Johnson retires as Vandy football coach

NCAA Football Betting Lines

07/14/2010 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vanderbilt head football coach Bobby Johnson announced his abrupt retirement Wednesday after eight years guiding the program.

A press conference was called for Wednesday afternoon at which time Johnson cited only personal reasons for the decision. A shocked Vice Chancellor for University Affairs and Athletics, David Williams II, in turn named assistant head coach Robbie Caldwell to replace Johnson on an interim basis.

"Bobby contacted me and wanted to talk to me. I assumed it was to discuss the upcoming season. He indicated he wanted to retire. I was shocked, We love Bobby Johnson. I am saddened by the fact that Bobby has made this decision, but it is our job as a staff to respect this decision. I tried to talk him out of it, (but) it's a personal decision," Williams said.

The announcement comes inside two months before the September 4 season-opener against Northwestern.

"Vanderbilt has been pretty special in my life and that's the way I want to remember it," Johnson began. "People retire. You start thinking about those things...believe me, there is not a great time for a college football coach to retire."

Johnson guided the Commodores to a lowly 2-10 record last season going without a win in eight SEC matchups. Vanderbilt was 7-6 a year earlier in 2008 and beat Boston College in the Music City Bowl. It was the best season in eight under Johnson's guidance, as the team compiled a 29-66 record over that period.

"This was hard to work out, when to do it, how to do it. Football is not life, it's a way of life. It consumes your life. You only have so many years to live. Some guys will coach with one foot in the coffin. I want to do other things with my life," said Johnson, who added he wasn't in a hurry to do anything quickly.

The 59-year-old Johnson also served as head coach at Furman for eight seasons prior to coming to Nashville, leading the Paladins to three straight Division II playoff appearances culminating with a 12-3 season in 2001 and an appearance in the championship game.

Caldwell was set to begin his ninth year as assistant head coach and offensive line coach for Vanderbilt. He has more than three decades of coaching experience in the collegiate ranks having served stints at North Carolina, NC State and Furman. This is his first head coaching assignment.

"This is a sad day, yet happy time for me, obviously. College football is losing a great man today. He's made a lot of history. We need to make sure we keep our staff intact. This is quite a shock to us," said Caldwell.

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