Following the public announcement of his sudden resignation Tuesday, former Duke women's tennis coach Jody Hyden explained the reasons for his decision in a Wednesday interview.
Hyden said the decision had been brewing in his mind for a while and had not been made abruptly, despite appearances to the contrary. Rather than wait until the end of the season to move on with his life, he decided that he had to leave immediately.
"It's for personal reasons," Hyden said. "A lot of it has to do with some things that I felt like I needed to do beyond tennis. There are certain things that I believe in and certain things that I feel are important to me professionally and personally. I just felt like I needed to do those things. I felt that I needed to move on with my life and put more emphasis on those things that are important to me-my family and my marriage and my friends.
"I think I put all of those things on the back burner for the past three years. I think I had a bit of a wakeup call. Tennis is a game, and it will always be there, and there will be coaches that come and go and players that come and go, but the people that care the most about you are the people who will always be there.... Originally, I thought that it would be the best thing to wait until the end of the season, but as time went on after my initial decision, I realized that I was just going to be delaying some of the things that I felt were real important to me. I need to go ahead and get on with it."
Hyden said he could not pinpoint the exact date of his decision or when he announced it to the team, but his estimates and earlier reports by some of the players indicate that it was about March 19, not long before the fifth-ranked Blue Devils played at top-ranked Florida. Hyden was in the middle of his third year as coach of the Blue Devils and had amassed a 59-12 record, including two regular season and two Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament titles, as well as a trip to the 1996 NCAA Final Four.
Hyden said he has no definite plans for the near future. He expects to pursue some business opportunities in the coming months and will once again operate the Duke Tennis Camp this summer with men's coach Jay Lapidus. Hyden said he would consider returning to coaching if the situation, both in terms of his life and the job, were right. Still, he has no immediate plans for a return to the coaching ranks.
"It came to the point where I had to make a decision-I was either going to stay in coaching for a lot of years or I was going to get out of coaching," Hyden said. "At this time, I'm out of coaching and I'm going to stay out of coaching, until I feel like I can get my priorities with my family and so on, a little more in order. Then I would like to look into getting into coaching again if the right opportunity comes up."
Despite his hasty departure from the team and the University, Hyden said he harbors no ill will toward either. He wished the team luck as it continues its quest for the national title.
"I appreciate the opportunity that this University has given me, to come in and to coach a very good team and to have the opportunity to work with some great coaches," Hyden said. "I've enjoyed working with some great players, some very talented players. I'm very proud of what I've achieved here and what the teams here have achieved. I feel like it has been a very positive experience for me, and I wish Duke University and the athletic department and all of these players the best of luck."
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