Tony Bennett's retirement illustrates new age of college athletics

Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett retired on Thursday, just 20 days before the Cavaliers tip off the 2024-25 campaign. At 55 years old, Bennett could have continued coaching for another decade or two, but this is not college basketball as Bennett had previously enjoyed.

His early retirement, like that of Villanova's Jay Wright before him, speaks volumes. This is a new age of college athletics — one with annual roster turnover, agents, NIL deals and legalized gambling. It's a far cry from what the sport was a decade ago when the NCAA ran ad campaigns during March Madness telling fans, "Don't Bet On It." We're also far removed from "improper benefits" to players forcing schools to take down championship banners.

Times have changed. It's not that coaches like Bennett or Wright aren't capable of adapting, but perhaps it's that they simply don't want to. That's okay. It is no longer the job Bennett signed up for.

“I realized I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program in the current environment," said Bennett at a Friday news conference . "If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be all-in. You have to give everything. If you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men. That’s what made me step away."

Bennett won't be the last to retire earlier than planned. Plenty of coaches, whether they say it or not, probably share Bennett's sentiment. The job was already exhausting, but now it's made more difficult by the transfer portal and NIL. Couple those two factors with the increased headaches of legalized gambling and the job is too much in its old state.

“I think it’s right for student athletes to receive revenue, but the game in college athletics is not in a healthy spot. It’s not," Bennett said. "And there needs to be change, it’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way — that’s who I am and that’s how it was — and my staff has buoyed me along to get to this point but there needs to be change, it’s going to be a closer to a professional model.”

It's on college athletics departments to adapt and change quickly. Bennett is right: the current model no longer works. ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski made headlines in September when he left his position at The Worldwide Leader for his alma mater St. Bonaventure. Wojnarowski will serve as the general manager of the men's basketball program. It's a growing position in college sports and for good reason.

Coaches simply can't handle the workload of scouting, coaching, recruiting (both prospective athletes and to keep their current roster), handling NIL deals and who knows what else. The quicker departments adapt, the better off they will be. It might even save a coach from retiring early.

Bennett was also right that he's not the right man for the current job. It took courage for him to recognize and vocalize that. While college sports are in flux, there will be others who come to the same realization — but it doesn't necessarily mean college basketball is dying. It's evolving. There will be new coaches step up who are built for the current structure. The sport will continue on.

But for the old college hoops, another good one is gone. A victim of the changing landscape.