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The first question most had when learning Greg Marsden was retiring after 40 years as Utah's gymnastics coach was "Why?" Why now?
In the end, Marsden didn't really have a clear answer — only that "now" felt right.
"I am as comfortable with this decision now as I was before the season started," said Marsden, speaking at a news conference in the Huntsman Center on Tuesday.
"But it hasn't hit me yet, to be perfectly honest," he later added.
Doubtful it has hit many of those involved in the sport.
Ever since he was hired with a $1,500 coaching stipend in 1975 to start Utah's gymnastics program, Marsden's name has been linked to collegiate gymnastics. Not only because of his success — 1,048 victories and 10 national championships — but also his business acumen and promotional skills.
Where Utah initially just wanted to meet Title IX standards by having a new women's program, Marsden had a different idea. He wanted an empire — and he went and built one.
Through his "Red Rocks" team branding and turning the Utes' home meets into must-see events, Marsden has been at the forefront of changing his sport. Utah — which sold out virtually every home meet over the past two seasons — is now just one many locales where women's gymnastics has gotten a toe-hold and started drawing big crowds. It's also probably no coincidence that women's gymnastics is also a big draw on the Pac-12 Network, trailing only football and men's basketball in the ratings.
Though Marsden's retirement was inevitable at some point — he's 64 — it still made for a sad day at the U. Marsden's gymnasts, his former gymnasts, fans and even athletic director Chris Hill teared up during Marsden's retirement news conference.
"This is personal for me," said Hill, who regards Marsden as one of his closest confidants and friends. "Every day he brought it."
In describing wha Marsden has meant to collegiate gymnastics, Marsden's longtime rival and former Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan declared him the Braveheart of gymnastics.
"I don't know of anyone else out there right now who can hold up the sword and go to battle like Greg," she said.
Eventually, the tiring nature of all those battles played a not insignificant part in his decision to retire, Marsden acknowledged.
His latest efforts to change the formats for the NCAA Championships from 12 to eight teams to be more fan and television friendly were never embraced by enough of his fellow coaches to be successful. Instead of national TV, the championships once again were tape delayed and broadcast live only on the web.
So it was a sad irony to him that two of Utah's greatest performances were seen by very few people last weekend, when the Utes first battled Florida to a tie in the preliminary rounds then lost to the Gators by a mere 0.05 in the Super Six.
If it had been the "Four on the Floor" competition he had imagined, it is very possible the meet would have been televised nationally, and to Marsden it stands as Exhibit 1 why the sport can be so great.
"That is my one regret, not being politically correct enough to get that pushed through," he said of the format. "It has some momentum now because we showed it could be a success [in the Pac-12], so maybe that will change in the future. If I thought I could help in the future I would, but I don't know if I am liked enough to be of much help in those political areas."
Both Marsden and his wife, Megan, said they felt comfortable enough in assistant Tom Farden to make the transition now. Megan Marsden will become co-coach along with Farden, who has been with the program for five years.
Megan Marsden hinted at the news conference she wasn't sure how long she will be involved, and said it could be a year or two or 10 or 12 years.
"Walking into the sunset with Greg is enticing," she said. "But I felt like I could touch a few more lives with our program. We'll have to see how long that lasts."
Listening, Greg Marsden made a joke that his role now would be to call the gym and ask when she was coming home. But the humor had some honesty, too, as the mastermind behind the program said he honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do.
"I don't fish, I don't golf, I don't have any hobbies," he said. "This is my hobby. But at some point you have to deal with that. If my seniors can deal with it, I can. It's scary, but you have to deal with it."
One thing he won't do is hang around the gym. He said he plans to be scarce not only during practices but also at meets, so don't look for him in the front row next season.
"I think my shadow would get in the way of what they need to do," he said of the Utes' new coaching tandem.
Minutes later, as he watched his gymnasts and fans mill around, Marsden reiterated that thought.
"I don't want to be the one hanging around, it needs to be their program now," he said.
Then he slipped out the door.
twitter: @lyawodraska —
Meet the new Ute coaches
Megan Marsden
• Former Utah gymnast who joined her husband on the coaching staff in 1985• Served as assistant coach from 1985-1996
• Served as associate head coach from 1997-2009
• Has served as the co-coach since the 2010 season
• Specializes in coaching the beam
• Graduated from Utah in 1985
Tom Farden
• Hired as Utah's assistant in 2011
• Served as an assistant at Arkansas in 2010
• Coached Southeast Missouri St. from 2004-09 after serving as an assistant (1999-2003)
• Utah's primary uneven bars coach as well as the floor
• Has overseen many of Utah's recruiting efforts in recent years
• Graduated from Southeast Missouri in 2004