ROSEMONT, IL – Dana Altman called Tom Izzo earlier this week and asked the Michigan State basketball coach if he could borrow a quote of his.
Izzo said yes and asked why. That’s when the Oregon coach told him he was about to retire the next day.
“I said, ‘For what?’ And he says, ‘Is it OK if I use it?’ And he told me what it was,” Izzo said at Big Ten media day Thursday, Oct. 8. “I’ve had a lot of quotes. Some I wouldn’t want him to use, some I would want him to use. But I said, ‘Why?’ And he says, ‘I’m gonna retire tomorrow.’
“I was shocked a little bit. Now, I’ve talked to him a few times. And we all know that things have changed and it weighs on you after a while. But what I want to say is he had a helluva run. He was 16 years at Creighton and 16 years (at
Oregon). He’s been to a Final Four. He’s done his job.”
Altman, during his retirement news conference Wednesday, credited Izzo for something he heard him say in March.
“He said, ‘The minute I don’t feel good, the minute I don’t feel I’m giving my AD, president and school every ounce of energy I have every day, or that energy drops, you don’t have to worry about me being here,’” Altman said. “And I had two weeks off in August, and I thought my energy would return and it didn’t. And some people I trust and truly respect told me just to delegate more and take it easier, back off a little bit. And I tried that for a couple weeks in September. And that’s not me. It’s not what I’ve done for 37 years.”
A young reporter mentioned it to Izzo during his media day news conference at the Donald E. Stephens Convention & Conference Center. The nervous newbie set up his question for the Hall of Fame coach by telling him, “I thought for a lot of my life that I would never get a chance to talk to you like this.”
“You thought I was gonna die that early?” the quick-quipping Izzo said.
The reporter asked Izzo about where he’s at with his own future.
“Where am I at?” he repeated back to the young scribe. “I’m right in front of you, brother.”
Izzo then repeated much of what he has said in recent years as his teams have remained contenders for Big Ten titles and Final Fours, and his recruiting continues to be at perhaps his best sustained level entering the 32nd year as head coach.
“So the million dollar question: When are you gonna retire? When I don’t have the energy,“ he said Thursday. “When the bad things outweigh the good things. And I said this 100 times, and I’ll say it one more. I still love my job – love the practices, love the meetings, love the film sessions. I do not respect my profession as much as I should right now. But I’ve been on every board trying to change it, and I’m gonna keep trying to change it. I love watching Nick Saban, not even coaching anymore, he’s still trying to make a difference.
“And so I’m good to go, man. If you come next year, you might see me again.”
And, while talking about the recent additions of athletic director Dan Bartholomae and football coach Pat Fitzgerald, along with hockey coach Adam Nightingale, Izzo gave one final hint of what might be his long-term plan.
“I think Dan is gonna be here for the long run, Fitz and Adam,” he said. “I’ll be here, though, until I die or something.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Tom Izzo isn't planning on retiring from Michigan State any time soon
