Photo Credit: Andy Manis/ Associated Press
News broke on June 29, 2015 that the Wisconsin Badgers would be losing their head coach, Bo Ryan to retirement after the 2015-16 season. After a season that saw the team go further in the 2015 NCAA Tournament than they have since 1941, this was a devastating blow to all Badger fans.
Bo don’t go! https://t.co/kDnBoth89F
— Kate Manegold (@katemanegold) June 29, 2015
Never gonna be over Bo Ryan retiring 😭
— Jorrr (@jorsi817) June 30, 2015
In an official statement from the university, Ryan wrote:
I’ve always been told [the possibility of retiring] is not a decision to make right after a season is completed. Barry [Alvarez] thankfully encouraged me to take some time to think about it and I have done that.
I’ve decided to coach on more season…
It seems Ryan should’ve taken even more time to think about it because now he’s all “LOL JK”
According to the Post Crescent, Ryan spoke candidly about his retirement at the U.S. Venture Open golf charity event on August 12:
Everybody kind of thinks they know when they’re ready to retire, or step aside. I’m not totally sure.
So, I might stay for another four or five [years].
It’s understandable that Ryan is having doubts about retiring. He helped big things happen for the Badgers’ program. With back-to-back Final Four appearances and then their heart-breaking loss in the final game of 2015, his tenure posted a 357-125 record in 14 years with the team. That averages out to him winning more than 74 percent of games played each season.
Only time will tell if he’ll stick around for longer than he previously announced. But we know Badger fans are slowly picking up the pieces of their broken hearts after this news.
