New coach? Not a problem.

When Michael Giorlando, director of intercollegiate athletics and wellness, hired Kellie Kennedy to replace former Loyola women’s head basketball Coach DoBee Plaisance following her resignation, the message was clear — continue the growth of the program and win basketball games.

Kennedy, a 10-year assistant coach at Tulane University from 1996-2006, accepted the head coaching position fully aware of the legacy Plaisance left behind, yet she never promised to be exactly like her predecessor.

“The team liked Coach Plaisance,” Kennedy said, “so when I came here as a new coach, it wasn’t like I was following a coach that was hated and didn’t win.”

Kennedy, in simple terms, isn’t Plaisance, even if the success she has experienced at Loyola shows distinct similarities. Plaisance’s last five seasons at Loyola were very successful, however, Kennedy wasn’t hired to be a split-image of the former coach, and so far she hasn’t been.

She has brought her coaching style to Loyola and has discovered the blueprint for success early in her career with the Wolfpack.

Kennedy’s team achieved a 23-6 record this season while capturing Loyola’s second Gulf Coast Athletic Conference championship in the last three years, guaranteeing her team an appearance in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Tournament – all in her first year as Loyola’s head coach. 

“I understood that there were big shoes for me to fill and the only way I was going to be successful early was to get the players to buy into what my coaching staff and I were selling,” she said.

Entering a basketball program as a new head coach is difficult, but Kennedy has managed to make her transition as Loyola’s head coach seem effortless, evident from the team’s record and being crowned GCAC tournament champions.

Before the season began, Kennedy and her coaching staff discussed ways both her and her team would adjust to each other’s styles early.

“One of the things we did as a staff was sit down and figure out how we were going to take advantage of the talent we had. We weren’t going to run some crazy system that didn’t utilize our strengths,” she said.

“I think that’s the big thing, take advantage of our speed, our ability to put the ball on the floor, and our perimeter game and we will win basketball games,” she said.

Kennedy believes her success is the result of two reasons; the team she inherited from Plaisance and her team’s commitment to improving every step of the way.

“You start with great players and I have a great group of girls and two returning All-Americans. They worked together, played as a team, and they stayed committed,” she said.

“They have worked extremely hard and have been committed to winning and you can’t ask for anything more,” she said.

The path to success was not always easy to find for Kennedy and the Lady Wolfpack.

They began the season playing ten consecutive games on the road and returned home with a 5-5 record. From there, however, the Lady Wolfpack found their identity and finished the rest of the season 18-1.

“The first couple of games we were playing top-10 teams in the country and at the time we didn’t know who we were,” Kennedy said. “We didn’t know how to define ourselves at the time, but as the season progressed, we found out who we were.”

Craig Malveaux can be reached at [email protected].