Rick Barnes addresses when he will likely retire from Tennessee coaching job

There’s no doubt that Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is one of the greatest coaches in the country. Barnes has been coaching for 38 years, dating back to when he took the George Mason job in 1987. Since then, he’s made stops at Providence (1988-94), Clemson (1994-98), Texas (1998-2015) and Tennessee (2015-present).

Since Barnes took over as head coach at Tennessee in 2015, he’s led the program to two Elite Eights, two Sweet Sixteen’s and a 232-109 (.680) record. He’ll return for his 11th season at the helm in 2025-26 amid rumors that he would be retiring this offseason.

The former Naismith Coach of the Year joined college basketball analyst Andy Katz on Friday. There, he discussed his retirement timeline.

“If you want to be transparent, I think that God has a plan for all of us,” Barnes said. “I will say this, there is no doubt in my mind that God’s gonna make it perfectly clear to me when my time is done. I think I’ve got the best situation of any coach in America. University of Tennessee right now has got the best leadership from the very top all the way down. I think I’m working for the best athletic director in the country. They’ve done everything they can to help us here. I think this is still one of the most underrated programs in the country. I think this is as orange-blooded as blue-blooded can be.”

Rick Barnes will know when it’s time for him to retire and now is NOT the time 😤

🎧: https://t.co/ErJdS5wA74 pic.twitter.com/TmpfKLQdmw

— Andy Katz (@SidelinewithAK) July 18, 2025

Barnes reveals he still gets excited for practice

“I’m still excited about practice. I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday’s practice. I love the group of guys that we have. But I’ll tell you what I tell my coaches, I want to make sure that we get good enough players that we can compete every year because this University, state and fanbase deserves that. If we aren’t doing that, I think that would be my answer of when it’s time to get away from it.”

Tennessee is set up nicely to compete once again in the SEC, a conference it has won twice since Barnes took over in 2015. The Volunteers hauled in the No. 31 ranked transfer portal class and the No. 15 ranked high school recruiting class this offseason, headlined by small forward Nate Ament (No. 4 ranked player in class of 2025). Barnes’ team comes in at No. 12 in On3’s Way-too-early College basketball top 25.