Billy Gillispie's Sad Tale

You knew the hammer would fall on Texas Tech’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie. It was just a matter of time.

The announcement came late Thursday that Gillispie was done.

Was he fired or did he resign? It doesn’t really matter. Gillispie will receive his parting money and the divorce will be final.

Gillispie was in trouble when reports revealed players were not happy with the coach. He was tough, he was demanding. Don’t people remember Bobby Knight coached at Texas Tech?

But Gillispie’s major sin apparently was practicing over the limit the NCAA allows. These athletes have a life beyond basketball.

Gillispie was on medical leave for stress/high blood pressure. The condition does happen in the coaching world. But this was a different case. Gillispie coaching style and practices were on trial. In this days of the Internet world, that means the coach is in serious trouble.

People will say Texas Tech should have seen this coming. Gillipie’s coaching career starting to head downward when he lasted only two years at Kentucky. But before that, Gillispie helped turn around programs at Texas-El Paso and Texas A&M. The Red Raiders were hoping for the old Gillispie, not the previous one.

Will Gillispie rebound? If he does, look for the coach to land a job with a smaller program. No matter what the cause, he needs to restore his reputation and coaching ability.

As for the specific basketball job at Texas Tech, that’s a blog for another day.

UTEP's Tim Floyd Puts on a Show

Tim Floyd is one passionate basketball coach. I observed that when he was directing the Iowa State program. Floyd is also an outstanding coach.

But the emotions hindered Floyd the other night when his University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) club played at East Carolina.

Floyd was tossed out of the game and police had to step in to control the situation. Floyd was out of control.

Pink Floyd, as I like to call him after the musical group, enjoys removing his jacket during the games. Well, he made sure the officials saw him do the gesture in the East Carolina game. I’m guessing the officials weren’t pleased. As they say, it was only a matter of time before Floyd was removed.

Pink Floyd forgot the rule of officiating. When in doubt, favor the home team. When in doubt again, remember the home team. Remember that there are more home fans at the game than visiting fans. Chances of home fans physically hurting you are greater than visiting fans.

I predict Floyd will become a model coaching citizen the rest of the year. Conference USA told him (in stronger language) to be nice. Maybe he should start by keeping his jacket on during the games.