Libertine
March 23rd, 2023, 10:53 AM
On Tuesday, San Diego athletic director Bill McGillis announced (https://usdtoreros.com/news/2023/3/21/football-dale-lindsey-winningest-coach-in-program-history-to-retire-from-usd.aspx)that the Toreros' football head coach, Dale Lindsey, was retiring effective immediately. However, when reached for comment by local media on Wednesday, Dale Lindsey had a very different assessment (https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/toreros/story/2023-03-22/i-did-not-retire-dale-lindsey-80-says-he-was-shown-the-door-by-usd-after-10-seasons) of the situation.
“I did not (bleeping) retire,” said Lindsey. “I was shown the door and would like to coach. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
Regardless of the apparently debatable nature of how his tenure ended at USD, it's hard to argue that Lindsey, known for his blunt and acerbic communication style, was anything but successful there. Hired at the age of 70 in 2012 -- that's right, he's 80 years old now and still coaching -- Lindsey's record is 80-30 overall in that span and 68-9 in conference play. Granted, the Toreros have struggled on the road in the post-pandemic era and six of those nine conference losses have come in the last three years. Still, firing a football coach in late March -- USD completed spring practice last month -- really only happens when there's a significant NCAA violation -- there's no evidence of that at this time -- or a small-school ego/turf war between the school's coach and the administration.
“I did not (bleeping) retire,” said Lindsey. “I was shown the door and would like to coach. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
Regardless of the apparently debatable nature of how his tenure ended at USD, it's hard to argue that Lindsey, known for his blunt and acerbic communication style, was anything but successful there. Hired at the age of 70 in 2012 -- that's right, he's 80 years old now and still coaching -- Lindsey's record is 80-30 overall in that span and 68-9 in conference play. Granted, the Toreros have struggled on the road in the post-pandemic era and six of those nine conference losses have come in the last three years. Still, firing a football coach in late March -- USD completed spring practice last month -- really only happens when there's a significant NCAA violation -- there's no evidence of that at this time -- or a small-school ego/turf war between the school's coach and the administration.