Nine for IX (2013–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Pat XO - full transcript

TYLER: I pretty much grew up
in Thompson Boiling Arena.

My mom practically lived there...

(cheers and applause)

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,
the head coach of the Lady Volunteers,

Pat Head Summitt!

TYLER: And so did my 161 sisters.

Mom's players.

ANNOUNCER:
The University of Tennessee Lady Vols!

TYLER:
She taught us a whole lot in this arena.

Fact is, I don't think a day's gone by

that I haven't learned something
from my mom.



Like to live in the present.

She'd say,
"Tyler, left foot, right foot, breathe."

Which is perfect advice
when you're about to take

one of the biggest steps of your life.

WOMAN: Ross Tyler Summitt.

TYLER: "Left foot, right foot, breathe."

-Oh, I love you.
-I love you.

-You look handsome.
-Thanks.

-You ironed this for me.
-Yeah.

TYLER: All my life, I've been asked

what it's like
to be the son of Pat Summitt.

I'm gonna do my best to answer that now.

With the help from some people
who know her best.

Everybody thinks she's a fine woman.



But she's a mischievous devil,
that's what she is.

WOMAN: There are no excuses...

WOMAN: ...in Pat Summitt's world.

WOMAN: ...She's got that Tennessee humor.

WOMAN:
...a sense of humor about herself...

WOMAN:
...never back down from a challenge...

-WOMAN: ...great coach...
-WOMAN: She's tough but she's loving...

WOMAN: She's a great teacher...

WOMAN: How cool is that?

It's funny, when I tell people, like,
Coach Summitt was so funny,

so down to earth, they look at me
like I'm crazy.

You got to switch it!
You got to switch the cover to three!

Take care of the ball!
What does it take to get a foul?

When I think once you get the hang of it,

you realize that Coach Summitt
is all about love.

And it's been consistent for 35 years.

And I don't know what the magic is,
she just knows how to do it.

I would've liked to have played
for her in some capacity

just to see what she was like
inside the locker room.

This is a chance of a lifetime.

You can't be afraid to go out
and compete and do whatever it takes.

I don't know about y'all,
but I want to win a national championship.

I want to win!

PAT: We're gonna get and go early
against their 1-3-1.

I don't care if it's our triangle offense,
you better deny the middle of the court.

Take care of the basketball.
Let's do it the Tennessee way tonight.

It's my wish for everybody in the world,
is to get a little bit of Pat Summitt.

If everybody in this world, I could just,
put it in a--just a drop,

you know, and give it to somebody,
we'd all--we'd have a better world.

I could think of a thousand things
that Pat Summitt has taught me.

And I've used with my own children
and with my own players.

I think we all need people in our lives
that are there to push us

when we think we can't go any further
or can't work any harder.

And Pat is that kind of person.

Every day, we went into practice
like we were playing

for a national championship that day.

ANNOUNCER: The Lady Volunteers.

The first team ever to go 39 and 0.

When I think about those
over a thousand wins, in my mind,

it seems like a million wins.

ANNOUNCER:
Pat Summitt is the winningest coach

in college basketball history.

JOAN: It was never "Look what I've done,"
it's "Look what we've done."

And that's what Pat Summitt stands for.

Now everyone knows
that Pat Summitt is a great coach.

But we also got to witness her
be a great mom to Tyler.

That means you're number one,
when you win a gold ring.

You like that?

BILLIE: She's the mother you wish you had.

The only thing better than being her son
was being her dog. One of her dogs.

-How cute.
-That would be Trish.

-That's Trish?
-That's Trish.

TYLER: What else did they call you?
They call you--

-PAT: Bonehead.
-TYLER: "Bonehead"?

Why'd they call you "Bone"?

I don't know. 'Cause I was really skinny.

SALLY: She was thin
when she was a teenager.

She was 5'9" in the third grade.

So I think they started calling her Bone
because she looked like a stick.

She looked like a tree branch.

PAT: Dad always told us when we got up
in the morning, we had a plan.

And so, you know,
whether we were setting tobacco

or whatever we were doing,
everybody had to, you know...

agree to come in
and do what they had to do.

SALLY: You know, they had a dairy farm
and a tobacco farm.

And there wasn't a chore on
the farm that she didn't do.

They got up in the morning, did chores,
went to school, got off the school bus,

did chores, had supper,

did chores,
played a little basketball in the hayloft,

went to sleep, got up, did chores.

LINDA: All I remember is being bossy.

And telling me what to do.
And gettin' up and...

you know, "We're gonna clean the house
on Thursday morning."

We had to do our chores and so
she would sit down and talk on the phone.

And I did all the work.

She's always been good
at being the boss and in charge.

And in control.

CHARLES: Really, she was more like
a brother. She's tough.

She's real tough.

It came from Dad--and Mother.
I mean, they both were...

You know, real strict on us.

I mean, we've done things
we shouldn't have done.

And we'd get a whipping.

SALLY: Richard, her father,
I mean, he was terrifying.

Just tough. Tough, tough, tough.
And he was that way on Pat.

