TOWER FELLOW JOURNEY
From Sidelines to Screenplays: Joanne P. McCallie’s Next Act at UT
For decades, Joanne P. McCallie built her career on the basketball court, leading programs, mentoring athletes and navigating the demands of NCAA Division I women’s basketball coaching at the highest level.
Widely known as “CoachP,” she led programs at Maine, Michigan State, and Duke. Throughout her distinguished career, she guided her teams to five Elite Eight appearances, including a spot in the 2005 national championship game, earned Coach of the Year honors in four different conferences, and coached USA Basketball teams to two gold medals.
Now, she is stepping into a new arena.
Through The University of Texas at Austin’s Tower Fellows Program, CoachP found a space to continue leading in a different way—this time as a learner. The program brings accomplished professionals back to campus to engage with students, exchange ideas, and explore new disciplines, creating a dynamic environment where experience and curiosity meet. In her case, CoachP traded playbooks for screenplays, channeling her lifelong interest in storytelling into a new creative pursuit: writing a film that explores leadership, resilience, and brain health through the lens of a fictional women’s basketball team.
For CoachP, the shift is less a departure than a return.
Back in college at Northwestern University, she began in radio, television, and film before ultimately pivoting to athletics. Years later, after a celebrated coaching career, she has found herself circling back to that original creative instinct.
“It’s kind of funny that I’m back to radio, TV, and film at this age,” CoachP said. “It really does feel full circle.”
That sense of return has been shaped in part by her experience at UT. On campus, she said, she has found not only intellectual challenge but also renewed energy.
Now, she is stepping into a new arena.
Through The University of Texas at Austin’s Tower Fellows Program, CoachP found a space to continue leading in a different way—this time as a learner. The program brings accomplished professionals back to campus to engage with students, exchange ideas, and explore new disciplines, creating a dynamic environment where experience and curiosity meet. In her case, CoachP traded playbooks for screenplays, channeling her lifelong interest in storytelling into a new creative pursuit: writing a film that explores leadership, resilience, and brain health through the lens of a fictional women’s basketball team.
For CoachP, the shift is less a departure than a return.
Back in college at Northwestern University, she began in radio, television, and film before ultimately pivoting to athletics. Years later, after a celebrated coaching career, she has found herself circling back to that original creative instinct.
“It’s kind of funny that I’m back to radio, TV, and film at this age,” CoachP said. “It really does feel full circle.”
That sense of return has been shaped in part by her experience at UT. On campus, she said, she has found not only intellectual challenge but also renewed energy.
“You feel 10 years younger just being on campus,” CoachP said. “There’s so much spirit, so much learning, so much diversity and so much opportunity. I’ve loved every facet of education here.”
Since joining Tower Fellows, CoachP has immersed herself in creative classes ranging from drama to improv to screenwriting. Those experiences, she said, helped open a new artistic path and gave her the confidence to pursue it.
One especially formative moment came in a drama class, where she was asked to perform monologues. At first, she doubted whether she could do it, but the experience changed the way she thought about storytelling.
“You don’t just memorize the lines,” she said. “You become the character.”
One especially formative moment came in a drama class, where she was asked to perform monologues. At first, she doubted whether she could do it, but the experience changed the way she thought about storytelling.
“You don’t just memorize the lines,” she said. “You become the character.”
That mindset now shapes the screenplay she is developing with screenwriting instructor Associate Professor Stuart Kelban.
The collaboration has become central to the project. Kelban said he does not typically take on outside writing partnerships. Still, CoachP’s story immediately stood out, especially her experience as a Division I coach, personal story navigating a mental health diagnosis, and her effort to reframe it through “brain health.” Through a series of conversations, he said, she showed an instinct for storytelling, with a strong sense for dramatic moments and detail.
The collaboration has become central to the project. Kelban said he does not typically take on outside writing partnerships. Still, CoachP’s story immediately stood out, especially her experience as a Division I coach, personal story navigating a mental health diagnosis, and her effort to reframe it through “brain health.” Through a series of conversations, he said, she showed an instinct for storytelling, with a strong sense for dramatic moments and detail.
The project is inspired by her book Secret Warrior, but CoachP said the film is not meant to be a direct retelling of her life. Instead, it fictionalizes the characters and expands the emotional world around them, while staying true to the core experience that drives the story.
“I’m having fun fictionalizing it,” she said. “Everything’s made up, but the story is true to the original essence.”
At the center of the screenplay is a women’s basketball team grappling with a coach’s brain health challenges, loyalty to one another and the pressures of a larger institutional system. CoachP hopes the project will combine the emotional pull of a sports movie with a more honest and compassionate treatment of mental health.
More than anything, she wants the film to push the conversation beyond stigma.
CoachP prefers the term “brain health” to the language often used around mental illness, saying it offers a more constructive and humane way to talk about real struggles. Too often, she said, stories about mental health focus only on trauma, collapse or despair. She wants to tell a different kind of story—one grounded in difficulty, but also in hope, capability, and recovery.
