Edit: Thad Matta announces immediate retirement.
Edit: No longer speculation - Matta announcing his retirement.
http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/800406
Gene Smith and Thad Matta are having a joint press conference at 2 p.m. today. The topic of the press conference hasn't been disclosed.
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) June 5, 2017
Thad Matta is retiring from Ohio State effective immediately.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) June 5, 2017
Goblins don't retire!
and just fade off into the setting sun?
We know they aren't self imposing the death penalty.
For those who are unaware, Thad Matta has been dealing with severe back pains and a nerve-damaged leg for the last 10 years due to complications from a surgery in 2007. Matta is unable to walk properly without a leg brace, which is also why you see him sitting on a special chair during games to assist him in getting up easier.
There have been speculations about his early retirement even before OSU's recent drop in performance.
A friend of mine plays golf with some OSU guys. He told me a few years back that when Matta had his surgery it was badly botched. He didn't sue the university and was essentially given a *wink-wink* lifetime contract.
I had doubted the veracity of these golfing stories but the declining performance of his teams did make me wonder.
it's been brought up yet, but Gene Smith mentioned how it was his decision that Matta shouldn't coach the team anymore. I don't think this is a retirement, so much as it is a firing.
Sources have indicated Thad Matta will coach 1 more year then retire ... announcement coming at 2 p.m. https://t.co/mauQj9C3eJ pic.twitter.com/qKSrhNWgWI
— Steve Helwagen (@SteveHelwagen) June 5, 2017
I'll miss that sweaty bastard.
Always be prepared, buckeye.
Naw.
That's a picture of Matta observing Buckeye tradition, while football tailgating alongside the Olentangy River.
Looks more like Gene Hackman in that picture...
The sports segment on local news tonight showed him accidentally spitting his gum out while yelling at a ref. He immediately bent down, picked it up off the gym floor and popped it back in his mouth...beating the 5-second rule.
Had a ton of success, conducts himself as an overall good dude.
Hope his health gets better!
He will leave the cupboard bare when he leaves. I am not sad at all.
I did not say a word of the future program.
He's been a hell of a coach for them, and that is just impossible to deny.
Matta always seemed like a shining light of decency amid the rest of the cesspool that is OSU. Hopefully, his health improves and he finds himself at a better school.
I hope he doesn't fire me!
If he wants to retire and ride off into the subset --- good for him.
But he's still pretty young for the coaching game.
And they say being the POTUS ages a man prematurely......
for Goblin years to human years?
Can you imagine how stressful it must be to have to coach in front of THAT fanbase? They were one bad spot away from starting an online petition to have Urban Meyer canned.
Look how they treated Herbstreit.
That is crazy! Dude looks like he's at least 60 years old. I swear I thought he was around the same age as Beilein.
Holy shit! I had to google that as I thought you were joking. Dude's barely older than I am and looks older than my dad.
He still looks younger than Greg Oden.
I thought he was about 60, 65.
He'll be able to retire to a fulfilling life grumbling under a bridge.
will he now be a part of?
Why hold a press conference to announce you are going to coach 1 more year? This seems attention whoreish to me.
He's been the face of that program for 13 years. Why is this whoreish? It's a massive announcement.
And isn't this a lot more formal than just letting some speculation fester among the program? Address it now so everyone knows.
D'Anotnio and Hollis meet with MSU regents in the morning regarding serious program problems. Matta and Smith schedule public announcment at 2:00 to announce Matta will be coaching 1 more year.
Yep, the NCAA is working like normal.
in 'Hoosiers'. Seems to have been the least unlikeable of ohio's coaches, second only to Cooper.
For those of us (including myself) who didn't know what he's up against.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2015-03-16/things-he-ca…
now I feel bad for my "only 49 years old" comment. I had never heard that about Matta, even though I was living in Cincinnati for most of the past decade (Matta was previously at Xavier, of course).
Thanks for the link. I was unaware.
BTW - that article needs to be updated. It starts off saying it is tournament time and, like always, Matta's team is involved.
Pain will age you prematurely as well. That's really terrible and a reminder that anytime a Dr. uses the words back surgery and the word minor in the same sentence you should think long and hard before taking that option.
Just ask Steve Kerr. NO back surgery is minor.
Get well soon Thad.
.@OhioStateHoops heard your program may be in need of some adjustments soon pic.twitter.com/LFROxXWV0e
— Ace Anbender (@AceAnbender) June 5, 2017
but does everyone here realize that Harbaugh will root for OSU if they hired him?
May be an unpopular sentiment but I never really had a problem with the guy, he just happened to coach OSU.
Hope they hire Tom Crean.
Would harbaugh family were Ohio st gear
In the words of the (now old) song, "Whattsa Matta, you?"
He has been a successful coach at a football school. That's difficult to do, yeah? (totally serious).
I just hope they aren't smart enough to offer Chris Mack double whatever he's making at Xavier.
He gone
Matta and staff arranged to have Chad Carr's house decorated to celebrate an early Christmas. He is worthy of our respect.
We can still point and laugh at the OSU basketball program on the floor.
Sounds like a forced retirement. Hopefully the next guy sucks.
Strangely enough, there are a couple pieces out there right now speculating that this is exactly what it is, that he was essentially given the opportunity to leave like this or risk struggling for another year and possibly being fired. I have no idea if that's the case for real, but there are a few folks out there saying it.