Steve Alford to Retire From Coaching After 2026-27 Season at Nevada
The short version
- Steve Alford, 61, will retire from coaching after the 2026-27 season at Nevada, ending a 36-year head coaching career.
- He announced the decision early to avoid in-season distractions and wants the year to celebrate his team, not himself.
- Alford won a national championship at Indiana under Bob Knight and later coached at Manchester, Southwest Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico and UCLA.
- Nevada made two NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT run under Alford but has not won a conference title or NCAA tournament game in his tenure.
- In 2024 he became the second DI coach to win at least 100 games at four schools; he now has 137 wins at Nevada.
The 61-year-old Indiana basketball icon and former national champion under Bob Knight will step away after one final year on the Wolf Pack bench.
Steve Alford, the Indiana-born basketball figure whose career stretches from a national championship playing days to a long run on the sideline, announced Thursday that the 2026-27 campaign will be his last as a head coach. Now leading Nevada, the 61-year-old said the choice followed months of family discussion and was not an easy one.
"After 36 years, I feel like this is the right time to step away from the bench," Alford said at a press conference held at Nevada, where athletic director Stephanie Rempe confirmed he will depart when the season concludes. Rempe praised his consistent commitment, noting that his excitement for the upcoming team remains strong and expressing hope the community embraces what he has meant to the university.
Alford chose to make the announcement before the season begins so it would not become a distraction once games start. He described the moment as bittersweet and said his staff and players are already aware, adding that he wants the year to serve as a celebration of the team and its journey rather than of himself.
Basketball has been part of Alford's life for 56 years, beginning at age 5 on a youth squad his father, Sam, organized in Martinsville, where the rims stood 8 feet high and free throws came from 12 feet. He counted 20 years as a player and 36 as a coach, and said losing that day-to-day team structure is what weighs on him most about walking away.
Family drove the timing. Alford and his wife, Tanya, whom he met while attending New Castle High School, reached the decision together over the summer, citing his aging parents and four grandchildren. Across his career he has coached more than 500 players, and he noted that major shifts such as COVID and dramatic rule changes, most of them during his seven Nevada years, tested his rosters.
The Wolf Pack reached the NIT last season and made two NCAA tournament appearances during Alford's tenure. He told his players that a conference title and an NCAA tournament victory remain unclaimed goals, accomplishments his teams achieved at every previous stop, and said the staff believes strongly in the current group.
Alford's formative coaching ideas trace back to Bob Knight, the late Indiana coach who led him to a national title. He credited Knight with instilling preparation habits so thorough that players still carry notebooks today, treating practice like a classroom where punctuality, attentiveness and daily improvement matter.
His head coaching resume includes Manchester, Southwest Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico, UCLA and Nevada. In 2024 he became just the second Division I men's coach to record at least 100 victories at four separate programs: 156 at Iowa, 155 at New Mexico, 124 at UCLA and 102 at Nevada, a total that has since grown to 137 with the Wolf Pack.
Games to watch
