Why Austin Peay basketball coach Dave Loos is happy he left coaching when he did

Dave Loos' timing was always good when he was at Austin Peay. He knew when to agree to take on the Governors' athletic director duties while still coaching the men's basketball team in 1997 and when to give those duties up in 2013 while remaining on the bench.

He also knew when it was time to retire in 2017. Loos, 77, is glad he called it quits when he did and thankful he is not part of the turmoil that has gripped the college coaching landscape today.

The transfer portal and NIL has rocked college sports like never before and Loos, whose career spanned 48 years, is unsure he would have wanted to be a coach or an administrator in this environment.

"College athletics has changed so much just in the six or seven years that I've been out, it's unbelievable." Loos said. "I'd probably have a hard time functioning in the landscape that's out there right now to be honest. It's something different everyday."

On Saturday night Loos was rewarded for the many years he put into his profession when he was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame at Omni Nashville Hotel.

Loos, who started out as an assistant at Memphis State in 1969, won 502 games in his career and became Austin Peay's all-time winningest coach with 420 victories. He led the Governors to the NCAA Tournament four times and the National Invitation Tournament twice.

Loos was the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the year four times (1991, 1997, 2003 and 2004).

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He still has ties to Austin Peay's program. Governors' coach Corey Gipson played for Loos from 2002-04 and then spent three seasons on Loos' staff (2012-15). Also, Loos' grandson Daniel Loos is a player on the Governors' current roster.

So Loos still has an up-close view of the program and sometimes finds himself scratching his head wondering where the game is headed.

"I don't know how these guys build a culture with the portal the way it is," Loos said. "But it's not going away so you have to get in there and get in the game."

Nine of the 14 players on Austin Peay's roster, including Loos' grandson, are transfers. The Governors' top four scorers from last season were transfers.

Loos has put some thought into how he would handle coaching players today and it wouldn't be that much different from the way he did throughout his career.

"I would say coach them hard," Loos said. "Coach them hard and you can be demanding but not demeaning. Get in there and coach the way you believe in it will take care of itself."

While Loos is happy he doesn't have to deal with all that is taking place in college athletics, he said he may have been able to coach longer if he had not taken on the athletic director responsibilities for 16 years.

"It was challenging, it was really challenging," he said. "I chose to get up early in the morning, real early in the morning, and get done what I needed to do for myself. Because when I got to the office I was on somebody else's clock. I think it would be impossible to do what I did back then today. It's changed so much that I don't know that it was the best thing then. It worked for me, but it would almost be impossible today."

Serving in dual roles in college athletics wasn't that unusual for many years. But it has become more uncommon over the years and when Loos gave up the AD job he was one of only three in the country doing both at the time.

During the latter part of Loos' coaching career he was diagnosed with cancer in his lymph nodes and underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor that was attached to the outside of his colon. He continued his career after that and said his health is very good today.

"The cancer is in remission," he said. "I was diagnosed seven years ago so I've passed that six-year mark and hope to keep going."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Why Austin Peay basketball coach Dave Loos is happy he left coaching when he did