Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: “I know he’ll be loyal back to us” - On Rick Insell’s 400th win at Middle Tennessee
3/6/2022 5:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Rick Insell can still remember the first time he led the Lady Raiders onto the court.
It was at UT-Chattanooga, a Friday night game on an unseasonably warm day in Chattanooga (if Weather Underground's records for Chattanooga's weather on November 18, 2005 are to be believed, the high that day got up to 82 degrees before the game's 7 p.m. tip). Unfortunately, it wasn't a debut to write home about. The Lady Raiders struggled shooting, finishing the night 24-for-70 from the floor and 5-for-22 from three, while the Mocs scored 54 percent of their attempts in a 76-66 loss for MT
What Insell remembers most from that night, though, is the phone call he got on the bus ride home.
"Dr. McPhee and Chris (Massaro) called me from Miami and they were just messing with me, as they do all the time," Insell recalled. "They said 'We hired a high school coach to lose games.' Well, I'm riding back from UTC, so I'm thinking I may not even get to coach the next game."
Insell did coach the next game, of course, in what ended up being his first career win. The Lady Raiders held the Houston Cougars to just 30.8 percent from the floor, dominating defensively, as so many Rick Insell teams have, for a 62-35 win at the Murphy Center, avenging an 80-56 loss at Houston a season prior.
On Saturday, on senior day, with a bye in the conference tournament at stake, the 2021-22 Lady Raiders earned Rick Insell his 400th win at the collegiate level with a 62-44 win over Old Dominion.
He became just the 14th active coach in Division I women's basketball to win their first 400 games as a collegiate head coach at their first coaching job, putting him in the same conversation as coaches such as Geno Auriemma, Kim Mulkey and Jeff Walz. But even amongst those 14, Rick Insell is the only coach to earn their first 400 wins at their alma mater.
It was a full circle moment for the eight-time Hall of Famer, who very rarely talks about himself in media interviews. Want to talk about the game? He'll talk about his players' performances. Want to talk about the coaching preparation for the game? About recruiting? He'll heap praise on his assistant coaches' efforts. Want to talk about anything BUT basketball? Rick Insell will happily talk about his family, his wife Deb, his sons Tom, Kyle and Matt and his 10 grandchildren.
But the emotion of the moment post game, when his team and his family donned 400th win shirts and joined him for the presentation of a commemorative ball at center court, was evident. So, with apologies to him, I think the rest of us took a moment to indulge in what he's accomplished in his career.
"We knew in the back of our mind how special it was going to be for him," junior Courtney Whitson said. "He works his butt off every day, day in and day out. I'm so loyal to him because I know he'll be loyal back to us. I love him to death."
Getting to know Rick Insell, both in person and in a history that precedes him, has been one of my greatest joys about my first year in Murfreesboro. Getting little details, like how many of the sets he runs on offense at MT are the same ones he used to win 10 Class AAA TSSAA state championships at Shelbyville Central High School over his 28 years as head coach for the Golden Eaglettes. Or bits of advice, like being warned he sometimes answers his own questions rather than yours in a press conference (a fear that is, mostly, unfounded, I'm happy to report).
What I tell friends and family from home about Coach Insell, however, has less to do with his basketball IQ, which is extraordinary, or our relationship as a subject and reporter, which only continues to get better with time, as those types of relationships always do. What I tell people about is his passion, both on the court, in the form of his coaching style that demands intense focus and execution, and off the court, in advocating for every single person that's ever touched his program in some way.
That passion is why we had 26 former players and coaches return to the program as part of Legends Day on Saturday. It's why his players, even when having much demanded of them in-game and during practice, remain fiercely loyal to him long after they graduate. It's why Tony Stinnett goes around the office to check if anyone is using their women's tickets this weekend, so Rick Insell can help a friend, both of his and the program's, find a seat at that game to help make sure the Lady Raiders win.
People truly can tell when you care about them. And Rick Insell has cared about a whole lot of people in his coaching career.
Whitson called him a "legend" post-game, and it's hard to argue that he isn't a living legend, with those aforementioned eight hall of fames he's a part of. The numbers, of All-Americans (6), of conference championships (8), of 20 win seasons at MT (15), of high school wins (775), speak for themselves in that regard.
But Rick Insell never really cares about those numbers. The reason he's won 1175 games between his two coaching stops is because he always has one game in focus: the next one. So while win No. 400 was big for a lot of reasons this season, it's in the past. Now? It's time to get ready for Frisco.
"Tonight, I'll go out with my family for a few minutes, go home and pack and then immediately, we'll start tomorrow on who we've got a chance to play," Rick Insell said after Saturday's win. "That's what my focus will be on. I think that's what you've got to do when you're a head coach.
