Maybe a kid tried to extort him. There have been rumblings of kids telling coaches before the tournament or bowl games, I want this much or I’m not playing. It put Saban in retirement.
Tony Bennett retiring, effective immediately.
- Thread starter ukfan693
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Hey I know the timing sucks. No denying that but I think we’ve all been at jobs where we had a breaking point to where we just couldn’t do it anymore.
My go to example to show how much of winning the tournament is luck.
He wasn't thinking last year of quitting just before the season started, if that's the narrative you're trying to paint. He thought about quitting last year, but ultra-competitive people have a difficult time quitting anything they're doing. There's always "just one more" until it all just falls apart. He likely dealt with some nasty situations involving NIL, IMO, and IMO he felt the university wasn't helping the situation from his perspective.
I don't think he said he's not okay with players getting paid. The system is a mess right now, there's no denying it. It's a complete free for all. A guy on UNLV's football team just quit mid year over NIL concerns. This just isn't a sustainable way to run college sports, but unfortunately there's very few things the NCAA can legally do to rein it in right now.
The current system has driven Roy Williams, Coach K, Jay Wright, Nick Saban, and now Tony Bennett to retire. I'm guessing Izzo isn't far behind them. I think the names on that list should tell you this runs deeper than a coach just being a hypocrite about player compensation.
Right? But given the landscape it's completely possible for the player to do that. And I think that was his point. Crappy or not, it's his decision. I agree about "committing to him", that part sucks and he as much said that. But he thinks a staff member taking over and having the continuity of the same staff makes that easier for them. This moment would have to come sooner or later as far as that part goes.
Can someone not change their mind? He said it, and I'll take a guy like him at his word.
Hanging it up in the middle of the season is FAR WORSE than doing it now. You think that wouldn't create a major distraction at a bad time? C'mon now. Some of the other stuff I can agree with or at least see. This one is far off.
True, but it's not like every coach is crying about it. Just the old guard, and even then, not all of them. Cal is still at it. Self it still at it. So is Few.
Dude is 55 and he just says "I'm done." Seems like he tried it last year (and UVA suuuuucked) and he didn't want to do it again. Fair enough. Leave in June....not October.
Sure. But again, not everyone has the freedom to just say I quit without consequences. He's not gonna get a lot of sympathy making millions a year.
You don't think a team now that they have run a few practices and needs say a center, or point guard isn't going to be calling some of those kids. And I am willing to bet they do lose a player or two unless their NIL deals are too big.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on timing. It was probably an incredibly difficult decision. I wouldn't be surprised if he fully convinced himself he wanted to come back until one day he realized he didn't. It's not ideal by any stretch, but once he realized he just couldn't give it is all this year it's probably better for the team for the assistant to take over and give it his all than have Bennett return and just half ass it.
And they jury is still out on whether or not Cal is "still at it" lol
Well, true, but Cal is still recruiting like he's still at it anyway. lol
I think it's just the reasoning that bugs me most. Like, no one cares man. That's the way it is now and you make millions to do it.
He's even done the hard part of the recruiting for this year. If he doesn't want to continue that part I get it; send someone else. Announce you're done at years end. Teach the game this year and hang it up.
Just, bizarre timing to me.
You can spray all the flowers you want on the timing of this-it's bull****. He quit. Quit on the players he had his staff recruit from HS and the Portal. Quit weeks before things get started. Quit because he didn't like something. Not because it's right/wrong. He just didn't like it. Other coaches who left did so in a manner that allowed their programs to move forward with a plan. This guy bailed because.....he didn't like how things are. Well I along with several others hated watching his teams play and felt his style of play was a cancer on the sport. Did that mean he shouldn't have a job? No. Did that mean others can't enjoy it? No. So we all don't get what we want.
Everyone deals with situations and the job is hard. He quit. So he doesn't have to worry about this or ever taking part in coaching CBB again.
Quitters quit. Competitive people compete and act in a manner that they ask their players and staff to do. If you want out, there's a way to handle things, this isn't it. The only time someone should leave at this time is if they have done something to warrant being fired or if they have a major health or family matter that is more important. Quitting because you don't like how the game is now? Nothing about that is competitive or "ultra competitive".
Which is fine. You don't do it two weeks before your first game. That's just ass. No way around it.
I like Tony B. as a human being and Christian. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching UVA but it was a system effective for the type of recruits he was getting and looking for . His system to be good he needs players to buy in and play there for multiple years.
The new environment I am sure would make his system more difficult. However , the timing of this was horrible. I listened to his presser and his reasoning that he really didn’t have time to think about it until fall break seemed genuine but I don’t think is good enough if you are an uva fan.
The new environment I am sure would make his system more difficult. However , the timing of this was horrible. I listened to his presser and his reasoning that he really didn’t have time to think about it until fall break seemed genuine but I don’t think is good enough if you are an uva fan.
He had one good year and won it, and 1 EE, other than that his teams have been garbage failures
I think he feels that he got the team ready for the season and that his assistant and staff can take what’s in place for at least this season.
Most of those dudes are old as dirt anyways so they should have been retired or about ready to. The bizarre thing with coaches, politicians and sports commentators working until they literally kill over has always amused me.
I’d have been pissed that Cal stuck around this summer. I’d still have been glad that he left, April 10 or October 18.
He wouldn’t have lasted a week. Hell, Knight’s autocratic coaching style had already become an out-of-place anachronism by the late 90s, I couldn’t even imagine him trying to deal with the kids of the 2020’s and their agents making NIL demands.
But the same applies to most of those of those hard ass old school coaches like Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, Adolph Rupp, etc. The way they coached worked damn well for their era …but it wouldn’t fly today.
There's the luck component, but luck doesn't get you six straight games or to be in a position to win at the end of a game against a great opponent. You still need a great coach and team to do that.
The tournament weeds out the pretenders eventually. Your buddy Calipari relied too much on talent, and forgot that on top of talent, the biggest part of the tournament is mental preparation, skill, continuity, and game planning.
Knights problem was he had a tendency to lash out physically. That barely flew in his time. It definitely wouldn't (and shouldn’t) fly today. Big difference in giving a kid a love tap on the head for doing something stupid and choking a player or stomping on his foot. Knight was a very good x and o coach. But he also could be a very mean person.
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