Rutgers Basketball

Rutgers president Robert W. Barchi needs a life coach. Actually, a PR coach would help too. And maybe a good parent as a consultant who understands when and how to discipline his children. 

For months, the school and Barchi have failed. The athletic department is Barchi's child, and he's leading that kid to a life of embarrassment. He's also practicing bad business, and that's why his job could be on the line too.

Once it seems like this Rutgers story will finally just go away, it only gets worse. And it's all the university's doing.

The latest is the New York Times' story on new athletic director Julie Hermann's mishandling of a sex discrimination lawsuit in 2008. That followed a report from The Star-Ledger of Newark that Hermann had a history as a coach of going all Mike Rice on her players. The Star-Ledger reported that when Hermann was the volleyball coach at Tennessee, her team wrote in a letter that she called them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."

This all followed the mishandling of the Rice situation, which should have been simple. Someone hands you a tape of a coach hurling basketballs at players' heads, you're probably going to end up firing that coach. Athletic director Tom Pernetti didn't.

When it went public, Rice was fired. Pernetti was forced to resign.

Then Rutgers hired former player Eddie Jordan to be the new coach. That looked like a good move, only it would have been smart to do some fact-checking before authoring Jordan's bio. This Deadspin report, revealing that Jordan never graduated college, just put more egg on the Scarlet Knights' faces.

Then this Hermann mess.

I could give Barchi a pass on everything until Hermann. The Rice deal was botched, but it was made right when the president of Rutgers saw the video. The Jordan blunder? Could have been avoided with some thorough research, but even that was eventually going to blow over. That's if Rutgers got the hiring of the athletic director correct.

What they found was Hermann, an administrator with a questionable past. Her hiring, which happened 40 days after Pernetti was fired, reeks of impatience and a lack of due diligence. According to an Asbury Park Press investigation, Rutgers paid $70,000 to Parker Executive Search for a background check. This is what happens when you let someone else do your homework. 

It's understandable that the university wanted to get a new AD in quickly to show the program was moving on, but there was no need to move this fast. The basketball coach was already hired. It's May. If there's a slow season for college athletics, it's this time of year.

Rutgers needed to hire an athletic director with a clean past. Squeaky clean. School officials needed to do their homework. It's not enough to simply depend on the word of an outside search firm.

If anything questionable had come up, like the sex discrimination case at Louisville, that candidate should have been eliminated.

That might not be fair to everyone. Sometimes scandals in athletics are the result of players or administrators blowing something out of proportion that is really nothing. Read ESPN.com's story about Todd Hoffner for a dose of that.

Hoffner, the former Minnesota State Mankato football coach, took an innocent video of his children. An administrator overreacted. His life is ruined now.

Even if Hermann has a sob story, even if she deserved to be in a position of power, it wasn't at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights did not need any skeletons in the closet.

Now, Barchi has put himself in a lose-lose situation. He has donors to think about. Ultimately, athletic departments are judged by wins and losses, but the donors who spend money on the facilities and pay the coaches who get the athletes to win the games care about these issues. And they are embarrassed. Embarrassed donors are rarely generous donors.

Barchi has two choices. He can try to get rid of Hermann for nothing she actually did wrong in her new position, which is sure to create lawsuits. Or Rutgers can stick with her and deal with the bad press and hope nothing else comes out.

The way this story is going, something else will probably come out. Because the media, as they should, is going to keep digging until someone with some sense and foresight starts making the decisions.

When Rutgers University became aware that newly hired men's basketball coach Eddie Jordan never obtained a college degree, and did not ask for his resignation, did it make a statement about its hiring standards?

Will it stand behind its decision and hire all university employees, including the highest officials, irrespective of degrees they may or may not hold?

Rutgers basketball fans know the credentials Jordan brings: He led Rutgers to its only Final Four appearance, won an NBA championship as a Laker and won more than 250 NBA games when he served as head coach of three of its teams.

The man is more than qualified!  Although he doesn't have a college degree, he's more qualified than almost any candidate, even those possessing PhDs in education or bachelor's degrees in general studies.

