Photos provided by Joan Cronan
A conversation with Joan Cronan delves into her career, the Lady Vol program, Pat Summit, giving back to the Knoxville community and more.
Joan Cronan, UT women’s athletic director from 1983 to 2012, dedicated her career to athletics and nurtured the Lady Vols program into the national symbol it is today. She remains an exemplary volunteer through her continued involvement with organizations on campus and in the Knoxville community.
Career beginnings and inspirations
Cronan’s first involvement with the university came at just 23 years old as the Lady Vols basketball head coach (1968-1970). In 1969, she led the team to the first-ever women’s National Invitational Collegiate Basketball Tournament. She then moved on to the College of Charleston (1974-1983) where she played many roles in women’s athletics.
“When we moved to Charleston, I had a two-week-old and a 17-month-old. I was just trying to survive. So, as soon as we got settled, I went down to the College of Charleston, and Title IX had just passed,” Cronan said. “It's 1972, and I made a cold call with the president and said, ‘You need to have women's athletics,’ I was either really good or really bad. I'm not sure which one, but I walked out of his office and I was volleyball coach, basketball coach, tennis coach and AD. That's where we started from and over 10 years built a program that was considered the number one Division II program in the country.”
She returned to Rocky Top as the women’s athletic director in 1983 and served in that position until her retirement in 2012 when the separate athletic departments merged under the leadership of one director.
“The leading cheerleader to make us come [to Knoxville] was my husband. He had just been named professor of the year. He had just been given a sabbatical. And then I'm saying, ‘Let's go to Knoxville,’ and what he said was, ‘Joan, your dream was to build women's athletics and obviously you can do that better from the platform of Tennessee,’” Cronan said. “It was just a perfect place for all of us. My kids, the family, the opportunity to do what we were able to do. I think it was just meant to be.”
University involvement post-retirement
Cronan may be officially retired but in no way does that mean she has slowed down. Through her involvement with the College of Law IPL Advisory Board and the Haslam Board of Management Council, she helps to raise money and promote leadership.
“I love to help raise money because I had such a long career with lots of connections,” Cronan said. “And nothing is more fun than going to a ballgame.”
Title IX
Growing up in South Louisiana, Cronan embraced her love of sports.
“Barbara Mandrell had that song, “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” well, I was a tomboy and loved sports before it was cool,” Cronan said.
At the age of 12, she was denied the opportunity to play Little League Baseball. Cronan knew her future would involve making a difference in the athletics world. At the time, she had no idea her path to making change would be as an athletic director.
“The University of Tennessee has supported women more than any other school that I know of. They have been very, very supportive and that makes a huge difference,” Cronan said. “Title IX is a law that says you have to. I wanted people to do it because they wanted to. And that was one of the things that made me extremely proud.”
Pat Summitt
Legendary Lady Vols basketball coach, Pat Summitt, led the program to eight NCAA National Championships, 18 Final Four appearances, and a combined 32 SEC tournament and regular season championships. Summitt’s career record was 1,098-208 after a 38-year tenure with the Lady Vols.
Some may not know this but Cronan and Summitt crossed paths well before both women represented The Big Orange. During Cronan’s time as athletic director at the College of Charleston, she and Summitt recruited the same player who ultimately ended up at Georgia. The two coaches had known one another as colleagues and during a drive to lunch, Summitt mentioned the Tennessee athletic director position and suggested Cronan apply.
“I almost wrecked because it was a platform that I knew would give me an opportunity to make a difference,” Cronan said.
Cronan speaks highly of Summitt and their nearly 30 years of working together.
“I get a lot of credit for hiring Pat Summitt, but I didn’t, I kept her. She was here when I came in and to have a coach of that caliber, of that willingness to help with all other sports. It made our job a pleasure,” Cronan said.
Lady Vols brand
Thanks to Cronan, Summit Blue has become synonymous with the Lady Vols brand. In 1968, Cronan needed jerseys for her women’s basketball team, but no company manufactured a solid orange uniform at the time. Because of this problem, she selected Columbia Blue uniforms with orange lettering, and the detail has stuck with the program ever since. The color has since been renamed Summitt Blue to honor the legacy of the late Pat Summitt.
