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Mar. 27—Richard Pitino knows not everyone in New Mexico is happy with him right now.
He's a coach. He's used to it.
After back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, the community had bought back in to a Lobo basketball program that badly needed a change of direction when it hired Pitino in 2021. On Tuesday, Pitino decided to leave UNM to coach at Xavier University and he understands there is nothing ideal about the timing of that decision.
Thirty-six hours after announced he and his family would be moving east, closer to their roots (and, let's not kid ourselves, to take a significant pay raise), Pitino sat down for an exit interview of sorts, appearing on the Journal's Talking Grammer podcast.
"I'm sad to leave, I really am, but I also feel really good about the work that we've done, and I'll be rooting for them," Pitino said. "I mean, it's a great time in my life. ...
"I was really down when I came here (he had just been fired by Minnesota) and New Mexico brought me back."
In a wide-ranging, 30-minute conversation, Pitino raved about UNM's administration, acknowledged the future of the Mountain West concerns him and said he's far more secure at a school that doesn't have to split new NCAA-allowed revenue sharing dollars with a football team. He also shot down the notion that he or his family disliked living in Albuquerque and admitted it's going to be tough leaving New Mexico chile for Skyline chili.
Here are are some excerpts from the podcast, which can be viewed on the Journal's YouTube page or listened to wherever you download podcasts.
All those jobs
Pitino has been transparent about his willingness to take calls about potential jobs.
He was offered a job after his first season at UNM, a finalist for the Louisville job last offseason and his name was linked at some point to nearly a dozen jobs this season, many coming in recent weeks.
And he did, in fact, talk with multiple schools.
The Journal asked if it ever became a distraction from his main job as Lobo basketball coach.
"Zero distraction. I think what people have to understand is, I remember they said I interviewed for the Utah job. I had a conversation with the AD (athletic director) that probably lasted 45 minutes, and I would say both sides were interviewing. ...
"There were several schools that called. it was not a directive of me to my agent to say, 'Get me out of here.' That's not what it was. It's a body of work of four years. You're a guy like me who's got a low buyout, right? So you're in their minds — whether it's a search firm, it's an agent — you're somewhat movable, right? There's a list of guys (considered hit coaching candidates), and humbly speaking, I'm on that (list), so people would reach out.
Cherry blazer
When they're hired, they wear the cherry blazer.
Not just the basketball coach, but the football coach and athletic director, too.
For big games, UNM coaches don the red coat, leading some fans to start dubbing important games "cherry blazer games."
Pitino wore the jacket for his introductory press conference and never wore it again.
Now, he admits he wishes he had.
"The cherry blazer thing, I would say, yeah, I regret it," Pitino said. "I think I should have done it. But every time I debated doing it, I'm like, 'What if we lose and I jinx it?' You know what I mean? ...
"I am going in a league (the Big East) with some coaches who are starting to try to bring back suits, and I should have thought of that before making the decision — my dad, Danny Hurley (UConn coach), who knows if Kevin Willard gets Villanova (the Maryland coach is rumored to be the top candidate), he wears suits as well. So we got to band together on that.
"No, no real regrets. It's been a magical four years. I think I embraced the community. My family embraced it. We met a lot of really, really good people.
"Cherry blazer or not, quarter-zips or not, we won championships and that's really all that matters."
As for all the other Lobo gear he's accumulated? Thursday morning, a similarly sized friend got a delivery.
"Every job you take, you want to save a couple things, (but) you end up never wearing them. ... I'll be shipped off to Cincinnati here, and I don't know when I'll come back, so I want to get as much stuff out, kind of off the books as I can. So you will be seeing my good friend Paul Ortiz, walking around with a lot of quarter-zips that you may have seen before."
Can Jack stay?
Jack, the 10-year-old son of Richard and Jill Pitino and enthusiastic Lobo ballboy, became a fan favorite, even getting stopped in the airport for selfies — with his dad standing next to him sometimes not being asked for one.
Does the elder Pitino understand the fan base infatuation with his son?
"I think he's got a — there's a refreshing way about him. Maybe his age. There's a naiveness to him. He's a great kid. I mean, all three of my kids are great, but I just think people really identified with his age, his love of the Lobos.
"Like I said, the way the people treated my family — when I took the job (Tuesday night), Wednesday morning I woke up really early and I just shot off a lot of texts to a lot of people in this community to thank them."
Don't circle the date
Pitino knows how hard it is to schedule at UNM. Bigger conference teams never seem willing to come to the Pit.
So, with all the love and gratitude he feels for UNM, is he willing to sign a home-and-home contract between Xavier at UNM?
"They're not very nice to Steve Alford when he comes back. So I don't know if I would be down for that. I mean, I've got so many good feelings about New Mexico, that I don't want to screw that up by coming back."
