A Lasting Legacy
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
A Lasting Legacy
By Shane Gilreath
SCN Contributing Editor
[email protected]
Few figures in sport have shaped a program, a region, and women’s sports the way Vickie Kazee Hollifield did at Carson-Newman 
University. When she retired in 2018, it marked not just the end of an era of exemplar coaching, but the close of a defining chapter in NCAA Division II softball.
With constant well-wishes from her family, Kazee Hollifield’s career was built on the sustained excellence that she learned throughout her life. When she called it quits, she left with 1,161 victories, the third-most in Division II history, an astounding figure that reflects both her longevity and competitive consistency throughout her tenure at the university, but numbers alone cannot capture the influence the coach had on generations of athletes – the influence she still manages to keep even today, as she hosts annual softball and baseball clinics for young athletes across Scott County and beyond, continuing to teach the basics of the games she loves.
Across the three decades she spent at Carson-Newman – their first softball coach – she utterly transformed the school’s program into a perennial contender with 13 NCAA appearances, instilling a culture of discipline, pride, and, yes, faith that extended far beyond the diamond.
As women’s sports continued to grow in visibility and respect across the South Atlantic region, Kazee Hollifield stood as both a pioneer and standard-bearer – a position that often felt uniquely her own. Her success helped elevate not only the school’s program, but the young women she encountered throughout the conference and beyond. Generations of athletes left her program not just as better players, but as leaders shaped by her example.
At the time of her retirement, Athletic Director Allen Morgan captured the sentiment best: “Her success on and off the field is indisputable, as evidenced by her win-loss record and her presence in a number of Halls of Fames. When you think of Carson-Newman softball, the first name you have to think of is Vickee Hollifield. Her retirement leaves a huge void in Carson-Newman athletics and the game of softball.”
