When Texas announced on Sunday that Rick Barnes was out as coach of the Longhorns’ men’s basketball team, it wasn’t a surprise to very many people – after all, there had already been plenty of demands that Barnes be fired or step aside after Texas’s disappointing 2014-15 season that ended in a NCAA Round of 64 loss to Butler.
The naysayers and critics got their wish, and the opinion here is that the Longhorns may be worse off in the long run. It’s said that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but one has to be wary that such a green patch isn’t over a septic tank.
Barnes’ final press conference [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]on the 40 Acres spelled out many of the reasons he was so respected during his 17 years as the Longhorns’ coach – he talked about his faith, his family, his love of his players, his reliance on his assistant coaches and the fact that he would never be able to get the University of Texas out of his system.
His resume at Texas is more than just impressive. Barnes left Austin as the all-time winningest coach in program history, compiling an overall record of 402-180 (.691), an average of nearly 24 victories per year.
A four-time Big 12 Conference coach of the year (1999, 2003, 2008 and 2014) and five-time National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 9 coach of the year (1999, 2001, 2003, 2008 and 2014), Barnes led the Longhorns to 16 NCAA tournament appearances (streak of 14 consecutive from 1999-2012), including five trips to the NCAA “Sweet 16,” three to the “Elite Eight” and one to the Final Four (2003).
The appearance at the 2003 Final Four marked the third time in school history and first since 1947 (span of 56 years) that UT had advanced to the Final Four.
Texas claimed three Big 12 Conference titles in the Barnes era (1999, 2006 and 2008). The Longhorns set a school record by recording 13 straight 20-win seasons from 1999-2000 through 2011-12. UT reached the 20-win mark a total of 15 times in 17 seasons under Barnes.
Barnes said that Texas athletic director Steve Patterson told him after the loss to Butler that Barnes would be the Longhorns coach in 2015-16. Something changed by the middle of last week, when the athletic department leaked that Barnes was told he would have to make changes to his staff to keep his job.
Those that know Barnes understood that he would never let his assistants go just to remain at Texas, and he said so in his press conference. Barnes sat behind the table Sunday and said he was not bitter about leaving Texas or the way he was ushered out the door and had no qualms with Patterson’s decision, but you knew from his voice and the way it broke on occasion that the coach was upset and angry and was taking the high road – the one less traveled these days.
Patterson was not at the press conference to explain his decision but did release a statement.
“The University owes Rick a great deal of gratitude and respect for all he’s done to put Texas on the basketball map,” Patterson’s statement read. “He elevated our program immensely and always did it with class. He put our student-athletes first. He won with integrity.”
Barnes’ standing in the college basketball community was never questioned and it took him less than 48 hours to land on his feet as the new coach at Tennessee. It will be interesting to see what happens when and if Texas and Tennessee play each other – maybe Patterson can schedule a home-and-home with the Volunteers once he has a new coach in place.
This reporter’s stance that Texas should have kept Barnes as coach has not changed, and I’ve proven over the past few months that I am no soothsayer. I predicted that Barnes would still be the coach of the Longhorns next season and that freshman phenom Myles Turner would stay at Texas for at least another year to hone his game.
Barnes is gone and so is Turner – he released his decision to enter the NBA draft Monday via a slick YouTube video.
But I also said that Barnes should be able to decide how and when he left Texas and, ultimately, he did just that. Barnes was not going to stay somewhere he was not wanted and work for an administration that asked him to throw his coaches under the bus.
Knowing Barnes as I did made it impossible to him to remain as the Longhorns’ coach under those conditions.
You might not realize it yet, but all Texas fans will miss Barnes and what he meant and stands for. I’ll miss Barnes the man, and wish him well in Knoxville.
Just sayin’, ya’ know?
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