-PAT: We had hay on the ground.
-Mm-hmm.

And so I had to--
I was driving the tractor.

-Yeah, on your 16th birthday?
-Yes.

And my dad, he felt like that I was
trying to throw him off the back.

You know, because I didn't
get to go to my birthday.

TYLER: And they had
a party for you, right?

-PAT: Yeah.
-TYLER: Wow.

I didn't get to go to my own party.

But we never lived that down.

SALLY: He was complicated, not easy.
But deeply good.

A deeply good man...

who did the most extraordinary thing
I've ever heard of a father doing

for a daughter in the 1960s.

He moved his entire family
across the county lines

so Pat could play basketball
like her brothers.

He was very ahead of his time
in terms of his view

of what Pat could do in life.

ESTHER: Her dad wanted
her to go to UT Martin.

And when we were
playing basketball at Martin,

he would always do a little grunt.

And you could tell by the grunt,
whether he thought you played a good game

or not.

And shake his head.

Or shake the head like this.

DEBBY: When Pat started out in 1974,
at the University of Tennessee,

she was taking classes
towards her master's degree.

She was teaching classes as a part
of her graduate assistantship.

She was coaching the basketball team,

And she was rehabbing her knee,
she had torn her ACL.

And so she was trying to rehab
her knee because her goal

was to go to Montreal
and play in the Olympic Games.

ANNIE: What I remember most
was Pat was a physical player.

Defensive-minded, a rebounder.

Probably not a great offensive player.
She'll kill me for that.

But she was a great teammate.
I mean, she expected the best out of you

because she put her best out there, too.

PATRICIA: Pat was chosen as one
of the captains for the Olympic team.

And the thing that impressed me
the most about her is just

she was very aggressive.
She was very intense.

NANCY: I knew that every time
we matched up against each other,

it was gonna be a battle.

Who's gonna be more physical to the ball?

Who's gonna dive for it first?

She just made me come with my A Game

on so many levels. Every day.

BILLIE: I wasn't bashful
about getting in someone's face.

And I was willing
to hold players accountable

for the smallest little detail.

But in the long run,

I think all the players knew
it was very much what brought them

when they were standing on the platform,

having a silver medal
put around their necks.

TYLER: What did Billie teach you?

I mean, did she have a different style
than you were used to?

-She's a very strong coach.
-Mm-hmm.

You know, and she held
people accountable and...

You know, I think I really carried that
into my coaching.

Get over here!

Who gave it up?

Who guarded it?

Gloria Johnson,
if you don't deny the high post,

you may have to walk home today.
You with me?

Making sure that, you know,

they're doing exactly
what they should be doing.

-Yeah.
-You know, and not compromisin'.

-Right.
-You know?

Even if it's the best player on the floor,

-if she's not doing the job...
-Yeah.

You know? Then somebody else
has gotta do it.

Yeah, so even Candace
didn't do her job and missed curfew...

Candace messed up.

Yeah. But you held her accountable.

I did.

TYLER: Everybody's mad at you.

That's okay.

TYLER: Candace Parker,
one of the most renowned players

to ever play at Tennessee,

you know, could dunk the ball,
everybody's excited about her.

We're going to play at DePaul,
where Candace is from.

The arena's sold out,
everybody's there to see her.

I look at my phone and it's like,
50 missed calls.

So all of a sudden,
I'm sitting there and the phone rings.

And my, husband now,
he was my fiance at the time

picks up the phone and he's like,

"Yes. I know. I'm sorry. I know."
And hangs up the phone.

Then he turns and looks at me,
he was like,

"That was Pat. She's lookin' at you,
you missed curfew. You're in trouble."

ANNOUNCER: And just seconds ago,
we were notified that Candace Parker

due to a curfew violation last night,

will not be
in the starting lineup tonight.

TYLER: And so, Mom said,

"You know, Candace,
you're not playing in the first half."

And it was--everybody--
you can tell the whole room was like,

"Oh, my goodness."

You know, we went up there for Candace.

And so we were like,
"You gotta be kidding me.

She's not playing?"

TYLER: Yes, did I see
where she was coming from, yes.

Would I have the guts to do that?
I do not know. Right now, I don't know.

HOLLY: Great athletes and great players
do not like sitting on the bench.

So, Pat's proven her point.
It didn't matter who it was.

Pat finds out everything.

You know, you can get her in a room
and she really didn't know it.

But, you know, by the time that you left,
you told her everything.

You--you told her where you went,
what you did, who was with you,

'Cause she would get in--
First thing, don't lie to me.

So you're like, "Oh, my gosh, she knows."

She told me that trust
is something that is very hard to earn.

And even harder to keep.

And so that I would have
to earn her trust back and...

You know, ever since then,
I've been doing my best

to continue to do that every day.

Accountability was always
first and foremost.

Yeah.

You could tell Candace wasn't happy.

But I wasn't happy.

-If I ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
-Ain't nobody happy.

Annie Leibovitz, the famous photographer,
shot Coach Summitt for a magazine.

