Floyd Contract

If I were MG, I'd tell Floyd to finish 3rd or higher and we'll talk. What a joke.

I thought he was heading into year 5 of a 5 year deal per LA Times. Are you sure about this Scotty? What is Floyd's contract exactly?

This reminds me of the time that I asked an old girlfriend to marry me on the way back from sleeping with her secretary. Maybe Garrett will say yes to Floyd.

"I listened, I heard what they had to say," Floyd said. "But there is something really special about building your own traditions and your own history."

Translation: "They told me Budlinger and Hill are good as gone and Wise has one foot out the door, no recruits of note are coming and in this economic environment they can't pay that much more than SC. Besides, recruiting from Tucson can be a bitch, especially because you have to connect through Phoenix," Floyd said. "But there is something special about being at a place where more fans are interested in the plight of soon-to-be red-shirted freshman quarterback, and as long as I beat UCLA once a year and sneak into the tournament as a 10th seed they think I'm God. Besides, I'm no longer thought of as the worst coach in NBA history but instead as better-than-average college coach with legal but questionable recruiting practices. So I've got that going for me."

Desmo, give it a rest. He wanted to explore his market value after taking USC to places in the basketball where it has never gone (3 straight tourney appearances and 20+ win seasons). If MG extends his contract, then all sides will be happy....except apparently you.

DFW - There is definetly a conflict between AP/Scott Wolf and LA Times regarding length of time left on his deal. Floyd has spent four years at USC. If he had a five-year contract, then he would have one year left, UNLESS there was a contract extension that was not made public. It would make sense for Floyd to explore other options if he has one year remaining. No coach likes to be in the final year of a contract, as he may be viewed as a lame duck.

I just got a return e-mail from Chris Foster from the LA Times, who initially wrote that this was Floyd's last contract year. When I sent Foster the AP article, he replied that "apparently there was a contract extension they did not tell anyone about...."

I've been a supporter Floyd. And not sure why Desmo has such a hard-on for the guy (reminds of me a lame poster who used to visit the wearesc site to harp about the mythical "Floyd Rule"). But that stuff Desmo wrote was pretty amusing. Don't know if Desmo is a USC fan, but if he is, I'd hope he would rather have a good USC program than be right about Floyd (assuming the two aren't mutually exclusive).

The question is why didn't Timmey talk to MG BEFORE he turned down Arizona?!?

Arizona, while they've got history, has a really big uphill battle to climb. They need a TOP name coach that can recruit - anything else will keep them mediocre. Looks like UCLA and UW will continue to be the top teams with Cal on the rise and usc flirting from time to time. Oregon's done till Kent's tossed.

Floyd has created buzz since he's been at usc - no doubt about it.

As a Bruin fan, I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Actually, I'm a huge SC fan. I'm an alumni who's helped raise money for the school, but not the athletic department. That's a different universe altogether.

I have season tickets for football. I suffered through Larry Smith, JRII and Paul Hackett. Actually, I didn't suffer. I love going to SC football games. Is there a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon in the fall?

I'm not a Founder but I go to as many B-Ball games as I can. I have met Tim Floyd. At a fundraiser in 2006. I introduced myself as a friend of someone who heckled him mercilessly in Chicago. He laughed and asked "Which of the 20,000 nightly?" When I was more specific (it was someone within the Bulls Organization), he recoiled a bit. The Huckleberry Hound schtick was gone. I asked him if he keeps in touch with Jerry Krause, which is a fair question since he did go on fishing trips and went to Krause's daughter's wedding. Tim wasn't thrilled with that question, but politely deflected it. I did ask him how long it would take him at SC to salvage his reputation. It was a snarky question but a fair one. Both he and I knew why he was at USC, and it's not to be a Trojan for Life. He has no West Coast/Southern California family, connections, or history. I don't know if he likes living in LA or not. He definitely didn't like that question.

Tim Floyd doesn't give a rat's ass about Trojan traditions, Trojan pride, Trojan history, Trojan importance in Southern California. Tim Floyd cares about basketball and his career, pure and simple. He'd coach on Mars, if it were prestigious enough for his ego. Tim Floyd is Larry Brown with a less impressive resume. Tim Floyd is what a Chicago Bulls assistant coach once told me was called a basketball lifer (a Phil Jackson Bulls assistant, and he wasn't describing Floyd, just a personality type).

