On Monday, Dean Hood retired. On Wednesday, he took a new job.
Hood was Murray State's head coach until Monday, when Murray State announced his retirement. The headline on the press release: "Dean Hood Announces Retirement From Coaching."
Forty-eight hours later, Hood joined Kentucky's staff as director of player development.
“My family and I are excited to return to Big Blue Nation,” Hood said. “Being in the coaching profession we have lived in a lot of places, but when our kids are asked ‘where are you from’ they say ‘Lexington’ — it definitely feels like home to our family."
Now, there are two possible explanations here beyond the obvious conclusion that Hood lied his way up the Western Kentucky Parkway from Murray to Lexington.
The first is that Murray State misunderstood or misrepresented Hood's departure. The Racers' press release does not explicitly include the words "I am retiring from coaching" from Hood himself.
This feels highly unlikely. "Earlier this morning, head football coach informed me that he will be departing Murray State and retiring from coaching," AD Nico Yantko said in the press release. The release also includes a quote from Hood himself. It definitely seemed like Hood, Yankto and the Murray State sports information team were all on the same page on Monday.
The second explanation involves the splitting of hairs. Hood is not leaving college athletics, as the public was led to assume Monday, but he will not be coaching student-athletes at Kentucky. His title will be director of player development, and his quote Wednesday makes clear that his role will be mentoring Wildcats off the field.
"Player development has been my passion and life’s work and I am ready to build relationships with our players and help them in multiple areas of their life," Hood said. "Coaching for 37 years has given me a unique perspective into the needs of student-athletes and coaches, who have an incredible demand on their time. I’m looking forward to the journey."
At the end of the day, it's not the biggest deal in the world. Hood wanted to move to a different phase of his career, and it's not as if Murray State would have chained him to his desk if he'd been explicitly clear in his intentions. He didn't "retire" and then take another job in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, where he'd be coaching against Murray State. The Racers and Wildcats do play next season, but the programs are not competitors in any way.
Still, it's not something you see every day, and assuredly led to lots of raised eyebrows down in the southwest portion of the Bluegrass State.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.