There are few adjectives that describe Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo better than “legendary”. One of the greatest collegiate coaches in history, Izzo has led the Spartans for over two decades and compiled an impressive record – 10 B1G regular season titles, six Big Ten Tournament titles, eight Final Four appearances and a national title.
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But how much longer will fans see him on the Spartans bench as they’ve been accustomed to for so long now? At age 65, he’s currently the oldest coach in the Big Ten.
According to the man himself in an interview with Big Ten Network, he knows when it will be the appropriate time to step aside.
He's been the @MSU_Basketball coach for a quarter century, and his good friend Mark Dantonio recently retired.
What does Tom Izzo's future look like?
"When I lose my desire to recruit all the time . . . it'll be time for me to go." pic.twitter.com/rXQuM3Ckfx
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) April 19, 2020
“Sometimes it’s a family decision. Sometimes, there’s things that happen in these jobs that you just say ‘how much longer you wanna beat your head against the wall?’ And I’m not sure there’s any right time,” Izzo explained. “I just know this, for Mark [Dantonio] it was the right time. For me, when it happens, I will not hold on. I’ve seen too many coaches hold on. The way I look at it, when I lose my desire to recruit all the time…when I get tired of that, it’ll be time for me to go.”
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“Those last six, eight games when we had a chance to win the B1G and we had a chance to make a run, I was just as excited as I was 20 years ago when we won the national championship,” Izzo said. “I don’t have retirement in my mind.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the shutdown of collegiate as well as professional sports, the Spartans were 22-9 and expected to be able to make a run towards another national title.
