Jay Wright to Messenger I am Done

[NYShoreGuy]

Jay Wright on Coaching Again: ‘I’m Done’

Jay Wright won two national titles at Villanova and appeared in 16 NCAA tournaments before unexpectedly retiring in 2022. Most assumed he’d make a comeback, but Wright has shut the door on coaching again

themessenger.com

 

[Halldan1]

Simple. Coaching burnout.

I don't think any of us have a clue how difficult it is to do what these coaches do. We (including myself) might think we do, but until we're in their shoes we don't.

 

[Hall-O-Daze]

“I didn’t know I wasn’t going to miss it.”

Interesting. Kinda says it all there. Everyone is different and, if he is speaking his truth, it sounds like he is not getting the itch again.

 

[HALL85]

Simple. Coaching burnout.

I don't think any of us have a clue how difficult it is to do what these coaches do. We (including myself) might think we do, but until we're in their shoes we don't.

I know there were other issues cited when he stepped down, but this was what he had privately shared back then. Saw the handwriting on the wall with NIL and changing landscape and decided to leave on top.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

Simple. Coaching burnout.

I don't think any of us have a clue how difficult it is to do what these coaches do. We (including myself) might think we do, but until we're in their shoes we don't.

I mean they get paid quite well for delegation, a 7 month competitive season and schmoozing with alumni and wealthy elites...plus at least back in the day you had open recruiting periods in the summer of NJ, Florida and Vegas and still can take nice vacation.

 

[Halldan1]

Of course there are perks. But they come at a great cost.

Like I said the other day...after the Rutgers game I happened to follow Sha out the door of the post game and as he walked to the locker room I never saw him so dejected and I have seen and known Holloway since his HS days at St Pat's.

You would have thought he was on death's row walking to his execution. And that was only one game.

Willard was like that too until the last two seasons here and when I saw that I changed my mind from wanting him to stay to wanting him to leave.

When a coach loses what Holloway has, that incredible passion combined with a relentent work ethic, then it's time to open the door for him.

 

[CL82]

I mean they get paid quite well for delegation, a 7 month competitive season and schmoozing with alumni and wealthy elites...plus at least back in the day you had open recruiting periods in the summer of NJ, Florida and Vegas and still can take nice vacation.

You are kidding yourself if you don't think college basketball is a year-round job for coaches. Hurley fired Kevin Freeman for taking a vacation during the off-season. (The school gave him an alumni relations job so that we weren't burning bridges with the Calhoun era players.)

Now, I'm not saying Hurley isn't a little over-the-top, but that's what it takes to be competitive at the highest levels. When your team has time off, the staff is out showing the flags at recruits, and signees, games while trying to figure out adjustments, doing the next scout and managing interviews. It is a pretty unrelenting schedule for a high major coach.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

You are kidding yourself if you don't think college basketball is a year-round job for coaches. Hurley fired Kevin Freeman for taking a vacation during the off-season. (The school gave him an alumni relations job so that we weren't burning bridges with the Calhoun era players.)

Now, I'm not saying Hurley isn't a little over-the-top, but that's what it takes to be competitive at the highest levels. When your team has time off, the staff is out showing the flags at recruits, and signees, games while trying to figure out adjustments, doing the next scout and managing interviews. It is a pretty unrelenting schedule for a high major coach.

PTO is important...amazing AD allowed Hurley to dismiss assistant over vacation...a head coach is not doing a scout tape or an advance scout on a upcoming team. 1 of 3 assistants would. It is not a 365 24/7 scenario, I am not sorry to say that. I was close to that life for many years.

 

[CL82]

PTO is important...amazing AD allowed Hurley to dismiss assistant over vacation...a head coach is not doing a scout tape or an advance scout on a upcoming team. 1 of 3 assistants would. It is not a 365 24/7 scenario, I am not sorry to say that. I was close to that life for many years.

Yeah, it wasn't so much a vacation it was that it was a vacation during the start of the transfer portal season. It's not 365 but it's probably 351. Hurley has stated that he didn't take a vacation for years. I agree that's not healthy but it reflects the level of effort needed to be at the very top of the profession.

 

[Seton75]

Yeah, a high major d1 hc job is hard as hell and extremely time consuming. Show me the easy jobs playing 3 mill a year please. And i bet they don't get to spend much time watching their favorite sport. Nor do they get to discuss their industry on tv shows when they retire and make some more six figure dough. I respect the coaches but not sure i feel sorry for them.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, a high major d1 hc job is hard as hell and extremely time consuming. Show me the easy jobs playing 3 mill a year please.

Agreed

I respect the coaches but not sure i feel sorry for them.

