There are plenty of septugenerians with roots in the Bronx and the ability to appreciate a darn good Sunday sauce floating around South Florida these days. Compared to where they grew up, you could argue that their quality of life was never better. I can personally think of a couple, but one’s a lot more prominent. In fact, less than two years ago he probably could have run for mayor and won.
But just after the Christmas lasagna was prepped and partially devoured, the remarkable reign and one of said Bronx native came to a somewhat shocking and abrupt end, as the MIAMI HERALD’s Michelle Kaufman reported yesterday:
Less than two years after leading the University of Miami to its first Final Four in school history, coach Jim Larranaga is stepping down(.) Larranaga, who turned 75 in October, has been coaching for 40 years and was under contract through the 2026-27 season.
He is in his 14th season at Miami and compiled a 274-174 record. The winningest coach in program history, he led the Hurricanes to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including four trips to the Sweet 16.
He guided the Hurricanes to their first Elite Eight (2022), first Final Four (2023), first ACC Tournament title (2013) and first two ACC regular season crowns (2013 and 2023). Over his career, Larranaga was named the Associated Press, Naismith, USBWA and Henry Iba National Coach of the Year, twice was both the ACC and USBWA District Coach of the Year and was the 2013 NABC District Coach of the Year.
But as Kaufman reminded, that was then and this is now:
The Hurricanes dropped to 4-8 this season with an overtime loss to Mount St. Mary’s last week and have lost 18 of their past 22 games dating to last season. Miami ended the 2023 season with a 10-game losing skid and things were not getting much better with his overhauled 2024 roster, which included 10 new faces.
But as BASKETBALL INSIDERS’ Colin Lynch revealed yesterday, this decision was ultimately Larranaga’s:
Miami athletics director Dan Radakovich stated that Larrañaga asked to speak to him Sunday, saying he wanted to step down. The decision was finalized on Monday.
“Like all of us in intercollegiate athletics, there is so much uncertainty,” Radakovich explained. “The change in rules. Name, image, and likeness demands from agents. Unlimited transfers, et cetera. You can go on and on in these changing times. All of which takes so much time, effort, and energy away from actually coaching.”
At this point, after 53 years, I just didn’t feel like that I could successfully navigate this whole new world that I was dealing with,” Larrañaga, referencing name, image and likeness deals (NIL), stated to reporters in a press conference.
On Thursday, Larrañaga reflected on how eight players from last year’s Final Four team entered the transfer portal, chasing opportunities elsewhere. “There’s one thing you’ve got to constantly ask yourself: Are you going to give everything you have, the commitment that it deserves, 100% of yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?” Larrañaga, 75, said. “And quite frankly, I’ve tried to do that throughout my life and throughout my time here, but I’m exhausted.”
And as Kaufman reminded, he’s hardly alone amongst his peers, and especially those in the ultra-competitive ACC conference he has most recently called home:
He becomes the latest in his generation of coaches to step away, following the retirements of legendary coaches Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Jay Wright (Villanova), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and, most recently, Tony Bennett (Virginia).
And as Lynch reported, Bennett, the most recent great to throw in the towel prior to Larranga, echoed the frustration:
Bennett, revered for his tenure with the Cavaliers since 2009, stunned the basketball world with his retirement, citing the evolving dynamics of the sport as a key factor.
“This game, I think it’s right for players, student-athletes to receive revenue. Please don’t mistake me; I do. I think it is. But the game and college athletics are not in a healthy spot. It’s not, 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,” Bennett had said following his abrupt retirement.
And Boeheim, hardly Larranaga’s most ardent supporter, was especially forthright with his thoughts, again per Lynch:
“This is an awful place we’re in in college basketball. Pittsburgh bought a team. OK, fine. My [big donor] talks about it, but he doesn’t give anyone any money. Nothing. Not one guy. Our guys make like $20,000. Wake Forest bought a team. Miami bought a team. … It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse,” Boeheim said last year.
One can almost understand the frustration of veteran genuises being unable to find the resources to keep young athletes around places like Syracuse, New York and Charlottesville, Virginia in the dead of winter. But if the allure of Coral Gables’ climate, a winning team, a great leader with a fondness for Italian sausage and arguably some of the hottest fans in any locale aren’t enough to keep them around The U, than what, pray tell, could?
For what it’s worth, Larranaga won’t quite be going gently into the night just yet, as THE ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Tim Reynolds reported this morning:
Miami football coach Mario Cristobal wants now-retired Miami men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga to do at least one more thing for the Hurricanes. Cristobal wants him to share all his knowledge.
“Love and respect him,” Cristobal said. “I mean, he is iconic. He is legendary. He just put that program on his back and went to work. He will be missed tremendously. I’m going to raid his roster for tight ends and defensive ends. I think he’s an exceptional human being. I look forward to getting with him and picking his brain on leadership and on team building and culture and getting him over and having him in front of the guys. I know he always wants to be involved in the University of Miami.”
Larrañaga will be offered a position to stay on at Miami in some form, athletic director Dan Radakovich said. It would follow how Miami reacted to women’s basketball coach Katie Meier’s retirement this past spring; Meier remains at the school as a special assistant to Radakovich and a professor.
Good for him and good for Miami. And good for septugenarian Italians from the Bronx. They’re more valuable than any NIL inducement could ever be.
Courage…