And we remember her walking past us,

it was me, Tamika and Semeka,
her blue Armani suit

and I remember us saying,
"Yeah, Coach, Coach!

You look GQ!" And she's like, "Huh?"

I'm like, "Yeah, you look good."
You know, we're all laughing like,

"You look GQ."

So, you know, we head into the locker room
and it was actually maybe

a day or so later, we had another game.

And Coach Summitt had on this
really cool Orange suit.

And she walks by me
and Tamika and Semeka. She's like,

"Hey, what do you guys think? I look QT?"
And we just died laughing.

TYLER: My mom was my age, 22,

when she became
the head coach at Tennessee.

PAT: At the University of Tennessee,

our team loves to play defense.

TYLER: She called the promotion
an accident

because the former head coach
happened to leave.

She was paid just $250 a month.

And the program was so underfunded,
Mom drove the team bus.

And even washed their uniforms.

We stress playing defense
with our head and our feet.

Our head does the thinking,
our feet do the work.

TYLER: Inexperienced? Probably.

An accident? I'm not so sure about that.

Hello, I'm Diane Brady Fetzer.
I'm Pat's first point guard.

When Pat came to UT,

she was 22. And I was 21.

She was one year, two months,
and two weeks older than I am.

And let me tell you, that the tryouts
was very difficult.

And I remember runnin',
and I remember a couple of girls,

when they hit the final line
on their suicides,

just kept running out the door,
never to be seen again.

What was that first practice like?

-It was tough.
-It was?

How was it tough?

I wanted it to be tough.

Oh, really. Oh, so you made it tough.

We--You can decide right off
what you want to do.

You gonna be soft?
Or you're gonna be tough?

-And you're tough.
-Absolutely.

And I know when I left the first practice
here at Tennesee,

I was like, "That woman's crazy."

I'm not gonna be able to do it,
I can't do this.

But then I showed back up.

So that's kinda the pull
and the power she has on you.

SALLY: Pat's whole attitude is:
Don't play the victim. Ever.

It is an uncompromising--
It doesn't matter what the situation.

Feminism, race, poverty, forget it.

Forget it. There are no excuses
in Pat Summitt's world. None.

PATRICIA: One of my most memorable games.

People think it was first game
at Tennessee where I scored 59 points.

But my most memorable game
was the game that Pat benched me.

HOLLY: Trish was in a unique situation

because she was the only
Black athlete on our team.

And I just remember
when we went to Ole' Miss

and she was getting heckled by the crowd,

people were using the N-word
and she responded by a gesture.

And she got technical, Pat took her out

and didn't play her the rest of the game.

But I think it was great
for Trish after the game

Pat took her, you know,
put her arm around her and said

"Trish, there are ignorant
people in the world.

And it cannot dictate what
you do, how you react."

TRISH: She said,
"Trish, you could either go out there

and be the player that I know you can
be and you could play hard for us.

Or you could go out there and sulk.
And be mad, and not play."

She said, "It's up to you."
That's all she had to say.

HOLLY: Trish was phenomenal.

She was this former Olympian,
unbelievable athlete.

Nobody really played
like Trish in that era.

And I think the athletic
kids we have today,

that's what Trish was
and that's what set the tone

for us and the style Pat wanted to play

and what kind of player
she wanted to sign.

MICKIE: When she hired me,
one of the first things that she asked me,

she said, "Do you think
you can get me the players...

to win a national championship?"

And--and I said,
"I can get you the players."

"I can get you the players."
I said, "Can you win me one?"

And then after I said that, I was,
"Have you lost your mind?"

HOLLY:
She won eight national championships

and 1,098 ball games

but do you know how much losing
went along with that?

It's hard to win those championships.

We'd been there.
We'd been in the championship games.

We just couldn't get over the hump.

SALLY: Seven losses.
Seven heart-breaking losses

in the Final Four,

where she really questioned
whether she had it in her.

Was she just not a winner?
You know, was she just not cut out for it?

You know, what was she doing wrong?

HOLLY: I remember before
the first championship game,

we were playing Louisiana Tech
and we didn't even practice.

Pat got 'em in a circle,
they lay down on the floor

and we did mental imagery,
mental training.

SHELLRY: And they're having us visualize
what it would look like

to win a national championship game.

And you're laying there,
going through their plays,

HOLLY: She talked through, like,
"You're on defense."

"You're guarding the ball."

"You're one pass away, you're deny..."

I mean, she just went
through our whole philosophy

of how we were gonna guard them.

And it was so cool because I'm like,
"God I hope--I hope this works."

CROWD: Defense! Defense!

SHELLEY: Pat Summitt had us
so prepared for that game.

We knew Louisiana Tech's offense.

We were standing in their spot
before they got there.

They were shell-shocked.

I mean, they just--
they didn't know what to do.

ANNOUNCER: Shelley Sexton!
And the lead's back to ten.

(indistinct)

SHELLEY:
What confidence that we have as a team

to know exactly what your gameplan is
and how you want to carry it out.

What a credit to Pat.