I never said I felt sorry for them. It's one heck of a job, but definitely a tough one as noted above. What I did disagree with was the poster who suggested that they don't work particularly hard in the off-season. That isn't remotely true for anyone who is any good at this.

 

[TheHall87]

There's no doubt it's a stressful year-round job and at the highest levels it pays well. That, of course, comes with a cost, lots of travel and time spent away from your family.

I mean we all work year-round but few of us are making mid-seven figures annually. Of course, most of us also don't have to deal with near constant criticism even when we do our jobs well and better than 90% of those who have similar jobs.

There's another side to this as well. One of my nephew's former college teammates spent a few years as an assistant at a D-3 school and then moved to Boston University as director of basketball operations.

He moved on after a year because the pay was low and he didn't see a path moving forward. He's now working in private business and I suspect his coaching days are over before he hit 30. I'm sure there are plenty of stories about that out there that we don't hear about and probably don't really care about.

 

[JRSlim2284]

Multiple titles.
1 of the top 10 coaches of all time depending on who you ask.
Top recruiting classes.

There wasn't much left for him to do. I'm actually shocked he's only 49th all time in D1 men's wins (tied with Tubby).

 

[NYShoreGuy]

Agreed

I never said I felt sorry for them. It's one heck of a job, but definitely a tough one as noted above. What I did disagree with was the poster who suggested that they don't work particularly hard in the off-season. That isn't remotely true for anyone who is any good at this.

Not saying hard work doesn't happen but there is down time. Now more than ever.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

There's no doubt it's a stressful year-round job and at the highest levels it pays well. That, of course, comes with a cost, lots of travel and time spent away from your family.

I mean we all work year-round but few of us are making mid-seven figures annually. Of course, most of us also don't have to deal with near constant criticism even when we do our jobs well and better than 90% of those who have similar jobs.

There's another side to this as well. One of my nephew's former college teammates spent a few years as an assistant at a D-3 school and then moved to Boston University as director of basketball operations.

He moved on after a year because the pay was low and he didn't see a path moving forward. He's now working in private business and I suspect his coaching days are over before he hit 30. I'm sure there are plenty of stories about that out there that we don't hear about and probably don't really care about.

Brad Stevens did the opposite and now look at him. Yes comp level is not great below power 6. People want to do it for love of the game and the hope they get a top 75 job for 3 to 5 years. Dobo is not paying great at BU.

 

[TheHall87]

Brad Stevens did the opposite and now look at him. Yes comp level is not great below power 6. People want to do it for love of the game and the hope they get a top 75 job for 3 to 5 years. Dobo is not paying great at BU.

How many top 75 jobs are out there? Love of the game is great but people need money to live. That's why my nephew's friend got out. He's loves it but he loves being able to afford to live as well.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

How many top 75 jobs are out there? Love of the game is great but people need money to live. That's why my nephew's friend got out. He's loves it but he loves being able to afford to live as well.

SEC, Pac whatever, Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, Big East, A 10, MWC, and then likely 5 to 10 other schools

 

[HALL85]

To simplify things,

Multiple titles.
1 of the top 10 coaches of all time depending on who you ask.
Top recruiting classes.

There wasn't much left for him to do. I'm actually shocked he's only 49th all time in D1 men's wins (tied with Tubby).

+1. Jay has accomplished so much in his career and certainly has his money.

We don’t know what gives him purpose and joy every day. There is no formula for when a coach should retire. But I can certainly see his view of being at the top of the mountain and seeing what the landscape likes look going forward. He’s got a family, beloved by the university, and seems to have found his purpose in doing commentary and using his influence to help VU.

Maybe it’s not stress that he cared about. Maybe it’s how much the game has changed in the last couple of years (NIL, portal, conference realignment) and not wanting to have to reinvent things to stay at the top of the mountain.

 

[TheHall87]

The Athletic ran a piece awhile back that predicted the days of coaches like Coach K, Boeheim, Pitino and others who have been at or near the top of the mountain forever are ending.

It's a lot easier for someone like Jay to get out at 60 than it would have been someone like Coach K and Boeheim and others. They always made great money compared to most but it's only in recent years that the money has become huge.

At a certain point, you know longer need the money and don't have the desire to deal with all the things a coach deals with on a day-to-day basis.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

The Athletic ran a piece awhile back that predicted the days of coaches like Coach K, Boeheim, Pitino and others who have been at or near the top of the mountain forever are ending.

It's a lot easier for someone like Jay to get out at 60 than it would have been someone like Coach K and Boeheim and others. They always made great money compared to most but it's only in recent years that the money has become huge.

At a certain point, you know longer need the money and don't have the desire to deal with all the things a coach deals with on a day-to-day basis.

At a point in time an apparel/sneaker sponsorship deal was worth more per year to a head coach than the base salary