Deb Insell remembers the red security rays as she walked down a dark corridor in 1991.
Her husband, Rick Insell, was the head coach of the Shelbyville Central High School girls’ basketball team.
The Golden Eaglettes had recently claimed a third straight TSSAA Class AAA state title, been named USA Today National Champions for the second time and became the first high school team to ever be recognized as the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame “Team of the Year”.
As she approached the end of the hall, then U.S. President George H. W. Bush opened the door, shook her husband’s hand and welcomed the team to the Oval Office to celebrate their academic and athletic accomplishments.
“I thought I was going to faint, because I’m thinking, how did we get here,” Deb Insell said.
Rick Insell, age 75, announced his retirement last week after a combined 49 seasons on the bench between Shelbyville Central and MTSU. A nine-time hall of fame inductee, Rick Insell will conclude his decades–long career when Middle Tennessee’s Women’s National Invitation Tournament run comes to a close.
Over 21 years leading the Lady Raiders, he’s earned the title of winningest head coach in basketball program history, both men’s and women’s. He’s captured 10 conference championships and reached 12 NCAA Tournaments.
And his wife of 51 years has been by his side the whole way.
“I wouldn’t be here without Deb,” Rick Insell said. “I mean she’s kind of been the behind the scenes of everything, and I don’t really give her enough credit. She’s there for our family on every issue and she’s there for all of the other families in this community if they need help.”
MTSU head coach Rick Insell (left) and Deb Insell (right) watch a recap of Insell’s career highlights with MTSU during the post game ceremony of Insell’s 500th career win after a 63-54 victory over Liberty inside the Murphy Center on Jan. 23, 2026. (Ephraim Rodenbach)
The pair grew up in Woodbury, Tennessee, but never knew each other in school due to their five-year age gap.
She was a country girl, and he was a city boy, or as close to a city boy as can be in Woodbury. She’d often see him around at Cannon County basketball games, but nothing extensive.
When the pair met formally for the first time, Rick Insell hardly waited a week to be bold.
“We met, 10 days later, he told me I was going to marry him, and I said yes,” Deb Insell said.
Following their wedding ceremony, the couple moved straight into merit-based housing in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. At that time, Deb Insell said she never could have imagined her husband’s success.
“It’s been a journey,” Deb Insell said. “When he told me I was going to marry him, he said, ‘You just better hang on, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.’ And he didn’t lie.”
While Rick Insell was establishing his career at Shelbyville Central, Deb Insell took care of their growing family. The two had three sons: Tom, Kyle and Matt, who played every shape of ball but football growing up, Deb Insell said.
Between her sons’ and husband’s games, Deb Insell can’t quite recall how many years she’s spent in the bleachers for her family.
“I was a cheerleader in high school, I was not a player,” Deb Insell said. “They don’t think I was an athlete, but I said that I’m still a cheerleader, I’m a lifetime cheerleader.”
Even though her husband’s days of roaming the sideline will soon come to an end, Deb Insell’s nights in the gym are far from over. She and Rick Insell have 13 grandchildren, ranging from age four to 22, to keep them busy as they hope to make more of their games post-retirement.
Deb Insell works as a State Farm agent based in Shelbyville, Tennessee, but hopes to travel more with her longtime girlfriends. She said her husband isn’t interested in using his passport anytime soon, though.
“He’s going to play golf, and be perfectly happy if I go do whatever I want to do, because he’s going to play golf,” Deb Insell said.
Regardless of any golf or vacations, both Rick and Deb Insell will still be around the MTSU women’s basketball program in the coming years. Their youngest son, Matt Insell, is set to take over as the Lady Raiders’ next head coach following the team’s run in the WNIT.
MTSU head coach Rick Insell (right) speaks while incoming head coach Matt Insell (left) watches during the Matt Insell introductory press conference inside the Rose and Emmett Kennon Hall of Fame on March 24, 2026. (Ephraim Rodenbach)
Matt Insell joined his father’s staff eight years ago and was eventually named Middle Tennessee’s associate head coach, following five seasons as the head coach at the University of Mississippi.
Prior to his time at Ole Miss, Matt Insell served as an assistant at the University of Kentucky and worked as a student assistant and video coordinator at the University of Tennessee under the likes of men’s basketball coach Buzz Peterson and legendary women’s coach Pat Summitt.
Matt Insell is his own man, but attributes much of his success to his family – especially his mother, who’s helped keep peace between him and his father while working together, he said.
“The biggest thing she brought to the table the last eight years is to make sure dad and I didn’t get in a fistfight at some point,” Matt Insell said jokingly in his introductory press conference. “She mediated a lot of arguments because we’re both very competitive and both very strong willed, and both want our way done.”
As she’s done for most of her life, Deb Insell will continue to show up and support as her son adds to the family’s legacy. But she might just have to move from her Murphy Center seats behind the MTSU bench.
“I have a lot of coaches that sit behind me, and I don’t mind them talking about Rick, because he chose that profession a long time ago, but I birthed that other one,” Deb Insell said. “And I just don’t know if I can take people critiquing him right in my ear, so I may have to go to a safer zone, and I mean safer because I don’t want to say something I shouldn’t.”
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