Seemingly, out of the blue, social media exploded on Thursday over the news that Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett was retiring – effective immediately. This comes as a major surprise given he spoke at ACC media day a little over a week ago – taking questions about his team, new additions to the coaching staff, NIL concerns and the new expanded era of ACC basketball. The Cavaliers season is set to begin on November 6th when they hosts Campbell, so the timing of his departure is strange to say the least.

When a coach abruptly retires your mind always goes towards health, but it seems like that was not a factor, per reports. What makes the situation all the more unusual is the fact he signed an extension in the off-season, only about 4 months ago, that tied him to the University of Virginia until 2030. Bennett’s short and medium term job security was secure, giving him ample time to retool and rebuild the basketball program in the new age of NIL.

While he does have some bad losses in the NCAA tournament on his resume, he did lead the school to their first ever NCAA championship in 2019. The title counts for a lot given Virginia isn’t among the blue bloods of college basketball.

One year after the now infamous first-round loss, as a 1-seed, to 16-seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The first ever loss a number 1 seed had to a number 16 seed in the 90-year history of the NCAA tournament. Not exactly a record you want to be associated with. Which makes it all the more impressive he used the hurt and ridicule to motivate himself and the team to win the championship the following season.

Although, since the highs of 2018/19 season, he’s been a little bit underwhelming…OK, a lot bit underwhelming.

Virginia has missed the tournament twice (2019/20, 2021/22), lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament (2020/21, 2022/23) and last season (2023/24) lost in the first four to the Colorado State Rams, a game in which the Cavaliers could only muster 14 first half points.

The foundation of any Tony Bennett team is a slow, methodical tempo, protecting the ball and stout defense.

The Cavaliers were always among the best in points allowed per game, but this was evened out due to them playing at one of the slowest tempo’s in America. Virginia was the worst, or near the worst, in possession’s per game over Tony Bennett’s tenure. Meaning if a team built up a large lead against the Hoos it was tough for them to make a comeback. They often used up the whole 25 second shot-clock dribbling and passing the ball around looking for the best shot. This slow tempo resulted in the team having trouble on the offensive end. Over his 15 seasons at Virginia they averaged 70+ PPG only twice (2015/16, 2018/19). Bennett’s teams will wear you down with good, hard physical defense, but they were unable to take full advantage of their biggest strength due to the methodical tempo on offense. He’s shown it can be a successful way to play basketball, and build a program, but not the prettiest. And, in single game elimination situations, it can backfire horribly.

Recruiting is the single most important thing in college sports. You can have the best schemes and plays, but if you don’t have the players to execute said schemes and plays then what’s the point? This isn’t like the old days when a player came to your school and was expected to stay all 4 years to be developed and molded by a coach. Right or wrong the talent goes where it can play immediately or has a clear role waiting for them.

Also, the transfer portal has completely obliterated this way of thinking as players can just leave if they feel like they aren’t getting the playing time or NIL opportunities they were promised.

NIL continues to be one of the biggest issues coaches have when building their roster. Players expect to be paid, even before playing in a competitive game.

A coach’s recruiting success is now directly tied to the university’s boosters (better have some alumni who are willing to throw money at the program) and how much money the schools’ collective can raise to “buy” players. Don’t forget to include the parents and agents asking for their piece of the pie too.

None of it is regulated by the NCAA and it’s often the individual universities who are in charge of coming up with rules and guidelines. Although, some states have legislation on how NIL is applied to the school’s within the state.

The players deserve to be paid, but the whole system on how they’re paid is a mess.

This feels like the main reason Tony Bennett is stepping down as the Virginia coach. It’s not that he isn’t still a good or effective coach or that he can’t recruit. He just seems like an old school guy – his dad was a college coach for many years – that doesn’t want to deal with all the hassle and promises (financial or playing time) this new age of recruit/player can, and should, demand. The coaches used to make the big bucks and have all the power, now it’s more in favor of the recruits/players.

Virginia was expected to compete for an NCAA tournament bid in an ultra-competitive ACC. Now, all that is up in the air and any player who wants to leave can do so within the 30-day transfer window that opened with Tony Bennett’s immediate departure. As for who will coach the team, it’s likely one of the assistant coaches will lead the program for the upcoming season with the university then conducting a search for a more permanent solution. It’s a tough situation for the Cavaliers to be in, but if this is what Tony Bennett wants, he’s more than earned it. Hats off to the former Virginia, and Washington State, coach on a successful career.