Kim was on WWL radio’s Saturday morning show with Karre Johnson and former Saints player and color analyst Hokie Gajan, a show and a station that has a fairly big audience in New Orleans and along the gulf coast.
She came on at 10:40 and answered questions for about 10 minutes. Both Johnson and Gajan said they were both about 40 – her age – and both had crushes on – 25 years ago and even today – with Johnson talking about how much he loved the pigtails. She said the crushes were fine because “that’s keeps my husband Randy on his toes.”
It was very playful until the final question, which was “…why aren’t you the coach at Louisiana Tech?”
Her answer went on for about 10 minutes, and she said some things that I had never heard said publicly about the final meeting with Reneau, which she went into in depth. She was very emotional.
She stressed over and over again that no matter what anyone heard or what was written, having the guarantee of a fifth year as the head coach was all she needed. She said that she didn’t even need anything in writing, only Reneau’s word that she would have a fifth year as head coach.
Over and over again she said Reneau told her he would find a place for her within the university if it came to that. She said that she is an extremely prideful person, and given everything she had given the university and the job offers she had turned down to stay at Tech, she couldn’t accept that.
She also said that it had nothing to do with any fight she might have had with Leon, who she said she loves to this day. She said they had a father-daughter relationship that included “19 years of fights”. It was just part of their relationship. She also respected the fact Leon disagreed with Reneau but had never made some of the things Reneau said and did public. “He’s never spilled the beans” she said.
She was very high on everyone at Tech, including F.J. Taylor and Chris Long, who she said would do a great job. She also wanted to make it clear she still loves Tech and has always loved Tech. Her disagreement was with one person, not the school. She mentioned Reneau by name at least 10 times in the interview.
Johnson ended the interview by asking “did Tech contact you during this recent search for a head coach?” Her answer was “no, indeed. Do you think they would have contacted me with ‘that man’ still there.” That basically ended the interview.
After the 11 a.m. break for news, Johnson and Gajan talked about the interview until 11:15. Johnson said it was one of the best interviews he had ever conducted, because she truly pulled no punches; she didn’t hold anything back.
They both said that Tech had a good reputation for athletics and academics, but it had “dropped the ball” by not hiring her. They also bashed Reneau – over and over again. They said they really didn’t know anything about him, but if he had really done what she said he did he deserves the criticism.
Johnson went on to say that given what was said in the interview he really believed that if Tech has an opening for a head coach in the coming years, she would be a candidate. He said that he didn’t know Reneau’s age but that “he can’t be there forever.” He then said “watch, she’s 42, and she’ll be the head coach at Tech before she’s 50 years old.”