So do we say hooray for Rutgers for redefining hiring standards, or do we say this is madness at a school that prides itself in strong academics and one of the highest yearly APR rating in the NCAA?

Rutgers became aware Jordan didn't obtain his degree 10 days after they hired him on April 18th.  Embarrassing was the only word to describe what Rutgers alumni, its students and its fans were feeling. In 10 short days, they went from feelings of inspiration to feelings of embarrassment when finding out how incompetent Rutgers could be in the vetting process.

CBS sports has made it clear that they believe Jordan has never claimed he was a graduate.  They went on to say "it appears Jordan's biggest crime, if we can call it that, is that he failed to volunteer that he's not a Rutgers graduate."

Well, this in fact is a huge problem for Rutgers and Jordan.  Should a head basketball coach, someone who might soon become the most visible employee at the university, have used better judgement and been more forthright by informing the interview committee he did not hold a degree?

Should a man of Jordan's stature have even thought he could have become head basketball coach at a major university without one?

So while the nation focuses on the fiasco at Rutgers over its AD Julie Hermann, Jordan continues recruiting new talent and hiring assistant coaches.

And what happens now?  Does Rutgers embrace the situation? Or does it say "wait, the man needs a degree"?

Does it even know if Jordan has stated he intends to finish his degree?

This may not be over.  Since Rutgers president Robert Barchi may not be around too much longer, there's no telling what a new president will do about Jordan's hire.

And the folks who may be most vulnerable in all of this are the players. They've been led to believe that Jordan will be their coach.

Julie Hermann, the latest athletic director at beleaguered Rutgers University, may have a dark past of her own. 

According to Craig Wolff of The Star-Ledger, Hermann “ruled through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse” during her tenure as head coach of the University of Tennessee women’s volleyball program.

Hermann's methods were apparently grating enough to cause all 15 players on the Lady Vols team to write a letter, alleging that (per Wolff): “The mental cruelty that we as a team have suffered is unbearable” and that the coach demeaned them as: "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."

After receiving the letter—which concluded with a statement regarding the players' unanimous decision to call the issues irreconcilable and supposedly had support from the AD—Hermann resigned and went on to work as an assistant AD at the University of Louisville.

She had held that position for the past 16 years, until Rutgers came calling.

Hermann has denied these allegations per Craig Wolff of The Star-Ledger.

Hermann said she never called players "whores" and she is unsure why her turmoil with the team in the 1990s is coming up now.

"I don't know what their motivation is 17 years later," Hermann said, answering questions from four reporters in the 10-minute conference call.

"Am I an intense coach? I'm absolutely an intense coach as many coaches are. But there is a big canyon between being super-intense and abuse. And this was not an abusive environment for these women," Hermann said.

Hermann also told ESPN's Brett McMurphy that her job is safe despite the allegations against her.

Julie Hermann tells @ESPN Rutgers Prez Robert Barchi assured her she would remain AD despite past allegations

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 27, 2013

Rutgers also released a statement in support of Hermann on the school's website.

Julie Hermann’s appointment as the next director of intercollegiate athletics at Rutgers University followed a rigorous and consultative selection process to ensure we had the best person for the position. We look forward to her joining Rutgers and leading the university through the coming transition into the Big Ten.  

Julie was one of 63 individuals initially considered by the search committee and she swiftly stood out as a leading candidate. She ultimately emerged from a vetting process that involved multiple stakeholders from across the university and leaders in the sports community around the country. The search was coordinated by an experienced executive search firm and included a thorough background check conducted by one of the world’s leading private security firms. 

Rutgers was deliberative at every stage of this process. Over the course of the search, Julie's record established her as a proven leader in athletics administration with a strong commitment to academic success as well as athletic excellence, and a strong commitment to the well-being of student athletes. Since the announcement of her selection, some media reports have focused on complaints about aspects of her early career. Looking at Julie’s entire record of accomplishment, which is stellar, we remain confident that we have selected an individual who will work in the best interests of all of our student athletes, our athletics teams and the university. 

