Kudos to Todd Bozeman, the former men’s basketball coach at Cal, for leaving a program through the front door.
Bozeman on Wednesday was let go by Morgan State University after a 13-year run.
He led the Bears to the only two NCAA Tournament berths the school has ever experienced. He was a three-time conference coach of the year. He coached 510 games for MSU, winning six more than he lost.
But the program steadily lost altitude over Bozeman’s final six seasons — and he suffered the tried, true, reflexive consequences, just like any other coach.
Morgan State athletic director Edward Scott told the Baltimore Sun that the decision to not renew Bozeman’s contract was performance-based. Happens all the time in the zero-sum world of sports.
Scott also said this: “It was very difficult for me because I think the world of Todd Bozeman. We got along extremely well. Just as a man, he was good for me in a lot of ways. We talked about life, philosophy, all different kinds of things on a regular basis. I felt like he was doing the best he could, but it just didn’t work out.”
Not necessarily a great day at the office, but it beats the alternative Bozeman experienced in Berkeley.
His career changed the rainy night on which it was announced that head coach Lou Campanelli had been terminated midway through the 1992-93 season, and Bozeman had been promoted to the big whistle. He created an environment of tumult, confrontation, suspicion, distrust, contempt, intrigue and disdain.
Bozeman led his first team, featuring Jason Kidd, all the way to the Sweet 16, making sure to take the path of most resistance at every turn.
Asked once why he thought people didn’t get a warm and fuzzy from him, he replied: “One, they don’t like how I got the job. Two, the fact that I’m young and carry myself in a confident fashion. Three, my race.”
When it came to light that Bozeman committed major recruiting violations, people found more reason to view him with distrust. He coached the Golden Bears to two more NCAA Tournament berths. But the NCAA vacated 28 wins from his final two years, put Cal on a three-year probation and slapped Bozeman with an eight-year ban on coaching.
It’s difficult to believe for anyone who was around at that time, but it’s going on 23 years since that drama took place. A recent check of Bozeman’s Twitter account, used sporadically, unearthed this retweet:
“The story of your life has many chapters. One bad chapter doesn’t mean it’s the end of the book.”