It was about this time three years ago that my relationship with Chris Bono really began.

He'd been here for a year working under Joe Seay and had assumed the job of head wrestling coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

He thought he had hung up the phone after our initial conversation and, in general terms, "dogged me" pretty good to his lovely wife, Niki. I couldn't pass up the opportunity after hearing his colorful description of me to let him know I had heard. So I called back and told him that if he was going to blister somebody with such language that he ought to make sure he had hung up the phone.

It is a story that each of us has told in private, "off the record" environments, filling in with that colorful language, but those two telephone conversations were the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

Seriously.

I have come to know and love Chris Bono, and I am disheartened -- as sad as any of his wrestlers -- that he is leaving Chattanooga to return to Iowa State and resume his former job as the Cyclones' assistant head coach.

The guy is phenomenal, intent on being a better person and taking those around him along for the ride. He has been wonderful for Chattanooga -- a great ambassador for the university and a shot in the arm for area wrestling.

It's no real surprise that he has been so successful or that Iowa State called him home. Although he doesn't realize it now, UTC is better off because he was here. And Iowa State is regaining a champion. One of these days when he looks back, he'll hopefully realize what he has meant to the Mocs program.

Chris is leaving without having attained his goals and therefore he looks at his time here as partial failure. UTC never cracked the top 10 at the NCAA tournament in his three years. The Mocs never came close to winning a national championship. And Chris, if he had a fault, is driven to success and impatient for those much-desired results.

Through no fault of his own or even the university, he was somewhat handicapped. UTC is not a fully funded program like Missouri, Iowa, Iowa State, Ohio State or the other national powers. Sure, things got better under athletic director Rick Hart, who responded in a positive fashion to the strides Chris made.

And Bono made those strides with what he had. He drove his wrestlers -- bending even the most stubborn to his philosophy -- and he drove himself. He was at times a no-nonsense coach who demanded that his kids toe the line academically, socially and athletically. Yet he also was compassionate and understanding.

He worked tirelessly to enhance the program through coaching, fundraising, glad-handing and talking with sports writers, and it was a unique time if you looked around the stands during one of the high school tournaments and failed to find him.

I don't know who will replace him. The university is in the initial stages of finding a successor. What I do know is that the new hire will find a program in good shape with a good stock of talented guys who are willing to learn and work, guys who have been taught the right way from conditioning to technique to responsibility. I know UTC is a much better program than when Chris took over and that many of the rungs the university needed to climb for success have been passed.

UTC may find someone close to his abilities, but the Mocs will be hard-pressed to find someone better, even if the new guy knows how to hang up a phone.