Floyd fallout: Just who would want USC job?
Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 12:00 PM
Filed Under:
Pac-10, USC allegations
The predictable consensus on Tim Floyd’s resignation? He fell on the basketball sword to save USC’s football program.
That’s what happens when a one-paragraph letter lands on the athletic director’s desk and is accepted without a second thought. All that was missing was a return letter. “Thanks Tim, and enjoy the time off, Pete.”
The school – reeling from allegations of payments to O.J. Mayo from Floyd and the ongoing investigation of more alleged payments to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush – certainly hopes the resignation carries some weight with the NCAA.
An NCAA expert told the L.A. Times that Floyd’s move will serve as a “mitigating factor” when the organization considers penalties. “But how much it will help, I don’t know.”
Jim Mcisaac/Getty |
Tim Floyd
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Fair enough. Maybe the NCAA will be unimpressed. But the public perception is just as valuable. Michael Rosenberg of FOXSports.com writes that somebody had to pay for USC’s transgressions. And that somebody better not have been Pete Carroll. (To that extent, Rosenberg takes some of the blame off of Floyd, which doesn’t make much sense to me. Forget Reggie Bush for a second; Floyd had plenty of worries of his own, namely taking a chance with a one-and-done player.)
Just who is to blame for it all? Truzenzuzex at A Sea of Blue posted a thoughtful series of links and analysis that covers the coaches, players, draft rules and more. It’s far more complicated than just one-and-done players or coaches who bend the rules. One resignation is just a symptom of the larger problem and doesn’t do much to solve anything.
Still, the resignation does raise several questions, most of which Andy Katz covers:
Does Floyd get a settlement? How much did USC push Floyd along? And if Floyd was innocent of paying Mayo, why not wait to see if any of the allegations turned into NCAA charges?
Maybe Floyd just didn’t have the heart to fight it out. With recruits bailing on him right and left, I can’t really blame him. Why not take the millions earned from NBA stints with the Bulls and Hornets and head back to Mississippi and try to forget this whole thing?
Because now, the other consensus is that USC’s hoops program will be in shambles. For a long, long time.
A long time.
And if it’s going to be a wreck, just who will take that gig? Who wants to clean up this mess when recruits are bailing and the NCAA hasn’t even leveled any penalties (if any are coming). Tom Crean took over an Indiana program last year that was rife with issues, but the Hoosiers are one of the nation’s traditional powers and are committed to rebuilding. USC basketball couldn’t be further from that.
So who’s crazy enough to take the reins?
If Jeff Van Gundy is to be believed, it ain’t him.
He didn’t deny that the school had contacted him, but he’s not talking.
“I'm not going to say that,” he told the L.A. Daily News. “Tim Floyd is a helluva guy and a helluva friend. That's my quote.”
Other candidates include Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon (whom the school has already contacted, but seems like a longshot), ex-New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus and Southern Mississippi’s Larry Eustachy, who’s friends with Floyd.
More considerations? Long Beach State’s Dan Monson (who already cleaned up one mess at Minnesota), Oregon State’s Craig Robinson, Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg or ex-coaches Billy Gillispie and Bob Knight (no way, no how, but his name’s out there).
And, via USA Today, maybe even Rick Pitino.
But would he be a glutton for punishment twice? Sure, he did his magic at Kentucky, but that was Kentucky. USC football is the equivalent to Kentucky basketball, not USC hoops.
And at this rate, it never will be.
