Why was Kellie Harper fired from Tennessee? Revisiting former Vols star's coaching journey after she lands Missouri job

The Missouri Tigers hired Kellie Harper as their new head coach on Tuesday. She has proven to be a solid women's basketball coach but her journey began with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, a program which she played her collegiate career with.

Harper finished with 132 games played and is No. 7 in program history in assists and No. 10 in 3-point field goal percentage. She became the head coach of the Lady Volunteers in 2019 but was fired in 2024. What led to that decision? Let's take a deeper dive into what happened to end her Tennessee tenure.

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Why was Kellie Harper fired from Tennessee?

Kellie Harper was fired as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in April 2024 after five seasons at the helm. Despite having four years remaining on her contract, the program ultimately decided to part ways after her buyout dropped from 100% to 50%.

However, the reasoning behind her firing had nothing to do with her off-the-court performance but was driven by a lack of NCAA Tournament success. Harper led the team to 20+ games in four of her five seasons but did not progress past the Sweet 16 in any of those years. For a program that is used to being in the conversation for a national championship in women's basketball, this was a tough pill to swallow.

Playing under the legendary coach Pat Summitt, Harper knew she needed to be able to have postseason success but what she did with the Lady Vols was not enough.

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Kellie Harper Coaching Career

Kellie Harper finished her collegiate career and played one season with the Cleveland Rockers before transitioning to a coaching career. She was an assistant coach with the Auburn Tigers from 2000 to 2001 before coaching the Chattanooga Mocs as an assistant coach from 2001 to 2004.

Harper finally got her shot at becoming a head coach when she was hired by Western Carolina in 2004. She stayed there until 2009, when she was hired by the NC State Wolfpack. Harper spent four seasons with the Wolfpack before heading to Missouri State from 2013 to 2019 before being hired by her alma mater.

As a coach, Harper has won four conference tournaments and has a 393-260 (.603) career record.