"If your focus gets off, you're not going to win 400 games, you're not going to last that long."
It was at UT-Chattanooga, a Friday night game on an unseasonably warm day in Chattanooga (if Weather Underground's records for Chattanooga's weather on November 18, 2005 are to be believed, the high that day got up to 82 degrees before the game's 7 p.m. tip). Unfortunately, it wasn't a debut to write home about. The Lady Raiders struggled shooting, finishing the night 24-for-70 from the floor and 5-for-22 from three, while the Mocs scored 54 percent of their attempts in a 76-66 loss for MT
What Insell remembers most from that night, though, is the phone call he got on the bus ride home.
"Dr. McPhee and Chris (Massaro) called me from Miami and they were just messing with me, as they do all the time," Insell recalled. "They said 'We hired a high school coach to lose games.' Well, I'm riding back from UTC, so I'm thinking I may not even get to coach the next game."
Insell did coach the next game, of course, in what ended up being his first career win. The Lady Raiders held the Houston Cougars to just 30.8 percent from the floor, dominating defensively, as so many Rick Insell teams have, for a 62-35 win at the Murphy Center, avenging an 80-56 loss at Houston a season prior.
On Saturday, on senior day, with a bye in the conference tournament at stake, the 2021-22 Lady Raiders earned Rick Insell his 400th win at the collegiate level with a 62-44 win over Old Dominion.
He became just the 14th active coach in Division I women's basketball to win their first 400 games as a collegiate head coach at their first coaching job, putting him in the same conversation as coaches such as Geno Auriemma, Kim Mulkey and Jeff Walz. But even amongst those 14, Rick Insell is the only coach to earn their first 400 wins at their alma mater.
It was a full circle moment for the eight-time Hall of Famer, who very rarely talks about himself in media interviews. Want to talk about the game? He'll talk about his players' performances. Want to talk about the coaching preparation for the game? About recruiting? He'll heap praise on his assistant coaches' efforts. Want to talk about anything BUT basketball? Rick Insell will happily talk about his family, his wife Deb, his sons Tom, Kyle and Matt and his 10 grandchildren.
But the emotion of the moment post game, when his team and his family donned 400th win shirts and joined him for the presentation of a commemorative ball at center court, was evident. So, with apologies to him, I think the rest of us took a moment to indulge in what he's accomplished in his career.
"We knew in the back of our mind how special it was going to be for him," junior Courtney Whitson said. "He works his butt off every day, day in and day out. I'm so loyal to him because I know he'll be loyal back to us. I love him to death."
Getting to know Rick Insell, both in person and in a history that precedes him, has been one of my greatest joys about my first year in Murfreesboro. Getting little details, like how many of the sets he runs on offense at MT are the same ones he used to win 10 Class AAA TSSAA state championships at Shelbyville Central High School over his 28 years as head coach for the Golden Eaglettes. Or bits of advice, like being warned he sometimes answers his own questions rather than yours in a press conference (a fear that is, mostly, unfounded, I'm happy to report).
What I tell friends and family from home about Coach Insell, however, has less to do with his basketball IQ, which is extraordinary, or our relationship as a subject and reporter, which only continues to get better with time, as those types of relationships always do. What I tell people about is his passion, both on the court, in the form of his coaching style that demands intense focus and execution, and off the court, in advocating for every single person that's ever touched his program in some way.
That passion is why we had 26 former players and coaches return to the program as part of Legends Day on Saturday. It's why his players, even when having much demanded of them in-game and during practice, remain fiercely loyal to him long after they graduate. It's why Tony Stinnett goes around the office to check if anyone is using their women's tickets this weekend, so Rick Insell can help a friend, both of his and the program's, find a seat at that game to help make sure the Lady Raiders win.
People truly can tell when you care about them. And Rick Insell has cared about a whole lot of people in his coaching career.
Whitson called him a "legend" post-game, and it's hard to argue that he isn't a living legend, with those aforementioned eight hall of fames he's a part of. The numbers, of All-Americans (6), of conference championships (8), of 20 win seasons at MT (15), of high school wins (775), speak for themselves in that regard.
But Rick Insell never really cares about those numbers. The reason he's won 1175 games between his two coaching stops is because he always has one game in focus: the next one. So while win No. 400 was big for a lot of reasons this season, it's in the past. Now? It's time to get ready for Frisco.
"Tonight, I'll go out with my family for a few minutes, go home and pack and then immediately, we'll start tomorrow on who we've got a chance to play," Rick Insell said after Saturday's win. "That's what my focus will be on. I think that's what you've got to do when you're a head coach.
"If your focus gets off, you're not going to win 400 games, you're not going to last that long."
Players Mentioned
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