“I think it’s the best-known logo for women in the country, maybe the world. I’m proud to wear the Power T, proud to wear the Lady Vols logo and I’m proud to be part of the University of Tennessee,” Cronan said.
Accolades and honors
Over the years, Cronan has been honored with countless awards, honors and accolades, and in 2014, the first permanent location for Tennessee volleyball was dedicated to the longtime women’s athletic director. In 2016, the university renamed the road entering UT’s athletic complex to Joan Cronan Way. The complex currently houses the Cronan Volleyball Center, Sherri Lee Parker Softball Stadium and Regal Soccer Stadium. Above all, she is most proud of her relationships and connections with people.
“Just this year I was at the SEC basketball tournament, and I heard somebody say ‘coach, coach’ and I hadn’t been a coach in a long time, so I turned around, and it was a young lady who had played on my first volleyball team at the College of Charleston,” Cronan said. “She just wanted me to know what that had meant for her career. It’s those kinds of things that are really more important than the accolades and stick with everybody.”
“Sport is Life with the Volume Turned Up”
In 2015, Cronan added author to her long list of titles by writing “Sport is Life with the Volume Turned Up: Lessons Learned That Apply to Business and Life” with Rob Schriver. In the book, she details why sports are so important and what they teach athletes.
“I just think to be successful, to me, there's three things that you need, and that’s three Cs: you need to be competitive, you need to communicate and you need to have confidence,” Cronan said.
These things can be learned in other ways, but Cronan believes sports are the best way to do so. In one ballgame, athletes are using all three Cs at an intensified rate.
Sustaining the Lady Vol culture
Lady Volunteers athletics is a remarkable program; athletes consistently say they want to represent and carry on the Lady Vols spirit.
Cronan often gets asked how she created such a well-known and respected program.
“I didn’t build it, a lot of us built it. We developed a pride and a passion… It’s so much fun to watch it continue,” Cronan said.
According to Cronan, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the volleyball team wrote a strategic plan for the year which included “upholding the Lady Vols values.” When the coach asked the players to elaborate on those values, they said, “We don’t know, but everybody talks about it.”
This has now become an annual opportunity for all current Lady Vol athletes to get together and discuss these values and hear from former athletes about what being a Lady Vol meant to them.
Navigating challenges
During Cronan’s career, she saw great success in many different endeavors but they did not come easily or without challenge.
“Sometimes the challenge is to be patient. Sometimes we want it right now. And sometimes you have to take baby steps to get the big picture,” Cronan said.
When she came back to UT as the women’s AD, Thompson-Boling Arena (TBA) was being built. Prior to the construction of TBA, both the men’s and women’s teams played at Stokley Athletic Center. Initially, the women’s team was supposed to continue to play in Stokley while the men would move to Thompson-Boling. Both the university president and Summitt supported this change. Summitt wanted it because she would have her own space in Stokely with the men gone, and the president was concerned about the new arena being too big.
“I really drew the line in the sand and said, ‘oh, if y'all want me to come badly, we have to play in the new arena.’ Because I think you only get that first chance to make a good impression,” Cronan said. “One of the nicest notes I ever got from Pat was after the first game, and we had sold it out, she said, ‘you were right.’”
When the Lady Vols moved into TBA, they had to create a makeshift locker room because they had not planned on the women being there too. As time went on, it was being discussed that they could renovate a visitor locker room and use it for the women as well.
“I got to the office one morning and one of my counterparts in men's athletics had made a comment at a meeting that I wasn't in. And his comment was, ‘She will get that locker room over my dead body,’ Cronan said. “I could have done a lot of things. I could have run to the president's office and said ‘We have to do it.’ I could have, you know, screamed and yelled and gone to the press or whatever. I simply walked into my office, I picked up the phone immediately and I called him and said, ‘When am I going to your funeral?’ He was silent. Then he started laughing and I started laughing and I said, ‘Come on down, let's talk about it.’”