PAT: The first one's always... special.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

TYLER: It wasn't even close.

PAT: I know. La Tech was very very good.

TYLER: How'd you hold them to 44 points?

-Defense.
-TYLER: Yeah.

Leon Barmore, the coach
of that fine Louisiana Tech team

that you defeated, said that,

"Tennessee played the greatest
defensive game I've ever seen."

DEBBY: Shelley Sexton, the senior captain,

her dad, told his kids,

he had several of them in college,
a very large family,

if you win a national championship
in your sport,

I'll buy you the car of your choice.

We put it in writing
because we're all sitting there,

and we were like, "Really?"
And we beat Louisiana Tech

and I'll never forget Bridgette Gordon
turns around and looks at my dad and says,

"Hey, Dr. Sexton, now you have
to buy Shelley that car!"

And, you know, we get back at the airport,
everybody's in limousines,

and here Pat and I were leading
the pack in a Mercedes.

I couldn't believe it.
It was like I was walking on Cloud 9.

DEBBY: Sam Furrow, who was
the Mercedes of Knoxville owner,

and he said, "Boy...

I can't believe that Pat's point guard
is gonna have a Mercedes."

You know, and Pat doesn't even have one.

So he decided, "You know what?

We'll surprise Pat at the rally tonight
and give her a Mercedes."

SHELLEY: In rolls this other Mercedes,

which happens to be Pat's,

And I'm up there speaking on behalf
of the team,

I looked at her, I said, "Well...

Pat, I guess you just can't be outdone."

PAT: We've been there many times.

But it was this group right here
that actually got us over the hump,

got the monkey off my back

and brought--and brought all of you
a national championship.

So to them, I love 'em dearly.

SHELLEY: I mean,
I know the Mercedes is a big hype,

you know, all that went with it,

but just being able as a point guard,

as a Tennessee girl,

as a player,

you had so much...

respect and love for Pat as a coach.

To be a part of that first championship,

you know, your coach is giving you a hug

at the end of that game,
as you're coming out of that game,

knowing that you accomplished something
that so many had tried before

with someone like her
is truly--is indescribable.

NELL: I was going over to Pat's house
for dinner, and I remember walking in

and Pat, she's on her phone.

She's got ten burners on her kitchen
stove and every burner has a pot

with something's cookin' in it.

And Pat's talking to somebody.
"Yup, yup, yup.

That's right. Well, yup, you're right.
You're right.

Hey, Nell. How ya doin, Nelle? Yeah."

And she's stirring over here,
she's stirring. "Yeah, Tyler?

Make sure you wear the blue one.
All right. Good deal.

Nell, I'll be off the phone
in just a minute.

Yeah, that's right.
Now we can't let Susie...

think that she...

can act that way. Now she's got
to represent those girl scouts,

she's eleven years old.

Hold on a second, I gotta...
Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Hang on just a second."

Hello?

Now, President Bush,
I saw those--I saw that.

I don't know if we can get on
that plane 11:00 tomorrow.

Kids have practice at 7:00,

Kids have study hall, hey, Mickie!

Oh, wow.
Pat was the Queen of Multitasking.

I've never seen anybody like it.

You know, if she didn't have
at least five, minimum...

things going on at one time,
she wasn't busy.

She was--she was wasting her time.

BETSY: Mickie was the recruiter
and I think Pat took the lead

when it was a top player she wanted.

And Michelle was very excited
that Pat was coming.

And on top of that, Pat was pregnant

and ready to have this baby, so...

we really didn't realize
how close that was.

MICKIE: She just reassured me that

everything was fine, that she wasn't due

you know, for another
five or six days and...

we were good to go.
The doctor had cleared her and so...

we got us to a plane,
went to Michelle Marciniak's

in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

And right when we landed,

she said, "I think my water broke"
and I went, "What does that mean?"

MICHELLE:
It was amazing that Pat had still come.

I really wanted her to leave.

I was afraid she was gonna drop
the baby right in this room.

We sat down in the living room
and Mickie starts flipping through

the recruiting book, like, you know...

"This is where you're gonna stay,

this is where you're gonna sleep,
this is where you're gonna eat,

this is where you're gonna work out

this is where you go on the trains,
this is where you gonna study..."

And it was just so quick.

I was rushing Mickie.

I said,
"Mickie, we can look at this later."

Pat would get up
and she would walk in here,

use the phone,

she'd be on the phone
and say, "Okay, thank you, Doctor."

And she'd go to the bathroom...
I mean, it was just complete chaos.

And then Pat would get back up

and she'd do it all over again five times.

She sat down, she said,
"Michelle, I'm afraid

I'm gonna have to cut this visit short."

And I said, "Okay." And she said--

"Moss, we need to go. Like, now."

And so... I said,
"Well, that about wraps it up."

I was a mess, yeah. I was.

I had my hands in my pocket,
I was jiggling my coins.

My mind just went blank, I felt,

"How do I get back to the airport?"

MICHELLE: We are speeding down
the road, as fast as we possibly can.

