The Wisconsin Badgers have had a rough season so far as they are 7-5 through 12 non-conference games but things got even rougher on Tuesday night after they beat Texas A&M Corpus Christi as head coach Bo Ryan announced his retirement. Ryan's retirement came at a bit of a curious time considering it is the middle of the season but it seems he might have had great intentions for calling it quits now, according to ESPN.
Ryan's longtime assistant coach, Greg Gard, will take over as the interim head coach and it is being said that Ryan likely chose this time to retire so that Gard will have a chance to prove that he deserves to coach the team long-term and he hinted as much on Tuesday night.
"This was a decision months in the making. I brought this up to Barry back in April. He advised me to take some time to think it over, and I appreciated that. But in recent weeks, I have come to the conclusion that now is the right time for me to retire and for Greg Gard to have the opportunity to coach the team for the remainder of the season. I discussed this with Barry, and I appreciate him giving me the space to make this decision," said Ryan.
Ryan had said before the year that he was considering retirement very soon and although he wouldn't say whether it would be after this year or two years it had become clear that he was getting close to the end. Nobody expected him to end it in the middle of the season, except for those close to him, but it seems like he did it with good intentions which were to help out his longtime assistant and friend by retiring at a time when the school didn't have time to find anyone else to coach the team.
Ryan leaves the school having won the most games in its history with 364 and he turned them into an elite program so athletic director Barry Alvarez will want the new coach to be able to maintain that. Gard will have the rest of this season to prove that he is the guy but there are already lists being put out of potential long-term replacements for the 68 year old Ryan.
Gard is reportedly a well-respected coach and people in the industry believe his time to become a head coach was coming soon anyway. People have raved about his character and his ability to relate to players but now he will have a fairly lengthy audition to prove that the job should be his long-term instead of Alvarez deciding to go outside the school for a replacement. Bo Ryan had a great career as a coach with Wisconsin and he ended it in a classy way, giving his friend an opportunity to earn the job and all Gard could really ever ask for is a chance, which he will now get.
