Following 15 years in the gym, the long hours finally caught up to Ernie Pintor.
The Seton Catholic boys basketball coach resigned on Tuesday after the juggling act between coaching and his full-time job became too much.
Pintor has worked at Boeing for the past 30 years and has been on the Seton sidelines for half that time, the past six as the varsity coach.
His schedule during the basketball season had him up at 5 a.m. each day for work and leaving Seton at around 10 p.m. He talked about a possible exit strategy with athletic director Bob Bitler during his annual review, and made the decision on Tuesday to step down.
He met with his players on Thursday at 1 p.m. to deliver the news.
"It was tough telling the boys," Pintor said. "I was choking up. The seniors didn't need to be there because they're graduating, but they all showed up. That meant a lot to me."
The Sentinels went 8-21 last season and did not qualify for the Division II postseason.
Pintor was 104-72 in his six seasons at the helm. Seton won 20 games or more three times in his tenure and made the state quarterfinals three times, losing to eventual state champions Greenway and Santa Rita in the last two playoff appearances.
Pintor said he never missed a game or a practice in his 15 years and his passion for coaching is still present. He said catching on in a lesser coaching capacity somewhere down the road is a possibility.
"I would love to consider that," Pintor said. "I love coaching basketball. I really do."
Reach Kyle Odegard at (480) 898-6834 or kodegard@evtrib.com. Follow his blog at http://blogs.evtrib.com/varsityxtra, or find him on Twitter @Kyle_Odegard.
