I Can't Be Mad at Tim Floyd

Tim Floyd stepped down as USC men's basketball coach late Tuesday night. He was embroiled in a storm of allegations against his program, any of which would have probably put his program on probation. Most of the time, when I hear of a coach cheating, I wonder why they did it; mainly because they have to know they're going to get caught at some point. But when I heard about Floyd, I didn't wonder why he did it, I knew why he did it, so I couldn't really be mad at him for it.

Floyd was desperate. And desperation leads to some bad decisions, something to which many of you can attest.

After a blossoming career at Iowa State, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 1997 and school records galore, he went to the NBA and floundered. His 3+ seasons as head coach of the post-Jordan Chicago Bulls were atrocious. As in 49-190 bad. Further damaging his reputation were disagreements with players and management. Suddenly, Floyd was no longer a wunderkind. Somehow (and I do mean somehow because nobody really knows how he got the job), Floyd was chosen to coach the New Orleans Hornets in 2003. Despite a respectable 41-41 record, and a trip to the 2004 playoffs (where his team took the Heat to seven games in the first round), ownership was not satisfied and turned him loose.

So here's Floyd, the once-upon-a-time prodigy, who has now been fired from his last two jobs, and as all coaches know, if that carousel stops spinning and you're not on it, you may never get another chance to ride. However, after the awkward situation with Rick Majerus (that's a whole different post), USC is in need of a savior. Floyd sees this as the perfect opportunity to resurrect his career. A big city, a rich athletic department, and realistic expectations. What's not to like? Unlike that other school in LA, nobody expects you to go undefeated every season, but you still get most of the perks of coaching in the second-largest market in America. Knowing that this was a great situation in which to find himself after everything that happened in the past, Floyd gambled big in order to win big.

And he lost.

According to various reports, Floyd gave $1,000 to OJ Mayo's "representative" in order to lure the talented youngster to his program. Mayo was a "game-changer" of sorts. Everyone wanted him, and he was the type of kid who, even though he would only stay one year, could bring some banners to your school. Yes, his Trojans went to the Sweet 16 in 2007, but Lodrick Stewart, Gabe Pruitt, and Nick Young were all departing, and he couldn't afford to let the program lose momentum. So he did everything he had to do to get OJ Mayo to his school.

Even if it was illegal.

Looking back on it, it was a silly move. Not only because he paid money to get an amateur player, but because Mayo didn't bring any banners to his school. Mayo had a great freshman year, earning First Team All-Pac-10 honors, but the team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Then Mayo left to be drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, and USC was left to fend for itself...saddled with the recently discovered allegations about his recruitment.

Much of the other allegations are similar, including the shady recruitment of Renardo Sidney, a member of the freshman class of 2009, who has some "interesting" connections to a footwear company. USC has since rescinded his scholarship offer, and he has signed with Mississippi State, but the deed remains done. When parlayed with the general unrest within the program (point guard Daniel Hackett, wing DeMar DeRozan, and big man Taj Gibson all have declared for this year's NBA Draft), Floyd knew his time was up. With the NCAA ready to hand down some big sanctions on his program, and a team that will be in shambles next season, there was absolutely nothing down the road that was going to help Floyd rebuild his reputation. So he did what anyone in his "back against the wall" position would do, he stepped down.

And I can't be mad at him.

Floyd knew coming into the USC job that if he didn't live up to expectations, he'd be through. You can only get fired so many times before people stop calling. In order to help his cause, he cheated. Selfish? Yep. Short-sighted? Very much so. Dirty? As all get-out. But there's no confusion on my end, only pity. Tim Floyd will never coach again at a high level, his reputation won't allow for it. Therein lies the irony of the situation; by doing what he thought was the best way to ensure that he could coach for as long as he wanted, he ended up costing himself the opportunity to coach for as long as he wanted. Also ironic is that he never lived up to the success while cheating that he achieved while not cheating. Imagine that.

~~ Lank