Tony Bennett Retired Thursday. On Friday, We Will Learn Why
A good guy leaves the sport too soon
Tony Bennett announced Thursday that he was retiring as Virginia’s coach, effective immediately. He’s just the most recent in a string of coaches to call it quits recently.
He’ll have a news conference Friday to discuss his decision, but it’s pretty clear why he stepped aside: like a lot of coaches recently, he just isn’t happy where the game is and finds that it’s not really a fun job anymore.
It’s never been an easy vocation. Recruiting became much more difficult in the 1970’s and ‘80’s compared to what it was like in earlier times. Add in fan pressure, the need to raise money from boosters and the grind was just endless.
That wore you down over time.
Now, though, with NIL and the transfer situation, it’s just overwhelming. And for guys like Bennett, and Mike Brey before him, coaches who took their time with players and incorporated them in as they matured, it really doesn’t make sense anymore.
Over the summer, Bennett took his time about signing an extension and there was a sense then that not all was right. But ultimately, he did sign and things seemed back on track.
Until Thursday.
We’ll hear his reasons on Friday but our guess is that he’ll echo Jay Wright and Mike Krzyzewski and football’s Nick Saban: the job has lost its appeal.
That’s a shame but that’s where we are. And now a new generation of coaches is learning how to navigate the new environment. We’ll see where things go from here, but it’s a shame that Bennett won’t be part of it.
Like a lot fans, we’ve poked fun at Virginia’s slow-paced offense, but if you watch it up close, you’ll see how brutal the defense is: those guys work their asses off on defense.
What we’ve never done is to demean Bennett or his character. We’re Duke fans obviously and if we had a kid who could play at this level, we’d want him to go to Duke. But in terms of character, in terms of humility, in terms of a man living up to his faith, it’s hard to beat Bennett. We have the greatest admiration for him and we’re going to miss him a lot.