They say you can never go home again. Which is why Jerry Sloan hasn't left home in what seems like seven-hundred years. Make it seven-hundred-and-one. On Wednesday, Sloan signed a deal to return next season as head coach for the Jazz for his 23rd season. He is the longest-tenured active coach in American professional sports. And he is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Perhaps most amazing about his run, though, is not just the length of his career but the fact that, at this point, he really must do it for the love of the game.
At 67, he's more than capable of riding off into the sunset or easing back into a front-office role which would give him a chance at a ring without all of his current headaches and hassles -- such as trying to develop Eric Maynor or dealing with the Carlos Boozer conundrum.
Yet every night, there's Sloan on the sideline -- teaching, coaching, working.
If that's not the real sign of greatness and of passion, then perhaps we need to adjust those words' definitions.




