A coaching era has ended for Tennessee softball while also continuing.
Ralph Weekly, one half of the Lady Vols head coaching tandem, announced his retirement in a university release late Wednesday afternoon. At the same time, the university said Karen Weekly agreed to a contract extension through June of 2025 and will assume all head coaching responsibilities.
The Weeklys had been Tennessee’s co-head coaches for 20 years.
They came to UT from Chattanooga.
Tennessee athletic director Danny White lauded Ralph’s tenure and the work that he did with his wife in building one of the nation’s top softball programs. The Lady Vols have reached the postseason every year since 2004, including seven trips to the Women’s College World Series, and hosted 16 consecutive NCAA regionals.
Ralph and Karen were named co-SEC coaches of the year twice (2004, 2007).
The team moved into Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in 2008.
“Ralph has given his all for Tennessee for more than two decades and he certainly elevated the stature of our program in every facet during that span,” White said.
“And with Karen Weekly continuing to lead our program, we are uniquely positioned to maintain the winning tradition that she and Ralph have worked so long to establish.”
After last season was cut short by the pandemic, the Lady Vols were the No. 9 national seed in this spring’s tournament. However, they didn’t advance beyond the regional round for the second time since their last trip to the Women’s College World Series, which was 2015.
Ralph’s coaching career spanned 35 years. He was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 2011.
Ralph is fourth all time among NCAA softball coaches with 1,450 career victories. He won a pair of Olympic gold medals as an assistant coach with Team USA Softball in 1996 and 2000.
He served as national team director for both men and women.
In the release, Ralph, 78, offered some career perspective by saying: “I have worked every day since I entered the military at 17. I have had a fulfilling life as a father, husband, student, soldier, special agent, teacher and coach.”
Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said Ralph is an “icon.”
Former Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott, the NCAA career leader in strikeouts, was recruited and coached by the Weeklys. She said Ralph “has been a big influence in the sport of softball for so long.”
“Ralph is a huge part of why the game of softball has grown and is as popular as it is today,” said Lady Vol Chelsea Seggern, whose UT career ended this spring.
Karen said that her husband will serve as a special advisor for the program.
“It has been one of the great privileges of my life to coach alongside my husband Ralph,” Karen said. “He is a winner and a builder, leaving a legacy of outstanding programs and facilities everywhere he’s coached. He is a champion for women and has fought for equal opportunities for the young women he’s coached at every stop during his career.
“Not many people get to share this journey with their best friend and life partner. I consider myself incredibly blessed.”
Karen, whose coaching career began at Chattanooga in 1997, has 1,172 career victories, 949 of them at Tennessee. She was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2018. Karen will conduct a national search for an assistant coach to join a staff that includes pitching coach Megan Rhodes-Smith.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.