Vanderbilt football coach Bobby Johnson, who had teams defeat Tennessee in Knoxville, Georgia in Athens and guided the Commodores to their first bowl victory in 53 years, abruptly retired Wednesday.
The 59-year-old did not cite health reasons for his departure but rather the chance to spend more time with his wife, Catherine.
"Football is not life, but it's a way of life, and it consumes your life," Johnson said. "You only have so many years to live, and you want to see a different way, at least I do. Some guys will coach until one foot is in the coffin, but I want to do some other things."
Johnson's bombshell decision occurred one week before he was scheduled to discuss his ninth Commodores team at SEC media days. Vanderbilt opens Sept. 4 at home against Northwestern.
University vice chancellor David Williams pleaded for Johnson to stay before accepting his decision, and he tabbed Robbie Caldwell as interim head coach. Caldwell has been assistant head coach and offensive line coach since Johnson's first season in 2002.
"It's a sad day, yet a happy time for me, obviously," Caldwell said. "College football is losing a great man today. It's going to be difficult for all of us because of his friendship and his leadership and all the things he has done here at Vanderbilt. He's made a lot of history, and my first task is to make sure we keep our staff intact, because he's assembled a great group of people."
Johnson compiled a 29-66 record with the Commodores, highlighted by a 7-6 season in 2008 that culminated with a 16-14 win over Boston College in the Music City Bowl. That marked Vandy's first postseason appearance since the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl and its first postseason triumph since the 1955 Gator Bowl.
The Commodores were 12-52 in SEC games but won at Neyland Stadium in 2005 and at Sanford Stadium in '06. Johnson was a headache for Ole Miss, beating the Rebels three times in a four-year stretch, and South Carolina, topping Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks in 2007-08.
"Bobby Johnson is a great coach, a great competitor, and a first-class human being," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.
Last year resulted in a significant plummet, as Vanderbilt went 2-10 overall and 0-8 in league play. The Commodores scored five offensive touchdowns against SEC opponents and lost seven of their eight league games by double digits.
"All I know is that we were in a lot of football games the last four or five years, and I know people have to play well to beat us," Johnson said. "We wanted to be in a position to win games in the SEC, and we have won them and we've lost some close ones. Early in the thing we took our lumps, and that's probably the biggest motivator that we could have possibly had. Our guys didn't like it."
Asked Wednesday to specify his favorite victory, Johnson picked the Music City Bowl and the win at Knoxville.
"I underestimated the hungriness of our fans when we beat Tennessee," he said.
By coaching the Commodores for eight seasons, Johnson outlasted every predecessor in program history except Dan McGugin (1904-17, '19-34) and Art Guepe (1953-62). He endured the dissolving of the athletic department in September 2003 and the shooting homicides of tailbacks Kwane Doster in December 2004 and Rajaan Bennett this past February.
Johnson broke down while being interviewed hours after the death of Bennett, who wound up the highest-rated member of his final signing class.
"As I've said many times, Bobby Johnson is my football coach," Williams said. "My only regret is that my son doesn't play football, so he will never be coached by Bobby Johnson."
Johnson came to Vanderbilt from Furman, where he went 60-36 in eight seasons and led the 2001 Paladins to the FCS title game at Finley Stadium. He recognized the awkward timing of his retirement but believes the remaining staff will not just sustain the program but advance it.
"If you don't have investment in a season to where it means everything to you, I don't think you should be coaching," he said. "I think that's what I would have been doing if I had let David talk me back into it. I didn't want to look anybody in the eye and say, 'I'm doing the best I can and doing everything I can possibly do, but I'm out of here in December.'
"Vanderbilt football has been pretty special in my life, and that's how I want to remember it."