When Rick Pitino resigned as coach and president of the Boston Celtics earlier this week, Tim Floyd seemed hesitant to comment on the situation because he doesn’t know Pitino well, he said.
Whatever their relationship, Pitino and Floyd are part of the tight fraternity of basketball coaches and share something similar in their careers. Both have achieved success on the college level yet struggled for victories in the pros.
This is relevant in the wake of Pitino’s departure, along with a published report that Indiana University might be interested in hiring Floyd to replace Mike Davis, who became the Hoosiers’ interim coach when Bob Knight was fired in September.
Might Floyd be tempted to go the way of Pitino, who is almost certain to return to the college game and has already been mentioned in connection with a number of jobs?
Floyd has resolutely maintained that the constant losing he has endured with the Bulls has not swayed his purpose.
He also has been adamant about wanting to finish the four years remaining on his contract. Floyd repeated those sentiments Thursday, but he seemed to leave himself some wiggle room.
“I can’t predict the future,” Floyd said. “I have never thought about being someplace else from the day I took this job. And to me, it’s a complete non-story about what my feelings might be in August because I don’t know where I’ll be in August mentally with everything that we’re going through.
“But I do know this: I like my job. I like working with the people I’m working with–the players, Jerry Reinsdorf, Jerry Krause. Everybody has treated me very fairly. We haven’t won many games, but I remain optimistic.”
Floyd conceded there are certain aspects of his former jobs–all on the college level–that he misses.
“I miss things about being a graduate assistant,” Floyd said. “The job at Idaho, I miss things about. New Orleans was a great, great job. I loved every second of that.
“But the bottom line is, I’m happy here. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being happy someplace. Sure, I’m discouraged with losses. But I’ve got the best job in the country. We’re just not winning games.”
Floyd’s career record with the Bulls stands at 36-130. Floyd recognizes such a record might not allow him to finish the rebuilding job that he wants to complete.
“[Reinsdorf and Krause] might not want me to fulfill it,” Floyd said. “If they don’t want me to fulfill it, I’m going to have to work someplace.”
Krause, as he consistently has in the past, supported Floyd on Thursday.
“Quite frankly, I’m pulling very hard for coach Davis because he’s walked into a very difficult situation,” Floyd said.
“I know about difficult situations when you replace a coach of great stature. He doesn’t need that, nor do I.
“Right now I’m the coach of a great franchise that’s struggling. Me talking about being someplace else isn’t going to help one thing. I’m committed to this situation and trying every day with my coaching staff and players to get it better.”
