Then Wednesday, when word started circulating that inexplicably, stunningly, Sutton would resurrect his legendary career by coaching the University of San Francisco, I had one thought.
Good for him.
The 71-year-old legend says he's coming back to reach 800 Division I wins, a goal he set for himself and a goal he fell shy of by two victories. Maybe so. Seems a little shallow to gratuitously chase a milestone. That's why I think there's more to it.
I think Sutton still wants to coach. That fire still burns in him. A few weeks ago, Sutton watched an Oklahoma State practice and couldn't contain himself. He interrupted with one of his patented pronouncements, telling the current Cowboys how the game should be played.
"He still has a lot of competitive fire in him,” Sean Sutton, his son and OSU successor, said Wednesday. "Being away from the game, he still wants to coach and still has that desire to get out there on the court.”
Make no mistake. Eddie Sutton is excited.
He returned my call Wednesday evening, about 30 minutes before his San Francisco teleconference, and sounded more stoked than he had in any of our conversations since his reluctant retirement in May 2006.
He told old stories, which always was a sign of life for Sutton, about hitchhiking to Kansas City to see that great Bill Russell San Francisco team play in the 1955 NCAA Tournament, plunking down five bucks and walking right in to Municipal Auditorium.
He talked with candor. Said some old friends had congratulated him on the new job but told them that with this team — the Dons are 4-8 — condolences are more like it. "Biggest challenge I've ever had,” he said.
He even admitted that permanent status with San Francisco is possible, Patsy Sutton's objections notwithstanding. Sutton's wife will stay in Oklahoma during his 10-week sojourn, but Eddie's not ruling out taking over USF for good.
"Let's just wait and see what happens,” he said. "I'm not shutting the door. But that's not my commitment to them.”
Sutton's former point guard, ESPN's Doug Gottlieb, said his old coach actually might be chasing a different milestone than 800 wins — becoming the first coach to take five schools to the NCAA Tournament.
"You're not going to take that team this year, believe me,” Sutton said. "If I stayed on, you might be able to.”
Truth is, Sutton didn't end his OSU career on his terms. His drunk-driving crash almost two years ago forced his retirement, and even then, with no option but to step down, Sutton still delayed the inevitable for months.
Sutton says he's sober, and San Francisco athletic director, Debra Gore-Mann, says she takes him at his word.
Alcoholism, not old age or boredom or losing a step, cost Sutton his job, and OSU basketball's free fall without him now proves that Sutton still was getting his charges to play winning basketball.
He wasn't through coaching, pure and simple. Some people are made for retirement and some aren't. Sutton is in the latter group, the Joe Paterno, Bobby Knight crowd. He's never found anything that could replace the satisfaction of getting young men to play defense and take care of the ball and find a way to win on the hardwood.
Does he want to reach 800 wins? No doubt. Does he want to wipe out the bitter taste of his OSU exit? Absolutely. But what he wants more is to keep gripping the game that's gripped him since he shot baskets at an outdoor goal attached to a pole, his mother rebounding for him, in the dirt of Bucklin, Kan., more than 60 years ago.
"I'm so appreciative to the University of San Francisco,” Sutton said. "It's a blessing this opportunity came.”
Coaching kept Sutton young for a lot of years. Here's hoping it still can.
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