Texas women’s basketball assistant coach Blair Schaefer is the daughter of head coach Vic Schaefer.
The father-daughter duo previously coached together at Mississippi State, where Blair played and Vic was head coach.
Blair joined her father’s staff at Texas in 2020 and has been instrumental in the Longhorns’ success.
Texas will face South Carolina in the Final Four on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After his team’s Elite Eight win over TCU on Monday, Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer celebrated with his family on the court. His wife, Holly, and son, Logan, came from the stands.
His daughter, Blair, was already on the court.
Because she was coaching on the sideline with him.
“It’s a full-circle moment whenever we can just embrace that moment together,” she said, “because (basketball doesn’t have) a lot of father-daughter duos.”
Watch Texas vs. South Carolina in Final Four on Fubo (free trial)
They’ve celebrated reaching the Final Four before – with him as a coach and her as a player at Mississippi State. This weekend, they’ll share more moments on the sport’s brightest stage, with the No. 1 Longhorns set to play No. 1 South Carolina in the semifinals Friday.
“Her impact on our team is quite remarkable,” said Vic Schaefer, whose daughter has been on the Longhorns staff since 2020, the last three years as an assistant coach. “I knew she would be great with the kids. I knew she’d be great with X’s and O’s, but she’s really embraced the recruiting piece and what it takes to do that as well.”
She first picked up a basketball when she was 8, and after scoring 60 points in one game, she knew that she had found her forever sport.
“I never really played another sport. It’s always been basketball for me,” Blair Schaefer said.
Blair Schaefer’s college career shaped by dad
Prior to her time at Mississippi State, her dad was always a coach to her. But when the time came for the recruiting process to start, the idea of him becoming her coach was a dream she knew would be a reality.
“It’s not that I didn’t talk to other schools,” she said. “I knew that other people were interested, but I just knew where my heart was.”
Schaefer was a part of one of the winningest recruiting classes in Mississippi State women’s basketball history. She made it to the NCAA Tournament all four years of her college tenure, including the program’s first trip to the Final Four and first national championship game in 2017.
Schaefer made 175 career 3-pointers, which ranks sixth in Mississippi State history.
Even though the man on the Mississippi State sidelines was “Dad” at home, he was always “Coach” on the court.
“We would sit at family dinner and I’d ask, ‘How was Coach today?’” her dad said. “She’d say, ‘Ah, he was a little grumpy.’ Never once did she bring anything home.”
How Blair Schaefer got into coaching
Once Schaefer left home, she moved to Los Angeles to work for Entertainment Tonight before returning to Mississippi to work for WCBI-TV in Columbus. She found her way back to basketball as an analyst for SEC Network, but she knew that being courtside – next to her dad – was where she belonged.
“I came to the realization that being behind a camera and telling the audience what’s going on in front of me didn’t feel like I was helping anybody,” she said. “I called my dad after a bad day at work and said, ‘I need to get into coaching.’”
At that moment, Schaefer’s father took off the coach’s hat and threw on the dad one.
He was still coaching at Mississippi State. He advised his daughter to finish out her TV contract before they would begin to discuss the possibility of her joining the Bulldog coaching staff.
The following year, Schaefer became Mississippi State’s coordinator of player development. In 2020, she and her father made the move back to his hometown of Austin to join the Longhorns.
Her dad had full confidence that she would make an immediate impact on the program.
“Sometimes your kids surprise you,” he said. “She hasn’t surprised me very much in her life.”
Texas women’s basketball embraces Blair and Vic Schaefer dynamic
The Schaefers’ family dynamic has made Austin feel like a safe place for players, especially for those living away from home for the first time.
“It’s my home away from home,” freshman guard Bryanna Preston said. “They’ve just welcomed us with open arms.”
Schaefer started off as the Texas director of basketball operations before taking on her current role. While she’s sitting courtside with her dad during games, players watch the father-daughter dynamic and notice the similarities between the two.
“They both have the same competitive spirit and they both want to win,” sophomore forward Madison Booker said. “You can tell that they’re definitely kin.”
The full Schaefer family joined in Monday’s celebration, with mom joining dad on the ladder to cut a piece of the net, and Logan, who is Schaefer’s twin brother, looking forward to another family trip to the Final Four.
“It’s really cool seeing her be so successful,” he said of his sister, “especially with dad, and doing what they love to do.”
Texas vs. South Carolina: Date, time, TV channel, where to watch
Date: Friday, April 4
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: Fubo
Abby Halpin and Ansley Gavlak are students in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.