Not that there is anything wrong with being a Lifer. Rick Pitino is a Lifer, so is John Calipari, so is Bill Self, so is Nick Saban. But so were Jerry Tarkanian and Jim Harrick and Paul Hackett. They are restless and driven and single minded and consumed by the game in a way that Phil Jackson or Pete Carroll or John Wooden are not in that it seems to me that Jackson and Carroll and Wooden seem to have managed to possess and retain interests and a personality outside the game.

Lifers are often winners. But I maintain that a restless, driven lifer is not what USC basketball needs. You make deals with the devil when you hire lifers, and if your lucky you get a Rick Pitino or a Larry Brown, if you are not, you get Jim Harrick. But the problem with lifers is that they build for themselves, not for the institution. When the going is good, they're great, but when the goes gets bad, they are devastating. Lifers do not go gentle into the good night.

USC needs a young, dynamic coach who can generate excitement and passion and grow along with the program, a Mark Few or a Craig Robinson or a Jamie Dixon type, not an middle-aged Lifer who's primary interest is in repairing his reputation (and in fairness, the Bulls did eff him over in ways no other NBA coach or organization will ever allow. In fact, my friend at the Bulls once told me that many agents NBA coaching candidates make demands from teams so that their clients do not come into a "Tim Floyd situation").

That Tim Floyd is interested in building a program and history, no matter how sincerely spoken, is B.S. The flirtation with the Indiana job last year, UofA and Memphis this year proves that even though Floyd's head is saying "Build. Persevere. Be Loyal." his gut is saying "Oooo, that looks like a better job! Mmmmmm, sausages!" A person interested in building a program and history isn't going to recruit Lil Romeo to land DeMar DeRozan, give new meaning the term "package deals," let Rodney Guillory roam free in the locker room. Any co-incidence that the Outside the Lines Package-Deal Show featured Tim Floyd and Bill Self and John Calipari? Nope.

So that's my criticism with Floyd. He'd be a perfect coach for a Louisville, or a Memphis, programs that really don't care how you win, as long as you do and you don't get caught, though he wouldn't last that long because, ultimately, he's more Billy Gillespie than John Calipari. They don't care if you build a tradition or a history, they just need to maximize revenue. Maybe it's because of my involvement with the school, and maybe it's because I am not a legacy or a freeway fan, but I actually believe that USC can and should have done better with the hire.

I feel that once Arizona and Washington State fill their head coach vacancies, I truly feel Garrett will fire Floyd and hire who he really wants. This has not been a marriage from wonderfulness, and as volcanic as MG can be, don't be surprised if he gets very vindictive, and very fast.
Stay tuned - we have not heard anything close to the final words on this shotgun marriage.
And if DeRozan and Gibson go to the NBA, all the more reason to get a new coach with his own recruiting connections.

Desmo.......what a blow hard. Do you really think anyone would read your manifesto?

@ Trojan Conquest...

Like it or not there is some truth in Desmo's "Manifesto".

I don't agree with everything that Desmo has written on Floyd, here or elsewhere, but he is right in at least one area. In this day in age no coach is loyal to anyone but themselves.

Don't kid yourself...this wall about money and Floyd was looking to leverage his accomplishments into a bigger payday. These guys aren't benevolent but for themselves. He took a look at the market and made some noise to get what he wanted.

Floyd has certainly increased the stature of USC basketball but you take the good with the bad. I won't blame him for Mayo coming to USC but I will blame him for giving Guillory access when it was well known Guillory was a bad apple. The "package deals" may not be against the rules but they sure don't look right.

Floyd may be sincere today in his wanting to stay but 48 hours ago there were a lot of people scratching their heads wondering why he was considering leaving, especially after he told his players to stay. These guys have huge egos and when a multi-million dollar state of the art facility is only half full it makes you wonder just what the school is doing to market their product. Mike Garrett isn't the easiest person to deal with, I know that first hand, so it would not surprise me if there was some friction between him and Floyd but there has to be a way to get more butts in the seats at the Galen Center. Floyd has done his part, even if during the season a lot of fans were pissed with the results.

Floyd has done something that no other coach has done at USC and he used it as a bargaining chip.

A fool and his money are lucky to get together in the first place but there are smart fools out there and Floyd did what he had to do to get what he wanted.

I am happy he stayed but I would not have shed a tear had he left.

Hopefully the new Pac-10 commissioner will improve the Pac-10's visibility bringing more dollars into the kitty thus taking the pressure off to pay these guys more.

Trojan Rick,

I feel that you are correct that MG is waiting till WSU and Zona fills positions, and then wammo go back to the buyou. Theus or Cam Dollar or some up in coming asst. this would be the first time for that at SC