If Texas Tech needed some additional motivation to bounce back from Saturday's crushing 2-1 loss to Tennessee in the Women's College World Series, they might've gotten it from Volunteers coach Karen Weekly.
Weekly, who's obviously still bitter that Taylor Pannell left the Vols for the Red Raiders after last season, couldn't simply show some class to a former player and now Tech is where it's been for most of the national softball tournament—in the middle of some drama that it had nothing to do with. But never fear Parnell's father, Brandon, wasn't going to let it slide.
The Tennessee-Texas Tech controversy escalated Sunday morning when Taylor Pannell's father became involved on social media, posting and later deleting messages directed at Tennessee coach Karen Weekly.
— Maren Angus-Coombs (@Maren_Angus) May 31, 2026
Softball On SI has screenshots of all of the deleted posts.
Read more ⬇️…
According to Taylor Pannell, Weekly (and if Karen isn't the most appropriate first name for her, I don't know what is) couldn't just be happy with a big and had to take a personal shot.
"We were walking through the line just saying 'good game', and she said that I made a mistake instead of saying 'good game', which is kind of crazy. Like celebrate with your team. I just think it's funny she's still thinking about it. It's old news. Whatever," Pannell said.
But Brandon Pannell wasn't about to let it go with a simple 'whatever' and let it be known that Pannell has been much better off since leaving Knoxville. He even added a GIF of Daffy Duck rolling around in cash with the message, "lost on the field, but Tech is winning in life."
Between Brandon Pannell and Jason Williams, I feel like we're missing an incredible reality show about Texas Tech softball dads. I would be all-in on the "Real Softball Dads of Lubbock" to watch these guys trolling opposing fans and going on random side quests while following the team.
Texas Tech might've found the fire needed thanks to Karen Weekly
One thing we know about Red Raiders softball is that they have each other's backs. We saw it in Gainesvile when the Gators were plunking Mia Williams in the Super Regionals, and we saw it right out of the game in Oklahoma City when Williams got beaten again by Mississippi State. Texas Tech knows that the softball community outside of Lubbock sees them as the villains, a group of mercenaries that took big dollars to transfer. And rather than run from it, they've leaned into it and embraced it. Despite doing nothing other than playing great softball, the Red Raiders have been treated like "mean girls."
And it's good that dads, like Brandon Pannell and Jason Williams, have their daughter's backs and the backs of everyone on the team. It's a bunker mentality and the Red Raiders are going to need that this evening when they take on UCLA in an elimination game. To add some additional spice to that, pitcher Kaitlyn Terry was a standout and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year for the Bruins before coming over to Tech. When Tech has the "us against the world" mentality, that's when things get good. Expect a lot of energy to come from the Tech dugout this evening and if Tennessee wants to meet in the championship series, you better believe Taylor Pannell will be ready.
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