appreciated individuals in University of Tennessee history, Pat Head received her physical education bachelor's in 1974 after four years on the Martin campus, and that fall she started coaching in Knoxville. She was teaching in Martin when she received the letter requesting that she dedicate her winters to the "excellent potential team" that was the Lady Vols. They finished 16-8 in her first year, and the 16-11 team of the next year would remain the only Tennessee squad on her watch not to win at least two-thirds of its games.
Head was so young in the mid-'70s that after her first season on the sidelines in Knoxville (and the one grad school year it took for her to get her master's), she was on the court for the US team at the 1975 women's world championship and the subsequent Pan American Games. She won a silver medal at the '76 Olympics, and she coached the national team in 1980, the year she married the man with whom she'd stay for over a quarter-century.
Her first staff included Judy Rose, UNC-Charlotte's future athletics director. Though Rose began her time at Charlotte in 1976, she remained a close friend over the years. Rose recalls, among many other things, Summitt's willingness to "mentor younger people coming up," something she saw on frequent encounters in high school gyms with the woman who'd hired her in '74.
There was much more to Summitt than her signature stare. She was all business when she needed to be and less serious other times. Like any good coach, she'd have players work hard (and preferably smart), but even while she was on the job, they could call her Pat.
[EDIT 11/30/2023, 2:15 p.m.: Added "basketball" label]
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