Do not enter. Stop signs. Red lights.

Actually, the funniest thing
is looking back in the rear-view mirror

and I see Pat and her feet
are up on the dashboard.

And she's breathing, you know,
and Mickie is driving like this.

When I got on the airplane, she goes,

"Got you a shot of Jack Daniels
sittin' over there in your seat."

I said, "Oh, thank goodness."

And so I swigged that down, I was like,

"Okay, now what do you need me to do?"

She goes, "You start readin'
those pamphlets."

I'm like, "Oh, goodness."

I'm readin' the pamphlets
on how to birth a baby.

Pat was in a major amount of pain.

And Mickie was like,
"You know, Pat, breathe."

And Pat's... Mickie's going,
"Oh, my God, get this plane home."

MICKIE: And that's when the pilots
thought it'd be a good time

to put the plane down.

Pat wanted to know
what state we were over.

And I said, "Pat, that would be Virginia."

And Pat goes, "You are not...
I will not have a baby

in the state of Virginia."

So that's how competitive Pat was.

ANNOUNCER: The defending
national champions Tennessee

playing host to upstart Virginia.

They wanna get back to Knoxville
and there's a big reason.

They've already sold
17,000 tickets down there.

And they'd like to see the Lady Volunteers

going after their
third national championship.

in the last four years at home.

MICKIE: We were hosting the Final Four
in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1990.

And we lost in the Regional Finals
in overtime to Virginia,

which knocked us out of our chance
to come home and play

for a national championship.

So, that was a game that

it took Pat a very long time
to put behind her.

And she said,

"If you let them even think
about landing in Virginia,

you and those pilots will have
a madwoman on your hands."

And...

I knew when not to argue with Pat.

And I said, "Guys, please."

Let's let this child be born in a hospital

You gotta get this plane
to Knoxville, Tennessee.

I just want to allow him
to be his own person.

If he wants to play the piano, fine.
If he wants to play sports, fine.

KELLIE: We had a great opportunity
to see him really grow up

as part of our team.

He was on the bus with us,
he was on planes.

He traveled, he was on the bench.

We got really close to him.

We had some great times with Ty-Man.

TAMIKA: "Ty-Man." That's what we used
to call him. What's up, Ty-Man?

(dramatic music playing)

CHAMIQUE: This was a little kid,

I'm like beatin' up
on the back of the bus.

And he wants to come sit next to
his cousin Meek and me and Jolly.

And he gets mad at his mom one day,
because she benched Kelly Jolly

and he said,
"Ma, I'm not sleepin' in the house"

And she's like, "Why, Tyler?"

"It's because you yelled at Kelly!"

PAT: I knew you weren't gonna
go sleep in the garage.

-I thought I was.
-(laughing)

No, I knew better.

-TYLER: Did you?
-PAT: Yeah.

TYLER: I was gonna go in there
with my cat.

-Yeah.
-But you knew better.

Exactly.

DEBBY: He would hear his mom,
you know, breaking down film

and yellin' about this player
and that player

and why they were lazy and na-na-na.

But then he'd hear the players go,
"I can't believe she's on me so much.

And why the..."

But he would never tell the other
side what he was hearing.

He was like Switzerland.

And I remember the one time I went to Mom

And I said, "Mom, do you want to know
how the players took your message?"

And that was when I was trying
to be her little helper

and her assistant coach.

She goes, "Nope. You never need
to tell me anything the players say.

You need to keep their trust
and you keep my trust."

(upbeat music playing)

KELLIE: One of the most well-known things
about Pat Summitt is her stare.

If you've watched her on television,
you've seen it.

However, you have to be one of the players
to have experienced it.

And--or an official.

ABBY: It's just intense. You know,
those blue eyes cut through you.

It's piercing.
Man, it just ripped through your soul.

There's that one that looks like,
you know, you just might as well...

dot for a, you know,
shoot these darts through you.

I don't think I can do it. Hold on.

I can't do it. I don't even try to do it.

It's amazing. I've never seen anybody
that can look at you

and make you feel two inches tall.

I just remember her staring at me

and I would stand there
and I would stare at her

until she started, like,
the background started moving.

And like Pat, you know,
I couldn't focus on Pat

and the background,
they'd all start merging as one.

When she looks at you that way,
you're like, "I have to get it together."

A-S-A-P.

It's very uncomfortable.
That's all I have to say.

MICHELLE: Could she play for herself?

Maybe.

Maybe. I'm not sure.

That's a tough question to answer.

SALLY: She needed to try
to answer that question because

if she couldn't play for herself,
nobody else could play for either.

'Cause she's as tough as they come. Right?

Could you ever play for you?

-I think I could.
-Really?

No, she probably couldn't play
for herself.

Come on.

TYLER: What?

Yes!

The whole state of Tennessee
is counting on you!

You looked at the orange in this building?

ABBY: I think what surprised me
the most about Pat,

was really what a hard-ass she was.

You don't understand...

the wrath of Pat Summitt, you know?
Until you're there.

MICHELLE: Pat crossed the line
with me a lot.

