Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett cites state of game for shock retirement
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett retired on his own terms and celebrated the beauty of the game by standing on the pillars he used to build a national title contender.
Bennett joked about his favorite, well-criticized, methodical style of play and said he won’t miss answering questions about pace of play, but smiled through emotions as he said he felt he was no longer the best coach to play to lead the Cavaliers program.
“I am so grateful,” Bennett, 55, said at a news conference on Friday. “I think about those pillars. Humility and passion. Humility means knowing who you are and having a sober judgement. Passion means: don’t be lukewarm. Be sincere in everything you do. I think these are the ones that have made me look at this moment and have a sober assessment of where we are today. That’s probably the thing that choked me the most. When I looked at myself and realized that I am no longer the best coach to lead the program in this current environment. If you want to do it, you have to be all in. And if you don’t, it’s not fair to the university. To these young men.”
Bennett met with players and coaches Thursday to share his decision.
He said he was close to retirement when the season ended. During the offseason, as he dealt daily with the toll of the relatively new and exploding business side of college athletics, of open transfer windows and zero demands, Bennett came to the decision to step aside. He said he was still equipped to do the job “the old way” and made it clear he has no problem with student-athletes receiving income.
‘Please don’t mistake me. But game and college athletics are not in a healthy place. That is not the case, and change needs to happen,” said Bennett. “… It will be closer to a professional model. Collective bargaining must take place. There should be a limit on the salary pool that teams can spend. Transfer regulation restrictions should apply. There should be certain limits on officers’ involvement with young boys.
“And I worry a lot about the mental health of student-athletes with all this stuff coming down.”
National championship-winning college coaches Jay Wright of Villanova and Nick Saban, a seven-time title winner in Alabama college football, cited the weight of similar off-field factors in their own retirements.
Bennett signed a long-term contract extension in June after signing what he said was an exciting group of transfers and recruits.
He said he came to the final decision during a trip with his wife Laurel over fall break to reflect and analyze the past, present and future. He decided he needed to leave now to give coaches and players time together during scrimmages and practices before the regular season starts the first week of November.
He plans to stay connected to Virginia and will “be around” when the university wants him there.
“I don’t have anything specific that I’m running into,” Bennett said. “My faith in the Lord is everything. It’s the hope I have. It is the peace that gives me perspective.”
Bennett spent three seasons as coach at Washington State (2006-09) before taking the Virginia job. He said he was motivated at the time by competing with “bluebloods” and coaching against Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams. His sole goal was “to build a program that lasts.”
In 18 seasons as head coach, Bennett has compiled a 433-169 record (.719 winning percentage) and taken 12 teams to the NCAA tournament, including 10 in his 15 years at Virginia. He was recognized as national coach of the year in 2007, 2015 and 2018.
The Cavaliers reached the Sweet 16 in 2014 and the Elite Eight in 2016. They were the No. 1 overall seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, UMBC, the year before returning to the dance and winning the program’s first national championship in 2019.
“What happened – I hoped but didn’t know – exceeded my wildest expectations. To win six ACC regular season championships, two tournament championships, to be in the Sweet 16s and Elite Eight, to win the national championship,” Bennett said. “The hard losses. The hard losses in the tournament. It’s all part of it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We did it, we did it in a unique way.”
“I still remember sitting here fifteen and a half years ago and how special that moment was. It was an emotional few days. When I think about this, I think of a quote from missionary Jim Elliot: “He is not a fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” I have been here as head coach for fifteen years and I honestly thought it would last a little longer. But it’s not up to me to keep it. To give it back to gain what I can’t lose. To be a better husband. To be a better father. My parents are both 81 years old. I don’t want to live with any regrets. Just to be near them. To be a better friend. To be a better brother, I know my sister would say that to me if she were watching. It’s up to me to give back. I gave everything I could.”