“Stories over stigma,” she said, describing one of the ideas that continues to guide her work.
That message has deep roots in her own life. CoachP said she has wanted to tell this story since she was 30, when she experienced a brain health imbalance during the early years of her coaching career. At the time, she said, there was little public understanding and even less grace around those experiences.
“I’m having fun fictionalizing it,” she said. “Everything’s made up, but the story is true to the original essence.”
At the center of the screenplay is a women’s basketball team grappling with a coach’s brain health challenges, loyalty to one another and the pressures of a larger institutional system. CoachP hopes the project will combine the emotional pull of a sports movie with a more honest and compassionate treatment of mental health.
More than anything, she wants the film to push the conversation beyond stigma.
CoachP prefers the term “brain health” to the language often used around mental illness, saying it offers a more constructive and humane way to talk about real struggles. Too often, she said, stories about mental health focus only on trauma, collapse or despair. She wants to tell a different kind of story—one grounded in difficulty, but also in hope, capability, and recovery.
“Stories over stigma,” she said, describing one of the ideas that continues to guide her work.
That message has deep roots in her own life. CoachP said she has wanted to tell this story since she was 30, when she experienced a brain health imbalance during the early years of her coaching career. At the time, she said, there was little public understanding and even less grace around those experiences.
Still, she kept coaching, kept leading and kept winning.
Unlike coaching, though, filmmaking requires patience with uncertainty. CoachP said she is still learning the rhythms of the industry and is not trying to force a rigid timeline. She said with a laugh, “I’m used to fast-paced environments where you’re constantly producing results, so that has been an adjustment.”
Still, she is energized by the process. Rather than feeling pressure, CoachP sees the project as an opportunity.
“The worst-case scenario is I have this great screenplay for my granddaughter and my family,” she said. “The best-case scenario is the world gets to enjoy it.”
That openness to process is part of what CoachP says Tower Fellows has given her: the chance to explore, create, and build meaningful relationships in a new season of life.
She first discovered the Tower Fellows Program while living in Durham, North Carolina, and looking for what might come next after spending time doing speaking engagements and public advocacy. After learning more, visiting campus, and meeting the people behind the program, she said she was struck by the community's thoughtfulness and the possibilities it offered.
Unlike coaching, though, filmmaking requires patience with uncertainty. CoachP said she is still learning the rhythms of the industry and is not trying to force a rigid timeline. She said with a laugh, “I’m used to fast-paced environments where you’re constantly producing results, so that has been an adjustment.”
Still, she is energized by the process. Rather than feeling pressure, CoachP sees the project as an opportunity.
“The worst-case scenario is I have this great screenplay for my granddaughter and my family,” she said. “The best-case scenario is the world gets to enjoy it.”
That openness to process is part of what CoachP says Tower Fellows has given her: the chance to explore, create, and build meaningful relationships in a new season of life.
She first discovered the Tower Fellows Program while living in Durham, North Carolina, and looking for what might come next after spending time doing speaking engagements and public advocacy. After learning more, visiting campus, and meeting the people behind the program, she said she was struck by the community's thoughtfulness and the possibilities it offered.
Now, she encourages others not to be afraid to return to the classroom.
“When can you ever make dear, lifelong friends after the age of 60?” she said.
“Almost never. And that’s what I’ve found here.”
She credits Tower Fellows not only with giving her community, but also with helping launch a creative journey she did not expect. In that sense, the screenplay is about more than a movie. It is also about what can happen when people are given the space to begin again.
“When can you ever make dear, lifelong friends after the age of 60?” she said.
“Almost never. And that’s what I’ve found here.”
She credits Tower Fellows not only with giving her community, but also with helping launch a creative journey she did not expect. In that sense, the screenplay is about more than a movie. It is also about what can happen when people are given the space to begin again.
CoachP hopes the final project will eventually reach far beyond the screenwriting classroom. In her ideal world, it would become a film that students, families and campuses could watch together—a story that makes difficult conversations feel possible.
“Everyone says, ‘You’re going to be okay,’” she said. “But people want to see it.”
At The University of Texas at Austin, CoachP has found a place where that vision feels a little more real.
“I owe a lot of this to Texas,” she said. “This (program) gave me the chance to do it.”
Read CoachP's Tower Fellow bio.
“Everyone says, ‘You’re going to be okay,’” she said. “But people want to see it.”
At The University of Texas at Austin, CoachP has found a place where that vision feels a little more real.
“I owe a lot of this to Texas,” she said. “This (program) gave me the chance to do it.”
Read CoachP's Tower Fellow bio.
Are you ready to rediscover your intellectual curiosity?
The Tower Fellows Program offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in the UT Austin community, audit world-class courses, and join a distinguished cohort of lifelong learners.
Learn more and apply for the next Tower Fellows cohort.
The Tower Fellows Program offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in the UT Austin community, audit world-class courses, and join a distinguished cohort of lifelong learners.
Learn more and apply for the next Tower Fellows cohort.