Denny Douds is a legend in college football, especially at the Division II level as a long-time coach at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.

He’s been head coach there for 45 seasons and spent 53 years overall with the program. But he made a unique exit into retirement late in his team’s game against Ohio Dominican, what resulted in a 48-35 loss. Doud with four seconds remaining called a timeout that he didn’t have, and after some confusion, walked across the field, thanked players, coaches and officials and walked into retirement.

He explained the sequence to WNEP-16.

“I nudged the official in front of me and I said, ‘Sir, we are going to call a fourth timeout. I know that is illegal, you’re going to penalize it, but that’s OK. I am retiring,'” he said. “I called timeout with four seconds to go, blew the whistle, the kids came in and I told them this is what we are doing.”

Douds held the most wins of any active NCAA football coach. Douds was the NCAA active leader in career wins (264) and games coached (471), according to the school. He ranks 16th all-time in NCAA all-division history in career wins, and seventh in games coached.

His 45 seasons as head coach rank tied for seventh in NCAA history. He ranks fifth in years coached at one school, and fourth among head coaches who spent their entire tenure at one institution.

There’s certainly something to be said about going out on your own terms, and that’s exactly what Douds did.

“I told my wife when I leave the stadium, I am going to tip my hat and say, ‘I love ya.’ I tipped my hat, walked to the car, and smiled all the way home,” he said.

Douds still plans to teach and fundraise at East Stroudsburg.

It’s unclear why he chose this game to leave as his team has two games remaining, though they’re both on the road. Associate Head Coach Jimmy Terwillger will act as interim head coach.

As you can see, even the broadcasters calling the game were confused with how the events unfolded.