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Springstead coach checks out early

Greg Linley, citing burden of travel expenses, resigns after two seasons with the Eagles.

By VINCENT THOMAS
Published April 19, 2006

SPRING HILL - How do you know when a coach is nearing his breaking point? Maybe he'll mention that he feels he is on the verge of a heart attack, though he is decades away from qualifying for early-bird specials. Perhaps toward the end of the season he'll have bags under his eyes that look like water balloons and a too-hoarse voice that somehow still shouts out frantic pleas from the sideline during double-digit losing streaks.

All of that was Greg Linley, Springstead's girls basketball coach last season. He resigned Tuesday, after two recent discussions with athletic director Bob Levija, cutting his "three-year plan" short one season. Though the Eagles' 36-game losing streak and string of blowout losses or "oh-so-close" disappointments were the primary reasons for the heart attack jokes and worn-out look, Linley and Levija said the reason for this resignation was less about losses and more about logistics.

Linley traveled from Lutz as an adjunct coach of sorts. It drained his time and pockets, especially with gas prices on the constant rise. By his calculations, Linley said he spent about an extra $500 outside the $2,282 he received from Hernando County and struggled with the schedule juggling act.

"It's a loss. He did a nice job with the program," Levija said.

At the moment, Linley doesn't exactly know how he feels.

"I've got extreme mixed emotions right now. Both good and bad," he said. "I'm relieved, because of the way I had to juggle my life to do this. ... But I'm extremely regretful that I won't get to see the end of my work."

Where some may have seen a high-strung coach slowly losing his wits as the losses piled up, others saw a passionate man unwilling to give into the losses and determined to keep trudging along with his players in tow.

Every crack about possible cardiac arrest was followed by crystal-ball rhetoric from the mind of an optimist. Every desperate fist-clinching of the hair on the side of his head after his girls gave up a 10-0 scoring run was followed by some type of motivational applause. Linley came to Springstead with a three-year plan and had every intention of riding it out. But he's resigning, not quitting - he wants to make that clear.

"This is the second time that real life has leaned in on me and stopped me from doing what I want to do," he said. The first real-life situation brought him down to Florida from Connecticut when his brother, Jay, got in a serious car accident and Linley decided to relocate to Lutz to help his recovering brother run his home-improvement company.

As for now, Linley and Springstead aren't sure what is next. Levija said he would like to have the vacancy filled "tomorrow," but needs to see if there will be any teacher openings.

Linley? He's looking for something closer to home to supplement his small business. He's even thinking about finishing up school so he can teach.

"I've been doing this for 11 years," Linley said, listing a few schools he has on his radar while intimating he's not in a hurry to hop to a new school, but he is interested.

But when Linley looks back at his two years in Spring Hill, he sees a team that didn't know the basic fundamentals improve to a team that competed in many games late in the season.

"I learned a whole lot about who I am," he said. "Now, I'm a better coach, a better person. I have a lot more patience. ...

"A friend of mine once said that the only criteria to judge yourself by is whether or not the program is in better shape after you leave. I say, Hell yeah, it is. We basically started from scratch. Now we laid the foundation."

Vincent Thomas can be reached at vthomas@sptimes.com or 352 848-1430.

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:58:13]