The grind of chasing a championship has left its mark — mentally, physically, and emotionally — on College of Saint Benilde head coach Charles Tiu.
After yet another heartbreaking exit from the NCAA seniors’ basketball tournament, Tiu laid bare the toll of steering the Blazers back to the league’s summit.
Fresh off a gut-wrenching loss to modern-day rival San Beda University that ended Benilde’s title bid, Tiu admitted the mental exhaustion of coaching has reached its peak since he took over the program in 2021 — even with one final year remaining on his contract with the school and Strong Group Athletics.
“That’s tough. You know, to be honest, I still want to stay with Benilde. Obviously, job’s not done for us. But if I’m being completely honest, it’s always a grind for me,” Tiu admitted to reporters Sunday afternoon at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“There are days where you’re like, man, do I still want to do this? It’s tiring also. It’s a long season.”
Beyond the weight of ending a championship drought that stretches back to 2000, the 36-year-old coach revealed he is considering new opportunities, both in business and potentially as a head coach in another league.
But before exploring those options, Tiu’s ultimate goal remains clear: bringing a championship home for the Blazers. With key players Allen Liwag, Justine Sanchez, and Ian Torres reportedly returning for one more season, that dream is far from over.
“I’ll have to discuss it with my family. There’s also pressure to just focus on the business side. There’s also been some other teams from other leagues calling and opportunities there, but obviously, my heart is with Benilde,” Tiu said.
“One of my goals was just to leave Benilde with a championship. Obviously, this is another season that came up short but we’ll have to see. I still feel that I want to help these players and I just don’t want if we leave that the players will not be prepared for it financially or whatever it may be. I mean, the goal has always been to help these guys.”
Tiu’s determination to return for his final contract year was fueled by the crushing Final Four loss to the Red Lions in NCAA Season 101.
Despite leading by as many as 11 points, the Blazers couldn’t hold off the late-game heroics of Yukien Andrada and Janti Miller.
The fifth-year head coach took full accountability for the loss, emphasizing that failure is a learning opportunity — lessons he intends to carry forward.
“I told the team that’s on me. It’s my fault that I have to get you guys to be a bit better collectively as a team and we just fell short so, you know, it’s tough. Again, it was a challenging year. A lot of things happened, from injuries to sicknesses to in-house fights or whatever it is. We’ve been through a lot but that’s basketball, you know, it just wasn’t meant for us to win, but we fought and I think that’s really what matters to us,” Tiu said.
“Myself too, as a coach, I have to do a better job still. At the end of the day, the buck still falls on me so until we win, that’s still my responsibility and I still feel that we have to improve as a program, as a coach, as a team and that’s really where it is. At the end of the day, we fell short and that means we have a lot more to improve on.”
