By Rhiannon Potkey, special to UTsports.com
The unassuming figure emerged from the dugout and stepped onto the field at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. He was dressed in sweats and didn’t have an entourage trailing him.
The Tennessee softball team was conducting its final practice before leaving for Oklahoma City to play in the Women’s College World Series in 2015.
The visitor approached co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly to introduce himself.
“He said, ‘Hey, I’m Rick Barnes, the new basketball coach. Do you mind if I hang out and watch practice?'” Ralph Weekly said. “I remember him telling me he loved watching softball and baseball at dusk.”
Barnes climbed up on the batting cage behind home plate and stayed for nearly an hour. He spoke to the team after practice and spent even more time getting to know the Weeklys.
“It meant so much to our kids to have him him there, and it meant a lot to Karen and me,” Ralph Weekly said. “You could tell how genuine he was. He didn’t have to come, but he wanted to come. He truly cared about our sport and how our team was doing.”
Following the passing of legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt, Ralph Weekly sensed a void in the Tennessee athletic department. Summitt had been a unifying force within the staff, a respected coach willing to assist anyone in need.
Weekly believed the Vols needed a moral compass to get them back on track, a person of strong character and faith with a national platform to help galvanize the university.
“There is nobody that can ever compare to Pat Summitt, and nobody can ever take her place, but Rick Barnes showed up and filled a vacuum,” said Weekly, in his 17th season at Tennessee. “After we lost Pat, everybody just kind of spread about and nobody pulled together. There wasn’t a leader and someone everyone could look up to. Rick is someone we can all look up to.”
Tennessee’s success in men’s basketball this season has put Barnes back in the spotlight. Despite being picked to finish 13th in the preseason poll, the Vols captured the SEC regular-season title for the first time in a decade and reached the championship game of last week’s SEC Tournament.
Tennessee begins play in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday against Wright State in Dallas (12:40 p.m. ET, TruTV).
Every coach at Tennessee has been following the team’s progress, and many are trying to replicate the things Barnes has done in leading his program.
“I listen to all of his postgame press conferences, and I listen to what all of his players say in the postgame,” Tennessee women’s soccer coach Brian Pensky said. “He is a guy that has been doing this for a long time and really instills things in his players that I can learn from.”
Barnes has an office at UT that he rarely uses. The Hickory, N.C., native prefers sitting at a courtside table inside Pratt Pavilion so he can see his players as they enter the practice facility.
Although he is compassionate, Barnes is by no means soft on his players.
He provides tough love and gives honest assessments of his team’s performances. But no matter how scathing, his players rarely disagree because they know Barnes has their best interest at heart.
“He can make it really hard on them and challenge them, but it’s obvious how much he loves them and cares for them,” Pensky said. “They feel that, and you can sense it by the way they all interact and how they hang on all the things he says. They respect him.”
Pensky’s admiration for Barnes’ coaching style grew after attending an all-staff meeting last September.
Three student-athletes from the VOLeaders Academy were invited to speak. Tennessee junior forward Admiral Schofield confidently grabbed the microphone and began addressing the large crowd.
“He challenged everyone in the room to be leaders themselves, and he said it doesn’t matter whether you’re an assistant coach, head coach, administrative assistant or help clean the hallways, everybody always has an opportunity to learn and we all have to look in the mirror and always try to do our best in dealing with the people around us,” Pensky said. “I walked out of there thinking this kid is a rock star. It was unbelievable. He was 21 years old and challenging 300 adult leaders.”
As successful as the softball program has been, the Weeklys are always looking to improve and gain insight from others. They would feel comfortable going to Barnes with any questions about coaching or life in general.
“He is the kind of person that is available to talk and give counseling if you need it,” Ralph Weekly said. “I have no doubt he would be available at any time if I wanted to talk to another coach about any problem I had within my program. I can say that without reservation.”
A few years ago, Pensky hosted a recruit from Texas who played soccer and basketball in high school. The women’s basketball team was on the road, so Pensky brought the recruit and her family to the men’s practice. They were familiar with Barnes from his time coaching at Texas.
“He sat and chatted with them for nearly 20 minutes and he was genuinely interested in the kid’s recruiting process,” Pensky said. “You can just sense that he is all about Tennessee and it’s more than just what is best for his program.”
Since he first arrived at Tennessee, Barnes and his wife, Candy, have sent holiday gifts to every head coach on campus. His generosity is well known within the athletic department and throughout Knoxville.
Barnes has never processed to be perfect or have all the answers. It’s that sincerity and modesty that Weekly admires the most.
“I am an older guy. I’m not a hero worshipper,” Weekly said. “But I just think Rick is a really good guy, and I think there is a reason he is here right now when Tennessee athletics needs someone like him.”
-UT Athletics
