OGDEN -- Tim Gardner won't be selling recruits on Weber State's basketball program anymore -- he's moving on to a different kind of sales.
The Wildcats assistant coach is trading in his coaching sneakers for the business world, having accepted a position with IT staffing firm Apex Systems Inc.
Gardner said it was a move he began considering after the season ended, his sixth at Weber State under head coach Randy Rahe.
"I've been coaching for 13 years, since I got out of college it's kind of all I've done, and I just felt like for me and my family, being on the road takes its toll," he said. "It's a profession where you've got to be 100 percent invested in what you're doing and I thought as far as balance goes for me and my family, it was time for me to look at something else."
Gardner played high school basketball at Judge Memorial High, college ball at the University of Puget Sound and was the head coach at Juan Diego for seven seasons before becoming an assistant at Weber State.
Gardner, his wife Alli and their two children, Makena and Chloe, moved back to Salt Lake City two weeks ago to be closer to their extended families and his new job.
"My wife and I really enjoyed Ogden and really enjoyed being part of Weber State University," Gardner said.
He'll come back to Ogden to watch some games and support his old program, Gardner said, but don't look for him to be yelling in plays from the stands.
"Nope, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the game," he said. "It will definitely be different -- it won't have the stress of sitting on the bench, that's for sure."
His best memories of the coaching profession will be "being able to be part of a winning program," Gardiner said. "Learning from coach Rahe as far as what it takes to lead a winning program, not just on the court but in the classroom, in the community, with good people, the right type of people. That was probably the most satisfying, just being able to be part of a successful program. Coach Rahe does things the right way and expects everybody in the program to do things the right way. That leads to success."
Building relationships with people is the part of coaching that most directly translates to the sales world, Gardner said.
Rahe praised Gardner's work over six seasons at Weber State.
"Timmy's done a heck of a job. He's done a good job in every area of our program. He made a personal decision and I have nothing but total respect for the decision he made because he's doing it for all the right reasons," Rahe said. "We're really going to miss him because he's been an integral part of our program."
Rahe expects to replace Gardner on the staff within the next week or so.
He will also be replacing Chris Gold, Weber State's director of basketball operations, who took a job as an assistant at Snow College. Gold has done a lot of the behind the scenes work to help Weber State be successful, Rahe said.
"Chris is ready to move on in his career and accept more (coaching) responsibilities," he said. "We're really going to miss Chris."
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