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SALT LAKE CITY -- After consecutive losing seasons, the speculation about Utah Utes head coach Jim Boylen's future has been answered.
Saturday morning, University of Utah Director of Athletics Chris Hill announced that the school would be moving in another direction.
"It's been something that we've been obviously evaluating," Hill said. "There's not one specific thing that happened but you move forward when you feel you have to."
Although Hill would not single out a central reason for letting Boylen go, he admitted that losing games does have an impact.
"We're in a competitive world and winning and losing does matter," Hill commented. "A large majority of this is to make sure our program is going in the right direction and we're reaching the goals that we think our proud Utah basketball history has."
I was really hoping for one more year with this group of guys. They're a good group. All those guys came here to play for me and that makes it hard.
–Jim Boylen
During Boylen's four-year tenure at Utah, he managed a disappointing career record of 69-60, with a record of 32-32 in Mountain West Conference regular-season games.
His best season was his second, when the 2008-09 Utes went 24-10, tied for the MWC regular season title and won the conference championship.
However, Boylen's last two years with the Utes were anything but appealing, going 14-17 in the 2009-10 season, with nearly a third of the team leaving to play elsewhere once the season was finished.
On Mar. 10, the Utes ended their season with a loss to San Diego State in the MWC tournament, finishing with a 13-18 overall record, the second-straight losing season.
"I thought I was going to get time to build the program," Boylen said. "Maybe we won too fast and then we had a rebuilder. I think I was given a five-year extension because we had a rebuilder. Maybe we didn't get it rebuilt as fast as they'd like to."
Following the Utes' 2008-09 season, Utah signed Boylen to a five-year contract extension. Because of his early release, Boylen will receive a $2 million buyout paid on a monthly basis over three years.
"I was really hoping for one more year with this group of guys," Boylen said. "They're a good group. All those guys came here to play for me and that makes it hard."
Despite his early departure, Boylen is grateful for the time he was allowed to coach for the Utes.
"I'm really thankful to have been the coach here," Boylen said. "I've loved it here, every minute of it."
Boylen remains confident that Utah will continue to have a successful history as they transition to the Pac-12.
"I think it's safe to say that we'd be picked in the upper group of the Pac-10 and in the top third of the Mountain West," commented Boylen.
"I appreciate the efforts of Coach Boylen and his staff," Hill said, "including the emphasis he placed on academics, which is an important part of our department's culture."
In the meantime, Utah will perform a national search for Boylen's replacement.
"I don't think we're going to put an artificial time frame or some arbitrary qualifications on somebody," Hill said. "It's a very good opportunity, given our history and our facilities and also moving into the Pac-12."
E-mail: jfurlong@ksl.com
