Hall of Fame Temple coach Chaney announces retirement

PHILADELPHIA -- John Chaney's scowl was gone, the dark, deep-set eyes concealed behind sunglasses.

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The raspy voice, which has boomed to the upper deck of many arenas, was hushed. It was perhaps one final, subdued look at a Hall of Fame basketball coach who realized it was time to leave Temple.

This was indeed a different Chaney.

"Excuse me while I disappear," Chaney said, his shirt unbuttoned and his unraveled tie draped over his shoulders.

With those words, Chaney left the podium Monday and retired after 24 seasons at Temple, ending a 34-year coaching career of fatherly off-the-court mentoring that was sometimes overshadowed by a temper that got the better of him.

"It's always a very traumatic time, but it is time," Chaney said. "Temple gave me a chance to make my own decision and that's the great thing about it. Right now I'm faced with another problem with my wife, so it's the right time to go."

Chaney will not coach the Owls' opening NIT game against Akron on Tuesday night because his wife was scheduled to undergo a procedure for an undisclosed health problem. Assistant Dan Leibovitz will take his place, and it was not clear if Chaney would return to the bench if Temple won.

The 74-year-old Chaney guided Temple to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including five NCAA regional finals -- where he went 0-5 and never made the Final Four. He was twice named national coach of the year and entered the Hall of Fame in 2001.

This season, Temple (17-14) made the NIT for the fifth straight season, a dramatic decline for a team that was once an NCAA Tournament regular.

In typical Chaney fashion, Monday was no ordinary goodbye. Flanked by former and current players and coaches, Chaney wove his life story around amusing anecdotes about his friend Bill Cosby, a playful threat to slap the mayor, and several pokes at school administration.

John Chaney's once-powerful Owls are in the NIT for a fifth straight season. (AP)

Chaney also wiped away tears from behind his sunglasses and talked at length about a favorite subject -- education's role in helping the poor and disadvantaged.

"I'm going to be mean and ornery when I see something that's wrong and I'm going to try and right it," Chaney said.

Chaney has 741 wins as a college coach, including a 516-252 record at Temple, where he won seven Atlantic 10 conference titles. His teams did remarkably well considering Chaney couldn't recruit the high school All-Americans who filled the rosters of the power conferences.