She was tough on me.

She would push me,
she'd kick me out of practice.

She would use me as an example.

She'd yell at me
longer and harder than anyone.

Because she knew and thought
that I could take it.

Some days I could,
some days I was an absolute mess.

Let's roll up our sleeves
and go to work in the second half.

MICHELLE: Pat said, "I don't treat you
all the same, I treat you all fair."

She didn't ever ask us anything
that she didn't first do herself.

And to me, she led by example.

HOLLY: She just laid
the groundwork, I think,

for where women's basketball is today.

I think she's the reason why we now
have big-time salaries.

We now play in big arenas.

MAN: The court in Thompson-Boling Arena

will be called "The Summitt."

SALLY: She was always trying
to get more games publicized.

She was always trying to get
a Tennessee game on television.

DEBBY: Pat Summitt was so key
on helping grow the game.

When Connecticut and Tennessee
started that rivalry in 1995,

was it the best thing for Tennessee
to take on another

non-conference opponent?

Maybe not.

But it was the best thing for the game.

SALLY: It would've been
very easy for Pat to say no.

Because, first of all,
it's a potential loss on your schedule

It could hurt your ranking,
and Pat, of course, said

"Yeah, sure. I'll play."

Because she very much felt
a personal responsibility

to put together a package or a game

that was glamorous for women's basketball.

GENO: I don't think there's been
a rivalry that ever matched

the intensity and the drama

that the Tennessee
Connecticut rivalry did.

MAN: Geno Auriemma better get a timeout.

Pat Summitt's squad came into Connecticut

ready to play basketball.

GENO: And every one of the games...

meant something.

SALLY: The 1996 meeting between
Tennessee and Connecticut

holds up as one of the great
basketball games ever played.

The sheer quality of play
on both ends of the court.

It's just great players
knocking down big shots.

MAN: Behind the back, dribbled by Sales.

Jolly gets the screen, leans in...
Nice shot by Jolly!

SALLY: And you got Geno Auriemma
and Pat Summitt at their absolute peaks.

GENO: I think Pat
coached to her personality.

I think her teams reflected
that kind of personality.

You know, how hard they competed
and defense and rebounding the ball

and the kind of pressure
they put on you constantly.

Those are reflections of passion
toward the game.

And when people ask me about

losses in the Final Four,
or losses in the NCAA Tournament,

I go back to that game
and I think that's the one game

where I think we lost fair and square.

Well, we got beat
by a better team that night.

WOMAN: Introducing the head coaches

for tonight's National
Championship game...

for Tennessee, Pat Summitt.

WOMAN: All right, Tyler
I have to ask you a big question here.

What does Mom have to do
for the team to win?

She got to tell them
just play a good game.

And play good defense and play...
And make good rebounds.

MAN: That is the story of Tennessee's play

against Georgia tonight.

-(horn blows)
-MAN: That's it!

Tennessee has won
the National Championship.

PAT: I know it's the last question
and I want to say this before we leave,

You know, I'm the person that I am
because of my background

and my environment.

And my mom and dad are here.

Richard and Hazel Head.

My family has supported me so much
and it's just meant...

It's meant more than words can express.

And today, to tell you how
big it was, my father,

hugged me and kissed me
for the first time in 43 years.

Thank you, Dad.

SALLY: And even then, even
when Richard did that,

He said, "Now I love you and I don't want
to hear anything else about it."

ABBY: The '97 National Championship's
definitely the championship

I take the most pride in as a player.

You know, the fact that
we had fallen out of the top ten,

we set almost every
negative record that...

No...

ABBY: ...any Lady Vol team
has set in 20 years.

CHAMIQUE: Well, we lost 10 games.
That's unheard of

for a University of Tennessee
Pat Summitt coached team.

It was tough.

SALLY: Pat understood.

She might absorb five to
ten losses in a season.

But she understood that by
the time her kids got done

with those experiences,
they would elevate.

And she does one of
the great virtuoso underdog coaching jobs

and they come out of nowhere
and they win the championship.

MAN: And for Pat Summitt,

with her fifth national championship
in eleven years.

HOLLY: The '98 team, I don't even know
why we were sittin' on the bench.

They were so good.

As coaches, you can sit back
and enjoy and watch

a beautiful team play great basketball

We had the opportunity
to pick up the Meeks,

Tamika Catchings, Semeka Randall
to go with Chamique.

I think it was the best team ever.

They go 39 and 0, they're winning games
by an average of 15-20 points,

CHAMIQUE: The greatest thing
Coach Summitt was able to do

was to get us to play
for each other all that time.

And for us to sacrifice for one another.

SALLY: You know, one of the hardest
things in the world to do

is to coach an undefeated team
all the way to the finish line.

The pressure just mounted and mounted
and mounted and mounted.

CHAMIQUE: And then
we played North Carolina

and that was our toughest game.

MAN: Tennessee in trouble. Down by 12.

