Karen Weekly shares impact of husband and former coach Ralph Weekly on Tennessee's culture

Ralph and Karen Weekly have been synonymous with Tennessee softball for more than 20 years. The husband and wife duo have been coaching the Volunteers in some combination since 2002.

And before Tennessee embarked on their Women’s College World Series against Alabama on Thursday, Karen Weekly reflected on the impact her husband, who retired in 2022, had on the program. She offered a quick joke about how he still impacts the program.

“Well, I go to bed next to him every night, so he’s very involved,” Weekly said with a smile.

The Weeklys were co-head coaches from 2002 to 2021, when Ralph retired. Since then, Karen has been the Volunteers head coach. Under the husband-and-wife duo, the Volunteers became a prominent program, nationally. They competed for SEC titles and made fairly regular Women’s College World Series trips — seven, in total.

Ahead of Tennessee softball’s eighth WCWS, Karen Weekly reflected that the program is built upon much more than the work of her and her husband.

“Ralph and I did this together for 20 years. Tennessee softball is not me at all, it’s a whole lot of players who come through this program and built a great tradition and a legacy,” Weekly said. “Ralph is still very much involved. They love when he comes to practice. He doesn’t come around as much as I thought he would, but he lights up the room when he does come. Just a lot of fun to be around.”

As for the culture at Tennessee, things haven’t changed much in the few years that it’s been one Weekly running the ship. That’s a credit to the current roster and the team leadership council, Karen Weekly said.

“I don’t know that the culture has really changed. I think, if anything, it’s these ladies and our leadership council that really committed to a lot of things this year which has helped our culture be what it is. You have to have a great culture of caring about each other to be sitting here right now,” Weekly said.

Karen Weekly discussed emotions entering the WCWS

Weekly spoke on what she and her program are feeling as they prepare for their opening game against Alabama. She described the emotion as ‘just sheer joy’ considering what the Lady Volunteers have done to earn their bid and their chance at a championship.

“(It’s) just joy. That’s the best word I can describe it with. Just sheer joy,” Weekly said. “Joy for these girls who worked so hard. When they do things the right way, as a coach, you just want it so bad for them.

“Just so much joy for them that they got to move on and they get to come here and do what they do so well, which is just come out and play every day,” said Weekly. “Our last couple practices at home were really good, just like the last few weeks. They just keep getting better every day.”