Retirement Timetable: Weep On It/Think On It/Sleep On It/Drink On It

When is the proper time to leave via retirement for a competent coach such as Utah State's Stew Morrill? There are no hard-and-fast rules and discerning the right sequence to step aside is more elusive than one might think. But Morrill, perhaps the nation's most underrated coach thus far in the 21st Century, seems to have timed his departure at the end of this season just about right. After averaging nearly 26 victories annually in a 12-year span from 1999-00 through 2010-11, the Aggies had their streak of campaigns with more than 20 wins snapped at 14 last season.

It's patently clear not every coach can depart with pomp-and-circumstance style like luminaries John Wooden, Al McGuire, Ray Meyer and Dean Smith when they bowed out. From 1964 to 1975 with Wooden at the helm, UCLA won an NCAA-record 10 national titles, including seven straight from 1967 through 1973. McGuire's goodbye in 1977 with an NCAA title marked Marquette's eighth straight season finishing among the Top 10 in a final wire-service poll. Meyer directed DePaul to a Top 6 finish in a final wire-service poll six times in his final seven seasons from 1978 through 1984. Smith won at least 28 games with North Carolina in four of his final five seasons from 1992-93 through 1996-97.

But those fond farewells are the exception, not the rule, in trying to cope with Father Time. How many school all-time winningest mentors rode off into the sunset donning at least a partial black rather than white hat? How much they may have tarnished their legacy is debatable but hanging around too long probably caused a few of the following celebrated coaches to lose some of their luster:

• Dale Brown, Louisiana State - 23 games below .500 with four straight losing campaigns after 10 consecutive NCAA playoff appearances from 1984 through 1993

• Howard Cann, NYU - 12 games below .500 in last six seasons after six national postseason tournament appearances from 1943 through 1952

• Ben Carnevale, Navy - four non-winning seasons after three national postseason tournament appearances in a four- year span from 1959 through 1962

• Everett Case, North Carolina State - only four games above .500 in final five full seasons after averaging 24.6 victories annually his first 13 campaigns from 1946-47 through 1958-59

• Gale Catlett, West Virginia - 11 games below .500 in last four seasons after 15 national postseason tournament appearances in an 18-year span from 1981 to 1998

• John Chaney, Temple - only 11 games above .500 in final five seasons after 17 NCAA playoff appearances in an 18- year span from 1984 through 2001

• Charlie Coles, Miami (OH) - 12 games below .500 in last five seasons after appearing in 2007 NCAA playoffs

• Denny Crum, Louisville - breakeven mark last four seasons while winless in national postseason play after missing national postseason competition only twice in his first 26 campaigns from 1972 through 1997

• Ed Diddle, Western Kentucky - 5-16 mark each of his final two seasons after only one losing record in his previous 32 campaigns from 1930-31 through 1961-62

• Don Donoher, Dayton - 12 games below .500 with three straight losing campaigns after 15 national postseason tournament appearances in first 22 seasons from 1965 through 1986

• Fred Enke, Arizona - only four games above .500 in final five seasons after averaging more than 20 victories annually in nine campaigns from 1942-43 through 1950-51

• Jack Friel, Washington State - 71 games below .500 in final six seasons after averaging 19 victories annually with only one losing record in 23-year span from 1929-30 through 1951-52

• Taps Gallagher, Niagara - 17 games below .500 in final two seasons after only two losing records in first 29 campaigns from 1931-32 through 1962-63

• Tom Green, Fairleigh Dickinson - 30 games below .500 in final three seasons after appearing in NCAA playoffs and NIT in 2005 and 2006

• Jack Hartman, Kansas State - minimum of 14 defeats each of his last four seasons after 11 consecutive first- division finishes in the Big Eight Conference from 1971-72 through 1981-82

• Don Haskins, Texas-El Paso - three games below .500 in final four years after 16 consecutive winning campaigns (including 12 20-win seasons) from 1979-80 through 1994-95

• Nat Holman, CCNY - losing records each of final five seasons after incurring only two losing marks in first 32 campaigns from 1919-20 through 1950-51

• Hank Iba, Oklahoma State - 33 games below .500 his final five campaigns after last NCAA playoff appearance of 36 -year tenure with the school in 1965

• George Ireland, Loyola (il) - 32 games below .500 his final seven campaigns after third NCAA playoff appearance in five years following 1963 NCAA title

• Doggie Julian, Dartmouth - seven straight losing campaigns with fewer than eight victories after five consecutive first- or second-place finishes in the Ivy League with three NCAA playoff appearances from 1955-56 through 1959- 60

• Gene Keady, Purdue - eight games below .500 his final four seasons after 12 consecutive national postseason tournament appearances from 1990 through 2001

• Piggy Lambert, Purdue - three games below .500 his final four seasons after 23 consecutive winning records from 1920 through 1942

• Speedy Morris, La Salle - 47 games below .500 his final six campaigns from 1995-96 through 2000-01 after appearing in national postseason competition each of his first six seasons from 1987 through 1992

• Jim Phelan, Mount St. Mary's - 50 games below .500 his final four campaigns after reaching the 800-win plateau with an NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in 1999

• Digger Phelps, Notre Dame - five games below .500 his final two campaigns after averaging 21 victories annually in a 17-year span from 1972-73 through 1988-89

• Harry Rabenhorst, Louisiana State - 35 games below .500 in final three seasons after going undefeated in SEC competition in back-to-back years in 1952-53 and 1953-54

• Rick Samuels, Eastern Illinois - 21 games below .500 in final four seasons after appearing in 2001 NCAA playoffs

• Fred Taylor, Ohio State - 20 games below .500 in final three seasons after 11 top three finishes in Big Ten Conference standings in a 14-year span from 1959-60 through 1972-73

• M.K. Turk, Southern Mississippi - nine games below .500 in final five seasons after back-to-back NCAA playoff appearances in 1990 and 1991

• Ralph Underhill, Wright State - nine games below .500 in final three seasons after NCAA playoff appearance in 1993

• Mike Vining, Louisiana-Monroe - 22 games below .500 in final three seasons after sixth 20-win campaign in 2001-02

• Sox Walseth, Colorado - 40 games below .500 in final seven seasons after Big Eight Conference championship in 1969

• Clifford Wells, Tulane - 12 games below .500 in final six seasons after 12 non-losing campaigns from 1945-46 through 1956-57

• Carroll Williams, Santa Clara - eight games below .500 in final three seasons after five 20-win campaigns in seven years from 1982-83 through 1988-89