CHAMIQUE: Come back to the bench,
timeout, Pat grabbed Kelly, like,

slammed her on the ground,
she's just down there,

she starts yelling at her,
she, you know, like,

"We're not gonna lose this game!"

and "We didn't come this far in our season

to get to this point to lose."

When it's like, at that moment,
like the lightbulb went off.

MAN: Tennessee (indistinct)

Holy cow, what a run by Tennessee!

SALLY: And she's comin' off the court,
and she said,

"We just won another
national championship."

She knew right there when she beat
North Carolina

She knew no one was gonna touch 'em
in the Final Four.

MAN: And Tennessee is perfect.

Are they the best team
in college basketball history? You bet!

SALLY: Those three years,
you really get to see

why she's the greatest coach
who ever lived.

I mean, you get to see
just how good Pat is.

TYLER: Those were my first memories.
I grew up, 1996, 1997, 1998,

thinking that,
"Hey, this is how we do things.

You know, Mom wins championships
every year."

Whether it's 1996 or 2007,
you know, it was always

that 10-second twirl of the net

but right when she got down
and she went back in the locker room,

even if we just won
a national championship,

she's thinking about next year.

If it's one thing I'm in awe of,
with my mom,

it's that she just kept going,
no matter what happened.

SALLY: She never carried
her personal problems to work.

She got divorced while she was winning
two national championships.

Nobody's ever known
what Pat was struggling with.

TYLER: No matter if her dad passed away,

No matter if it was a divorce,
no matter what it was,

she just kept going.
You know, she was ready the next day,

Every day she was ready.
She was up. I mean...

it was just like getting up to milk cows.

She was--she was there,
it was gonna happen, like it or not.

And she would go to practice.

Didn't matter if it was a good practice,
bad practice, whatever.

She came home, she cooked dinner...

If we were sitting and watching film,
then we did that.

If not, she'd tuck me in every night
and told me she loved me.

And it was just every night. Every night.

She was not gonna compromise on that.

We were gonna go to Florida,

we were gonna skip class
for a couple of days

to go to Florida.
Of course, our parents didn't know.

-And...
-Easy there.

So Pat was worried
'cause she had this test in...

nutrition under Ms. Flowers.
And so, I said,

"Well, just call her and act
like you're sick. So do it, do it."

Do your imitation.

"Ms. Flowers...

As I've said...

I just--I just don't feel good.
And I, you know, just..."

"I--I can't take my test."

"No, I can't. There's no way."

(laughing)

-And Ms. Flowers said...
-Ms. Flowers said...

(laughter)

-She liked me.
-She liked you.

Everybody liked Pat.
She got away with murder.

MICHELLE: I remember showing up
to class late one day

and then I had practice that afternoon.

And I showed up and she's like,
"I need to see you."

And I'm like, "Oh, God, what did I do?"

And I'm going through everything.
I'm like, "Well, I was late for class

but that professor doesn't know her
and that--they never talk,"

and she's like,
"You were late for your psychology class."

There's nothing you can say at that point.

You know, you just say,
"Pat, I'm--it won't happen again."

She's like, "It better not."

SALLY: She's very proud of the wins
but what she's most proud of

is the 100% graduation rate.

So if you play at Tennessee
for four years, you have graduated.

-PAT: Am I smart enough to be here?
-Yes, you bet.

TYLER: Growing up,
watching her players graduate,

my mom had so much joy for that.

Probably even more joy
than a championship.

PAT: It's always been important.

I wanted every player that went through
the program to have that diploma.

It's what it's all about.

Gosh, it's the whole team.

SALLY: Pat built a great tradition.
It's a huge tradition.

It's an honor. They sprint to sign
that graduation pole.

WOMAN: And all the players
have told Tyler,

you know, "Hey, you are one of us.

You sign the pole, too."

SALLY: I'm just really happy for him,
you know? Very proud.

Watching him graduate,

I think it was
an extraordinary day for her.

Bittersweet, you know, and she just said,

"I want to see my son grow up."

And I said, "I think you're gonna get
to do that." You know?

"I really do."

MAN: College basketball shocked and
saddened by Pat Summitt's announcement

MAN: A towering figure
in college basketball

is about to teach her players
a brand new lesson in grit.

PAT: Doctors at the Mayo Clinic

diagnosed me with an early onset dementia,

Alzheimer's type, at the age of 59.

TARA: It's one of those things that
you remember where you were when

when Kennedy was shot, I remember that...

and it was that kind of thing, it was...
I remember exactly where I was

when I was told about the news about Pat.

I just sat there stunned.
Tears started coming down my face.

And we talked, and she said,
"You know what, Meek,"

she goes, "I'm gonna fight through this.
I'm gonna be okay."

And I said, "Coach, are you sure?"

She said, "I got this, you know?"

Dementia has never met an opponent
like Pat Summitt.

HOLLY: You see this woman
who has been so powerful.

And so on top of her game.

And then all of a sudden, you're like,

you're helping her remember
where a meeting is.

And it's like, God, this is...

this woman should be coaching
for 50 years.

-Here we go!
-Show what you got...

