Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / After seven seasons as VMI’s coach, Dan Earl is set to switch SoCon men’s basketball programs and take over at UTC, where he’ll replace Lamont Paris.Within the span of 48 hours, it appears the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will go from zero head coaches for its basketball programs to two.
After news trickled out Tuesday night about UTC hiring Virginia Tech assistant Shawn Poppie to lead its women’s team, the Mocs made an official announcement about his addition Wednesday morning. Shortly after that, there were reports – which have been confirmed by the Times Free Press – that Virginia Military Institute head coach Dan Earl will be leaving the Keydets to take over the UTC men.
The latter hire, which will take Earl from one Southern Conference program to another, has not been announced by UTC, but that is expected to happen Thursday.
Both new coaches will walk into situations in need of fixing in some way, shape or form. Poppie replaces Katie Burrows, a former UTC player and assistant who wasn’t retained after four years as head coach and a 46-68 record, including a program-worst 7-23 in the 2021-22 season. That move was announced March 8.
In UTC’s release Wednesday, athletic director Mark Wharton said Poppie – Virginia Tech’s associate head coach the past two seasons – was always a top candidate for the position.
“As we went through the process, it became clear that Shawn has the knowledge and experience to be the next leader of our women’s basketball program. We are very excited to welcome Shawn and his family to Chattanooga,” Wharton said in the release.
This will be Poppie’s first head coaching job. A native of Crescent City, Illinois, he was a college standout at Limestone, an NCAA Division II program in Gaffney, South Carolina, where he was inducted into the Saints’ athletic hall of fame in 2017, a decade after finishing his playing career as the program’s leader in assists and steals.
His coaching career started with four seasons at his alma mater, which were followed by stints at two other programs in the Palmetto State – the University of South Carolina Upstate for two seasons and SoCon member Furman for three seasons – before his six-season run as an assistant on Kenny Brooks’ Virginia Tech staff. During that time, Virginia Tech has had an overall winning record each season, and this past season’s 13-5 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play was the Hokies’ best league record this century.
The Hokies have also made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances after not reaching the event since 2006. The UTC women’s program has 15 trips to the tourney, most recently in 2017.
“I am humbled and honored to be the head women’s basketball coach here at UTC,” Poppie said in the release. “We have a rich tradition of success here with a fan base that supports women’s basketball. I’m beyond thankful for Mark Wharton and his staff for believing in me to lead this program to Southern Conference championships. It is going to take a lot of hard work from my staff and our ladies, but I am confident with the continued support of our administration, support staff and loyal fans, we will get there together.”
Earl will replace Lamont Paris, who left last week to become head coach at South Carolina.
The former VMI coach will get the keys of a program coming off its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2016, but one that has a lot of questions entering next season. The Mocs won 27 games overall and swept the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles this season, but they lose five seniors from the 2021-22 roster and face potential concerns about retaining the players who could return.
Earl’s record is 73-138 in seven seasons at VMI, widely considered one of the most difficult jobs in the country when it comes to recruiting and winning due to its military standards as well as its location in Lexington – a rural Virginia town with a population of less than 8,000, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. The Keydets’ most recent of three NCAA tourney appearances was in 1997.
However, over the past two seasons, the Keydets are a combined 29-28, with this season ending with a spot in the College Basketball Invitational, the program’s first appearance in a national postseason tournament since 2014.
Earl was voted the SoCon men’s basketball coach of the year in 2021 after leading the Keydets to a 13-12 record, including 7-7 in league games. VMI was 16-16 overall and 9-9 in conference competition this past season, marking the first time the Keydets had won at least half of their SoCon games in consecutive seasons since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.