Cronan says keeping things in perspective, having patience and a sense of humor are essential to getting through any difficulty or challenge.
Women’s athletics on the rise
There has been a rise of interest and support in women’s athletics over the past several years but this past year specifically has taken them to another level.
“Is this a moment in time? Or is it momentum? It's momentum and we just need to really take advantage of it,” Cronan said. “I can't turn the television on without seeing women's sports… I feel like a little happy mama out here. Because look, she played for us, she played for us, she played for us. I'm really excited and proud of all of them.”
Not only are more female athletes getting amazing opportunities, but it has opened doors for all women. Now more than ever, women are filling traditionally male roles like coaches, athletic trainers, managers and broadcasters.
Keeping collegiate athletics in perspective
In recent years, college sports have evolved. From the transfer portal, NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and conference realignments, change is happening quickly.
“I hope we don't lose that perspective of what college athletics means. Athletics has changed and we're all having to juggle and, you know, when you look at all the conference realignment, what that does to travel for teams and academics, you look at the NIL, what's that going to do to the student-athlete who's no longer an amateur athlete,” Cronan said. “Then you look at the portal where they're transferring, we've got to get a little more control of that because I really hope that we can keep in perspective that this is about education.”
Advice for young female athletes
“It's just a wonderful world. It's a great opportunity, and it's not a cookie-cutter for everybody,” Cronan said.
What works for someone else and is the right fit for them may not be the path for you but because there are so many opportunities it’s just a matter of finding what’s meant for you.
“There's so much. And you have so many choices. And that, you know, that wasn't always true,” Cronan said. “I think I would tell them to really enjoy what that opportunity is.”
Community involvement
As a self-proclaimed “tennis nut,” it’s no surprise Cronan’s life motto relates to the sport.
“If you remember it in life and in tennis, it is better to serve than receive,” Cronan said.
Giving back is important not just for the community but for the athletes themselves. Cronan would remind her athletes of several important things.
First, they must remember who they represent. Once they put the Lady Vol logo on they no longer represent just themselves but the entire program and university.
Second, “to whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). This is because the athletes have been given the opportunity to play their sport at the collegiate level, and in turn, they must put in the work and show their gratitude.
“The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary,” Cronan said.
They were responsible for their actions, but they were also accountable for their teammates.
“Don't just watch somebody get in trouble, help them,” Cronan said.
Cronan applies her word to her own life and serves the Knoxville community. She is involved in many organizations including the Pat Summitt Foundation Board of Directors. She uses her fundraising skills to raise money for Alzehimer research, the disease Summitt was diagnosed with in 2011.
Strong leadership
UT has been on a steady incline in recent years, having won three consecutive SEC All-Sports titles.
“I'm absolutely so excited about the support and the leadership we have at the University of Tennessee. [System President] Randy Boyd, I call him the Energizer Bunny, he just goes all the time and he's just done a great job for the system,” Cronan said. “I think [Chancellor] Donde Plowman is the best communicator I've ever worked with, and I think Danny White could be one of the best young athletic directors out there. I love working with him, and I love being a part of his team.”
With such a powerhouse trio of leaders in place, the future of all Vol sports looks exceptionally bright.
“We just perfectly have all three of them at the same time,” Cronan said. “We've had some great people over the years but I don't think we've had three at the same time as strong.”
Lasting legacy
Throughout her career, Cronan has referred to the athletics department as the front porch of the university. It’s what is most prominent to the public, so why not use that publicity to promote the entire university?
“I always thought of my job as an athletic director to keep that porch clean and appealing and then people would want to go in and go to the English department and the law school and the business school,” Cronan said.
She has been in Knoxville for over 40 years and is proud to call the city home.
“I grew up in Louisiana, but you know, this is home, and I love the town. I love the people. I love being involved, and I love going to all the games,” Cronan said. “I just feel very blessed to have had the opportunity.”
