Don Meyer knew before the first of the year that this would be his last season as Northern State University's men's basketball coach.
I knew in late December that I couldn't physically do this anymore, Meyer said at a news conference after his final game Saturday night.
During most of his years as a coach, he would go out and look at players and be back in time for practice. But he hasn't been able to do that the last two years, following his car accident in September of 2008.
Our recruiting is suffering because of it, he said.
In addition, he can't demonstrate techniques the way he'd like to, and I don't feel I'm as good a coach as I used to be, said Meyer, who turned 65 in December.
Northern's basketball culture was slipping. He couldn't pay as much attention to detail.
Plus, he doesn't have as much free time as he used to. Before, Meyer would get up in the morning and read. It takes a while to dress now, he said.
So it wouldn't be fair to the program for him to continue.
He announced his retirement before the final home game because he wanted to have a chance to say goodbye to Northern's fans.
You don't lead the nation in attendance every year and not have great fans. After Meyer's accident, they were so great to us. They're just great people.
During his talk to the fans after the game, Meyer said as much as he liked basketball, he will miss his players more.
When I was on my back in the hospital, the thing I missed the most were running individual workouts with the players - skill development. It killed me (to miss that), he said. That's where you build relationships with players, working with them individually, he said.
Our whole family felt the wreck was a blessing, Meyer said. The family became closer, and said things to each other they probably should have been saying earlier.
On the downside, the wreck and his other medical issues hurt Northern basketball. It sort of stuck our program right there, he said.
I've been happy with the kids I've had here. It's not their fault the last two years. It's my fault, he said.
His first two years at Northern were also tough, he said. But Sundance Wicks and Steve Smiley became the guts of the program.
He hopes Northern fans will remember teams rather than the coach, he said.
If Northern had been in a region that didn't include Winona State, the Wolves probably would have won 30 games one season and gone to the Elite Eight, he said.
During the news conference, Meyer joked that in his new job, he'd be making coffee for the school's president. Later, he said, if he made coffee, the president would soon be dead.
But in his new job, he wants to actively help the school and community improve.
He will also do a lot of basketball clinics, including for some Division I programs.
He received an e-mail from Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson. But he was sorry that Brenda Dreyer, Northern's director of University Relations, misplaced the e-mail.
Maybe I could go be he they next Tex Winter and make a ton of money. But she screwed that one up, Meyer said, joking. Winter was a well-paid assistant coach to Jackson.
Basketball, Meyer said, has taught him to be unselfish. But the big-time college game is losing some of that unselfishness.
It's almost disgusting to watch Division I basketball. I have a hard time watching it, he said.
It's possible, if he stays healthy, that Meyer could return as an assistant coach somewhere, if one of his former players were to get a job.
But it's time for me to go, time for a new guy to come anwhos' get some juice nd got some somer energy,he said.
He hopes the community will stand behind him. The new coach and his staff will have to recruit like crazy,he said.
Meyer will be around to help if needed. But he won't interfere, he said.
Meyer found out that the Chick-fil-A Company will pay $10,000 to a university in his name as part of an award he's receiving.
He said he tried to think of a university I could form in my own name. But that'd be too much work. So I just gave them Northern's name.
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Don Meyer Evening of Excellence Videoby LipscombAthletics15,268 views
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