UCLA coach Murry Bartow does not want interim tag removed

Murry Bartow does not seem to believe the full-time UCLA head coaching job is for him.

UCLA’s season likely came to a close after a loss to Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday. The Bruins finish the season a pathetic 17-16 (as long as they do not accept an invitation to a postseason tournament as expected).

After the game, Bartow said multiple times that he does not want the interim tag removed, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Joey Kaufman.

UCLA interim coach Murray Bartow said “no" at least four times when asked if he’d like the interim tag removed.

"They’ll hire another coach. They’ll hire a very good coach, I’m sure. Hopefully there’s good days ahead for me. I’m sure there are."

— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) March 15, 2019

The Bruins went 10-10 under Bartow, which is actually worse than the 7-6 record under Steve Alford, who was fired this season.

Bartow declining interest in the full-time job is probably a reflection of him knowing he’s not a candidate for the position. The Bruins are expected to pursue a new coach in what has been an extremely quiet search so far.