The Time Has Come For Texas To Part Ways With Rick Barnes

All good things in life must come to an end. It’s something that’s simply inevitable, and even more so in the “what have you done for me lately?” world of sports.

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After the conclusion of Rick Barnes’ 17^th season as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns — where an increasingly underwhelming 2014-15 campaign ended without the Longhorns registering a single NCAA Tournament win after barely sneaking into the dance as an 11-seed — the time has finally come where the most successful coach in program history and the University of Texas need to part ways.

Barnes entered the season on a recently cooled seat after bouncing back last year with a 24-11 effort and a second round NCAA Tournament win over Arizona State. His Longhorns followed that victory with a third round loss to a talented Michigan Wolverines club that would ultimately reach the Elite Eight, which was enough to calm the crowd of those calling for his head in Austin. Barnes’ bounce-back efforts earned him a contract extension and a renewed sense of optimism surrounding basketball in the Longhorn state.

Entering the 2014-15 campaign, Barnes had assembled a roster that looked to be one of the most talented in the country. Texas was returning nearly every member from their previous season — with the exception of guard Martez Walker — and added the No. 2 ESPN recruit, Myles Turner, which led to a preseason top-10 ranking.

One earlier-than-expected conclusion to the season later, after the 2014-15 campaign ended with a disappointing 56-48 second round NCAA Tournament loss to the Butler Bulldogs, the torches have been reignited and justifiably so, as the mediocrity that has become postseason play for Barnes’ Longhorns continues to fall short with wins being few and far between.

If this is it for Barnes, he'll finish with 7 straight years without a Sweet 16, and 13 years without beating a higher-seeded team.
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) March 19, 2015

Despite all the criticism of his performance during the NCAA Tournaments over the recent years, it’s important to note that Barnes has been anything but an unsuccessful coach at Texas. He took the reins in 1998 and put Longhorns basketball – which comes in the shadow of football in a state where the gridiron in king – on the national map.

Throughout the course of his lengthy 17-year tenure at Texas, Barnes has become the winningest coach in Longhorns history with 402 victories and a .693 winning percentage. He’s managed to produce a NCAA Tournament team in all but one of his 17 seasons, while churning out 13 consecutive 20-wins seasons from the ‘99-2000 season to 2011-12. In addition to this impressive stretch, Barnes has since added back-to-back 20-win campaigns once again with 24-11 and 20-14 records to show for his most recent coaching efforts.

Amidst this impressive run, Barnes has led his Longhorns to two Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights and a Final Four, with three Big 12 regular season titles (‘99, ‘06, ’08) and four Big 12 Coach of the Year awards (’99, ’03, ’08, ’14) under his belt. But as it’s been the case for the past seven years, Barnes’ team hasn’t tasted competition on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and having such minimal success when the games matter most for the greater half of an entire decade will eventually lead to a fed-up fan base that demands a coaching change.

That time has finally come.

Now the question becomes whether Rick Barnes has coached his last game at Texas. Great guy, but fairly new athletic director doesn't help.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 19, 2015

Texas began the season as a team that many believed could make a legitimate run towards the Final Four, due to their unique blend of talent, experience, size, depth and defensive potential. To say the Barnes’ team fell well below expectations only a season after being on the hot seat from a 16-18 effort would be a tremendous understatement. After entering the season ranked No. 10 overall, Texas collapsed in Big 12 Conference play, winning only eight of their 18 games. Barnes’ Longhorns saw two four-game losing streaks in conference play and were swept in the season series against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas.

But while that same seat Barnes now reclines in has started scorching, the Texas coach doesn’t appear to have too much concern about his future as the longhorns’ head coach, via DallasNews.com:

"“I don’t worry about it,” Barnes said. “I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to have worked for great bosses and I can only tell you that they’ve been nothing but supportive to me. I think, just like with our team, I think media on the outside, they speculate. I think they try to create stories and come up with things.”"

As for Barnes’ boss, the newly added Athletic Director Steve Patterson, well, he isn’t talking just yet.

Steve Patterson, walking out: "I don't have any comment."
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) March 19, 2015

It’s unfortunate to see that the end may very well be in sight for Barnes in Austin, especially after the glorified light he once basked in before his recent postseason failures has now drastically dimmed after bringing so much success to Texas. But just as Patterson and Texas cut ties with the great Longhorns’ football coach Mack Brown after the losses started out outweigh the victories, the same should soon be the case for Barnes.

If Texas were to bring Barnes back for another shot at redemption, his 18th season at the helm in Austin would likely have even higher expectations. The only guaranteed departure from the team is the senior forward Jonathan Holmes and should Myles Turner or Isaiah Taylor — if not both — return next season, the Longhorns would have an even more imposing lineup. Texas is adding two more ESPN 100 recruits in combo guards Kerwin Roach Jr. and Eric Davis, as well as the luxury of adding more size with the 6’9″, 265-pound Shaquille Cleare set for eligibility in 2015-16.

Is bringing Barnes back for one more run worth the possibility of tossing another season down the drain with an absolutely stacked roster? My guess would be no. It’s time for a head coaching change in Austin.

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