CU head coach Tad Boyle still has the fire in himself to coach in NIL era of college basketball
Mar 18, 2025, 12:58 PM
The 2024-2025 college basketball season was a challenging one for Tad Boyle and the Colorado Buffaloes, and Boyle will be the first one to say that. The Buffs finished the year 14-20 after a 9-2 start, but put together a solid run in the Big 12 tournament as the No. 16 seed, upsetting both TCU and West Virginia.
Tad Boyle is an old-school head coach. He’s been around the game of college basketball for over 30 years and is a cornerstone of Colorado athletics as he’s been at the helm of the basketball program since 2010.
After the poor showing this year while the NIL and transfer portal aspects of the sport have gotten crazier, has the game passed Boyle? Other coaches similar to Boyle like Virginia’s Tony Bennett have called it a career because this new era is for them.
For Boyle, it’s not over yet.
“I just feel the fire in the belly still,” Boyle said Tuesday. “As long as that’s burning, I’m going to try and fight and scratch and claw and give everything I have to this university and this program.”
Boyle is obviously nearing the end of his coaching career. He started his coaching career at Greeley West High School back in 1988 and bounced around multiple Colorado high schools until 1994 when he went to the Oregon Ducks as an assistant.
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about [retiring],” Boyle said.
Boyle referenced a conversation that he recently had with Bennett, and said that he understands why the 2019 National Championship Head Coach decided to step away from the game in this new era of college basketball.
“A lot of other coaches are in that same boat right now,” Boyle said. “I don’t want to let this game chase me out. I’d like to go out on my own terms, I’d like to go out strong, not limp out. The fire’s still there.”
For Boyle and the Buffs, despite a lousy season, there is still more basketball to be played. The team is headed to Las Vegas to compete in the College Basketball Crown on April 1 when the black and gold take on Villanova.
“I want to play some golf this summer, but I don’t want to play everyday yet,” Boyle said.
