McKay leaves Liberty to become U.Va. assistant

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Have you lost your mind?

Maybe Ritchie McKay hasn't heard those exact words, but he knows the decision he made last week puzzled many of his peers.

"In our profession, not many people go from head coach to assistant voluntarily," McKay said.

Yet that's exactly what McKay, 43, has done. He left Liberty University, where he went 39-28 in two seasons as head man, for the University of Virginia, where he'll be associate head coach under his friend Tony Bennett.

"Some people have reacted like, 'Why would he do that? He's already a head coach,'" McKay said Sunday night by phone from the Detroit airport.

"We won 23 games [at Liberty this season], so I wasn't running from anything. Some thought it was because Seth Curry left. Others thought it was just because I like to move."

Indeed, McKay has yet to put down deep roots at a school. In compiling a 204-186 record in 13 seasons as a Division I head coach, he's made five stops -- Portland State, Colorado State, Oregon State, New Mexico and Liberty. Still, McKay insists he loved Liberty and would have remained there if U.Va. were not such a special opportunity.

"I know who I am, and I know how my wife and I process things," McKay said. "We just felt it was right. Tony's a great friend and a tremendous coach, and I believe in him wholeheartedly. I wanted to come and serve him and see if we couldn't get the University of Virginia winning at a high level."

Bennett left Washington State last week to take the U.Va. job. His enthusiasm was palpable Wednesday when he discussed the possibility of hiring McKay.

"I think I may have hit a home run," Bennett said.

McKay and Bennett, both devout Christians, met when McKay was an assistant coach at Bradley and Bennett a star point guard at Wisconsin-Green Bay. Bennett's coach was his father, Dick, whose fans included McKay's boss at Bradley, Jim Molinari.

In 1992, Orlando McKay, a wide receiver from the University of Washington, was drafted by the Packers. Later that year, Ritchie McKay recalled, he made plans to visit Green Bay to watch his brother in training camp. Could you spare 15 or 20 minutes to answer a few questions? McKay asked Dick Bennett.

"He spent about two hours with me and would have spent more if I didn't run out of questions," McKay said. "I just saw in Tony's dad the most humble, authentic, genuine man that I think I'd been around since my own father."

Dick Bennett became a mentor to McKay, who subsequently grew close with Tony Bennett. "I think we just gained a mutual respect for one another," McKay said.

In the Big South Conference this season, only one team averaged more points per game than Liberty (75.5) -- Virginia Military Institute, which led the nation at 93.8. McKay says he's confident U.Va. will be more productive offensively under Bennett than many believe.

"If you watched his teams at Washington State play, this year they were a little less potent offensively, but the reason why sometimes their scores are low is because they really guard you," McKay said, "and if you take quick shots against them, you're in trouble."

The WSU teams that featured Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver won big, and they "didn't play like [Bennett is] rumored to coach," McKay said.

McKay said he and Bennett have talked often about the keys to succeeding in the ACC.

"I think a couple things that we agree on are A, you've got to guard. You've got to be tremendously sound defensively," McKay said. "But B, you've got to have scorers that can make plays, because you're playing against the highest level of athlete, at least at our level.."

Yesterday was McKay's first day in Charlottesville as a U.Va. employee, but he knows his way around John Paul Jones Arena. Liberty stunned Virginia 86-82 there Nov. 25.

McKay noted with a laugh that he's 1-0 at the JPJ. "I hope we stay undefeated."

Contact Jeff White at (804) 649-6838 or jwhite@timesdispatch.com.