Continue reading...
He's a coach. He's used to it.
After back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, the community had bought back in to a Lobo basketball program that badly needed a change of direction when it hired Pitino in 2021. On Tuesday, Pitino decided to leave UNM to coach at Xavier University and he understands there is nothing ideal about the timing of that decision.
Thirty-six hours after announced he and his family would be moving east, closer to their roots (and, let's not kid ourselves, to take a significant pay raise), Pitino sat down for an exit interview of sorts, appearing on the Journal's Talking Grammer podcast.
"I'm sad to leave, I really am, but I also feel really good about the work that we've done, and I'll be rooting for them," Pitino said. "I mean, it's a great time in my life. ...
"I was really down when I came here (he had just been fired by Minnesota) and New Mexico brought me back."
In a wide-ranging, 30-minute conversation, Pitino raved about UNM's administration, acknowledged the future of the Mountain West concerns him and said he's far more secure at a school that doesn't have to split new NCAA-allowed revenue sharing dollars with a football team. He also shot down the notion that he or his family disliked living in Albuquerque and admitted it's going to be tough leaving New Mexico chile for Skyline chili.
Here are are some excerpts from the podcast, which can be viewed on the Journal's YouTube page or listened to wherever you download podcasts.
All those jobs
Pitino has been transparent about his willingness to take calls about potential jobs.
He was offered a job after his first season at UNM, a finalist for the Louisville job last offseason and his name was linked at some point to nearly a dozen jobs this season, many coming in recent weeks.
And he did, in fact, talk with multiple schools.
The Journal asked if it ever became a distraction from his main job as Lobo basketball coach.
"Zero distraction. I think what people have to understand is, I remember they said I interviewed for the Utah job. I had a conversation with the AD (athletic director) that probably lasted 45 minutes, and I would say both sides were interviewing. ...
"There were several schools that called. it was not a directive of me to my agent to say, 'Get me out of here.' That's not what it was. It's a body of work of four years. You're a guy like me who's got a low buyout, right? So you're in their minds — whether it's a search firm, it's an agent — you're somewhat movable, right? There's a list of guys (considered hit coaching candidates), and humbly speaking, I'm on that (list), so people would reach out.
Cherry blazer
When they're hired, they wear the cherry blazer.
Not just the basketball coach, but the football coach and athletic director, too.
For big games, UNM coaches don the red coat, leading some fans to start dubbing important games "cherry blazer games."
Pitino wore the jacket for his introductory press conference and never wore it again.
Now, he admits he wishes he had.
"The cherry blazer thing, I would say, yeah, I regret it," Pitino said. "I think I should have done it. But every time I debated doing it, I'm like, 'What if we lose and I jinx it?' You know what I mean? ...
"I am going in a league (the Big East) with some coaches who are starting to try to bring back suits, and I should have thought of that before making the decision — my dad, Danny Hurley (UConn coach), who knows if Kevin Willard gets Villanova (the Maryland coach is rumored to be the top candidate), he wears suits as well. So we got to band together on that.
"No, no real regrets. It's been a magical four years. I think I embraced the community. My family embraced it. We met a lot of really, really good people.
"Cherry blazer or not, quarter-zips or not, we won championships and that's really all that matters."
As for all the other Lobo gear he's accumulated? Thursday morning, a similarly sized friend got a delivery.
"Every job you take, you want to save a couple things, (but) you end up never wearing them. ... I'll be shipped off to Cincinnati here, and I don't know when I'll come back, so I want to get as much stuff out, kind of off the books as I can. So you will be seeing my good friend Paul Ortiz, walking around with a lot of quarter-zips that you may have seen before."
Can Jack stay?
Jack, the 10-year-old son of Richard and Jill Pitino and enthusiastic Lobo ballboy, became a fan favorite, even getting stopped in the airport for selfies — with his dad standing next to him sometimes not being asked for one.
Does the elder Pitino understand the fan base infatuation with his son?
"I think he's got a — there's a refreshing way about him. Maybe his age. There's a naiveness to him. He's a great kid. I mean, all three of my kids are great, but I just think people really identified with his age, his love of the Lobos.
"Like I said, the way the people treated my family — when I took the job (Tuesday night), Wednesday morning I woke up really early and I just shot off a lot of texts to a lot of people in this community to thank them."
Don't circle the date
Pitino knows how hard it is to schedule at UNM. Bigger conference teams never seem willing to come to the Pit.
So, with all the love and gratitude he feels for UNM, is he willing to sign a home-and-home contract between Xavier at UNM?
"They're not very nice to Steve Alford when he comes back. So I don't know if I would be down for that. I mean, I've got so many good feelings about New Mexico, that I don't want to screw that up by coming back."
Continue reading...
