It’s time to put the retirement rumors to rest surrounding Tennessee Basketball head coach Rick Barnes…at least for now. If you know what he’s in it for, and if you know what he’s good at, then you know there is no sign whatsoever that he’ll be stepping down any time soon.
Barnes, speaking at the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 press conference in Indianapolis ahead of the Vols’ March Madness matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats, shot down any rumors that he would be retiring. Here’s the full clip of what he said.
Many coaches may lie, but if you know anything about Barnes and how devout he is, he truly is staying at Tennessee Basketball because he believes it was God’s calling. Just look at what he said about former Texas Longhorns Athletics Director Steve Patterson’s decision to fire him.
“He didn’t really fire me,” Barnes said of Patterson’s decision to fire him. “He just carried out what God wanted him to do because I truly believe that God brought me to Knoxville for a reason.
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“I think God will make it perfectly clear when he wants me to step down and my time will be up, but it’s not now.”
If you look at his coaching style and his relationships with his players, it’s clear Barnes is honest what he says about his passion and how important the results are. He’s in it specifically for developing players as people and maintaining connections with them well after they play for him.
Sure, a national championship would be nice to add to his resume, but Barnes is probably one of the only coaches in the nation who doesn’t have any trophy case for his accomplishments. That would be the equivalent of making an idol in his eyes, which is a violation of one of the Ten Commandments. Developing players is all he’s about.
“I love coaching basketball,” he said. “I love being around it. I know right now how hard we’re working right now.”
Things will be tougher for Barnes next year with some of his best development projects in his career, Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler, leaving. Barnes did hint earlier in the year that a player like Zeigler is what keeps him involved in coaching, which was a red flag at the time.
However, a player like Zeigler probably makes him want to find other guys to develop in the future. He brings out the best in any coach and make them love what they do more, but especially a coach like Barnes, who is specifically in it for developing such guys.
“We’ve already had a young man on campus after we got back Saturday,” he said. “Sunday, we had a young man on campus that committed to us. We’re already planning to have a team next year. I fully plan to be a part of it.”
That commitment was Troy Henderson, a 6’1″ point guard out of Virginia in the 2025 Tennessee Basketball recruiting class. Henderson is basically another Zeigler: athletic, hungry and underrated, as he’s got no stars across most services. In fact, Henderson is looking up to Zeigler as a big brother.
Recruiting such players isn’t the only bit of evidence that Barnes isn’t going anywhere, though. Most notably, this era of NIL and the transfer portal suits him more than most coaches of his age. As a guy who likes to coach hard and develop, he has found his new path to one-and-dones.
Traditionally, one-and-dones were five-stars using a year of college as a pit stop for the NBA. That didn’t work for a guy like Barnes, even though he tried the route plenty of times. None of them were going to accept being coached that hard when they shouldn’t be in college anyway.
When it comes to one-and-done transfers, though, you’re dealing with veteran players who have developed into elite players at the college level and need a chance to do two things their final year of eligibility: Make themselves known to a larger audience and fine-tune their skills for a shot a the NBA. Barnes is perfect for those players.
That’s how you get Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier in back to back seasons. More of those will come while Barnes also gets the four-year developmental guys. With that, his faith and his health, the Tennessee Basketball head coach may be 70, but he’s going on 50. As a result, he’s not going anywhere.
