Boom! Tim Floyd, our Tim told the world that he had had enough. He had wanted to coach his last game at UTEP and he just had. His legacy at UTEP will be debated from now on until he fades into the fog of time.
I was at the press conference when he came home to the family and home he left behind so many years before. Mary Haskins sat in the front row and he knelt at her knee and held her hands as a long time gone son might. He said he would do his best to return UTEP to the powerful program it had once been. He was Haskin’s boy and he had already coached his way to the NBA. He said he would do his best to return UTEP to a basketball power on the national stage.
If anyone could do it, it was our boy, Tim. But, he couldn’t. In his announcement of his retirement, it was clear that he had strong feelings about it. It certainly wasn’t the way he wanted to go out. This was not some carpet-bagger coach leaving for the next town, just ahead of the trouble he was leaving behind. It was the adopted son of the father of basketball at UTEP. He had come to revive his dad’s failing business and it had instead failed even more and took much out of him in the process. And then, when family wants him gone, and are saying so after years of putting his heart and soul into a labor of love, it seemed to crush the man who had stood up to the world over the years to beat the odds.
So, this one saddens me to the bone. He wanted what I want and for the same reason. For a love of the school and to honor The Bear. The thing is, his mentor and more, Don Haskins would be proud of him and know that Tim tried as hard as he could. They both know that things have changed and they have seen it and know that it is part of the way things work. That understanding was reflected in Tim’s good-bye;
“I’ve coached for 42 years and I love this school,” Floyd said. “My father played here. Nobody wants to win here more than I do. I’ve coached at this university for 16 years and I think it’s time for somebody else to have the opportunity to have the joy that I’ve had, the agony that I’ve had, the acclaim that I’ve had, and the heartbreak that I’ve had in my career.”
No retirement party, and fond farewell. “I’m done”, said Tim. That folks is just plain wrong! Throwing a family member for coming up short of incredible expectations is just low rent and classless. I have absolutely no idea of what the Hell is going on behind the scenes, but this looks horrible and to tell you the truth, nobody is looking good here. Fans are all about results and it is a business and all, but Tim is family and some of the impatience shown perhaps was the kind of stuff usually reserved for mercenaries. Each fan will have to decide for themselves if they were fair. But, I will say it again, I am saddened at the way this all fell out.
Time to get ready for the damned Aggies! Go Miners! Win this one for our boy, Tim!