Former Tennessee Volunteers coach Pat Summitt once told a story of her son, Tyler, that inspired a life-changing work ethic. In a video posted by @TheCoachJournal on X/Twitter back in Jul. 2023, the beloved legendary tactician was shown to be interviewed, in which she said a story wherein her son, Tyler, was cut from the Volunteers’ men’s basketball team and she taught him a valuable lesson.
Summitt has since passed away in June of 2016, but is widely-regarded as one of the greatest women’s college basketball coaches of all time. With this, her stature in the collegiate scene was not overlooked when Tyler Summitt sought her advice during his downfall at the start of his playing career.
“ I walk in the room and I said, ‘Tyler, what? What’s wrong with you? And he goes, ‘I got cut.’ Well, my first thought is what coach in East Tennessee would cut my son? I mean, think about it. You know, put him at the end of the bench, but give him a uniform. And then I guess, the coach came out in me, and I looked at Tyler, and I said, he had a basketball under each arm. He was crying so hard,” Pat Summitt detailed.
The video then turns to Tyler Summitt, who shared what he responded to his mother with.
“And she goes, ‘Well, do you think you worked hard enough?,’ And I knew I didn’t. And I said, ‘No.’ And she said, ‘Well, now you know what you got to do,” he shared.
Crying he said, “Mom, I got cut.”
Pat Summitt’s son was heartbroken, she was upset, but…
She didn’t blame the coach. She didn’t complain to the admin. She said, “Son, you didn’t work hard enough. I guarantee if you wear out both of those basketballs, you’ll make the team.” pic.twitter.com/4tuk7tIS6f
— The Coaches’ Journal (@TheCoachJournal) July 6, 2023
The clip then goes back and forth of Pat Summitt during the interview as well as a speech she was making in a classroom, both of which align clearly with the story she was telling.
“And I looked at him and I said, ‘Tyler, you didn’t work hard enough to make that team, did you? Did you?,’ He goes, ‘No, ma’am.’ And I said, ‘Well, I guarantee you, you wear out both those basketballs.’ I mean, he had ’em cup right up under his arms. I said, ‘I will guarantee you, you’ll make the team.’ And he goes, ‘Mom, will you help me? I said, ‘Son, I will help you, but I will not start your engine. You must start your engine every day,” Pat Summitt said.
“Do you understand that?,’ And he goes, ‘Yes, ma’am,'” she concluded.
The video then pans back to Tyler Summitt, in which he reiterates his mother’s teaching for him from his point of view.
“So, every day, you know, that I wanted her to help me out, I would have to go to her. It wouldn’t be her pushing me,” he said.
Tyler Summitt went on to play college basketball for two seasons for the Volunteers’ men’s basketball squad for two seasons from 2010 to 2012, before having a four-year coaching career from 2012 to 2016 as an assistant for the Marquette Golden Eagles and as the head coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters.
Pat Summitt won eight national championships with the Tennessee Volunteers
Before she passed away in 2016 and officially retired in 2012, Pat Summitt won eight national championships in her time as the head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers. She had a lengthy 38-year tenure with the program from 1974-2012, in which her last national title came in 2008 when they defeated the Stanford Cardinal by 16 points, 64-48. This was the last time the team had won the national title since then.
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