HOLLY: And yeah, it--it makes me--
it makes me angry as hell

then it--then I turn around
and I'm emotional.

I mean, I get strength from how
she handles it. It's unbelievable.

It's unbelievable.

TABER: You know, Pat Summitt
is a part of who I am.

Her last season was,
I think, very special in a sense.

And then also very hard in a way

because there was so much uncertainty

The season just took on
a whole new purpose,

a whole new reason to even play.

For it to come together
with our SEC championship

and you know, for us to give
Pat one last time for

her to--really just to be
celebrated for who she is.

It was amazing.

SALLY: There wasn't a Final Four
that matched that feeling.

And then at the same time,
there was that sadness of...

Is this her last ladder?

-Cut it all down.
-Cut it all down.

-All?
-All of it!

DEBBY: Well, she had those
scissors in her hands

to cut down another net.

And that was the unknown
and you didn't want it to be.

You did not want it to be, for anything.
Anything in the world.

But you couldn't help to think,

"This is her last trip up the ladder."

PAT: To one of my all-time favorite teams.

DEBBY: And then the sadness
of not being able to get by Baylor.

KIM: She is our John Wooden
of women's basketball.

And I don't think any coach
wants to be a part of...

beating Pat Summitt
in her last collegiate game.

But you dig deep within your soul
and you remember all the lessons

that Pat has taught you
and that is if you're a competitor,

you go play regardless
and that's how I approached that game.

Being in that locker room
after we lost to Baylor

in the Elite Eight last year,
it was definitely heartache.

PAT: Ladies, y'all listen up.

It wasn't for lack of effort.

There's no doubt we all worked.

If you ask me, losing just flat out sucks.

You think about the good things
that happened to this class.

And what's to come. And the future.

Anyone else want to say anything?

Thanks for the opportunity, Coach.

I wouldn't be who I am today
if it wasn't for you.

Y'all freshmen take advantage
of the opportunity.

There's no better stage
for women's basketball.

There's no better stage.

MICHELLE: I get very... choked up

when I think about her not

marching up and down
the sidelines anymore.

And just like, just being her.
You know, being Pat.

For almost four decades,
it has been a privilege

to make an impact on the lives

of 161 women who have worn the orange.

I am so proud of them.

You know, 38 years ago, this month...

DEAN: Pat was announcing her retirement
and to hear this giant,

this coaching legend...

It was just a moment
of incredible impact to me.

I'll never forget it.

You know, it's...

It was hard.

You know, because I didn't want to
but I felt like I needed to step down.

TYLER: Yeah.

But, you know...

That's why we have the foundation and...

You know, it gives me...

you know, something to...

be proud of and stay involved with.

TYLER: Yeah.

It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay. It's okay.

Sorry.

-Come on.
-Hop up here.

-Come here, Sal.
-They get to sit.

She's okay.

-It's okay.
-It's all right.

-It's our circle of support right here.
-It's good. It's good. Yeah.

TYLER: The thing about me being
so strong now and helping out my mom now

is that she gave that to me.

And so, you just do what you can do.
You be the best you can be

no matter what the circumstances.
And you keep moving forward.

If life hits you, you just fall forward
and you just keep rolling

taking the punches. Keep on keepin' on.

PAT: I understand what I'm dealin' with.

And that's why I wanna get out there
and talk to people and say,

just because you have Alzheimer's
doesn't mean you know,

you gonna go in a closet.

TYLER: That's her new task
and what she's got her mind set on now.

And I think there's just
untapped potential that she can help

bring out and bring it to the forefront
just like she did for women's basketball.

SALLY: There are rare people
who get to live in a certain time

in which you are able
to sort of do something more.

And Pat did that

and men respected what she did.

And that changed everything for women.

Basically she made
the winner's circle genderless.

Because she has the social context
of what she accomplished.

And then she's also got this belovedness.

I mean, she didn't put
a foot wrong or say a thing wrong...

in 50 years.

And people really revered that.
They revere the flawlessness

of her performance as a public figure.

Do the right thing.

Good God, everybody's talking!

HOLLY: If you've gotta think about it,
you shouldn't do it.

It's always "Do the right the thing."

In all aspects of what you do.
And that's what she's done.

SALLY: To wake up every morning,
happy and with a good attitude,

forward looking, is her greatest quality

and I really didn't properly appreciate it

I think until the last year
with the Alzheimer's.

Because if that doesn't knock you
back on your ass,

I don't know what will. And it hasn't.

Most people would tell you...

if you're lucky enough
to be a good friend of hers,

she makes every day better.
Every day. You know?

So...

It's--It's funny, like...

I--and I'm not crying
because it's a tragedy,

I'm--I'm crying because that's
how much, you know...

she means to everybody. You know?

It's just--I could have missed her...

could not have known her,

not have worked with her
and I'd have been so unlucky

and instead I got so lucky!

(dramatic music playing)

You hear a lot of times that guys
will marry girls like their moms.

And I was like, I don't
think that's the case for us.

And I asked Tyler why, and he's like,

because I'm so much like her if you were
we would kill each other.