In the wake of the Mike Rice scandal that shook RU basketball and athletics to the core, the university hired Hermann to help repair its tarnished image. 

Rice was shown on tape throwing basketballs at his players and abusing them both physically and verbally, which cost him his job. The incident also caused former AD Tim Pernetti to resign and other figures on campus to leave their posts.

As per Wolff, Hermann made her players wear their workout clothes inside out in public, barred them from showering or eating and attempted to turn them against one another via gossip and other demeaning tactics.

Hermann denies the allegations, replying to The Star-Ledger with a simple, “Wow,” after the letter was read to her via phone.

She went on to say, "I never heard any of this, never name-calling them or anything like that whatsoever…None of this is familiar to me."

The 49-year-old AD hasn’t even assumed full duties for her new job yet, as she’s expected to take over at Rutgers on June 17.

It remains to be seen what the school has to say and what its plan of action will be concerning these latest claims about Hermann’s past.

The Internet sniffs out liars and spits them out. Sorry, Eddie Jordan. You should have known. 

Jordan and Rutgers were made to look really silly on Friday when Deadspin's John Koblin reported that the school's new basketball coach, thought to be an alum of the class of 1977, never graduated from Rutgers. 

According to a verification document sent to Koblin by Rutgers' registrar's office, Jordan attended Rutgers from 1973 to 1977 and returned to take classes in 1978, 1981 and 1985, racking up 103 credit hours along the way. 

Noble of him to return. Close to a graduate. But not an actual graduate. 

While it is unknown how this lie started—whether it was Jordan who put it on his résumé or it was incorrectly written in a past biography and he didn't think it necessary to correct it—it doesn't matter. He knew. He let it go on. 

Is this a fireable offense? 

Notre Dame thought so. George O'Leary also lived in the unnecessary land of make believe. O'Leary was hired in 2001 to be the football coach at Notre Dame, and he claimed to have played at the University of New Hampshire. He never played a down. 

According to the New York Times, Notre Dame was willing to live with that. But when school officials asked O'Leary if there were any other inaccuracies in his bio, he admitted that he had never earned a master's degree in education from New York University. O'Leary resigned. 

It's tough to blame Rutgers for failing to investigate whether Jordan had actually graduated from its school. As reported by Deadspin, Jordan was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2004 and referred to as a 1977 graduate. 

His lie, like O'Leary's, had followed him for years. 

In the rush to hire a new basketball coach, confirming Jordan had graduated from college was probably not at the top of the list. It's also doubtful Jordan ever got any of his past coaching jobs because he was a graduate of Rutgers University. 

It's tough not to feel a little bad for Rutgers. While Jordan's fib is nowhere near the level of embarrassment that Mike Rice's antics created, Rutgers needed a coach who would stay out the news.

There are a number of ways Rutgers could go about handling this situation. It could fully support Jordan and allow him to remain at coach, perhaps asking him to publicly apologize or even finish out his degree. The athletic department also would not be wrong to ask Jordan to step down.

This is a bad look for any school, but it's especially true for Rutgers.

Eddie Jordan has been named as someone who could become the next head basketball coach at Rutgers, but the question remains whether or not this is a smart decision for the program.

The position became available after former coach Mike Rice was fired due to various mental and physical abuse against his players that was caught on videotape. Sources say that Jordan could be named the next coach as soon as Monday (via ESPN).

Jordan is currently working as an assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers after three different stints as a head coach in the NBA. He has many appealing characteristics on paper, but here is an examination on what he could do for the program.

Cons

No College Experience

Jordan played for Rutgers from 1973-77, but since then has almost exclusively been involved in the NBA either as a player or a coach.

While there is nothing wrong with being around players at the highest level, college basketball is nothing like the professional league. There are different rules, different strategies and even different problems that you deal with on a regular basis.

The coach will have to be more of a teacher to the young players than he has ever been, as many will likely come onto the team very raw as far as ability goes.

Additionally, it is unknown how much success he will have in the recruiting game with no experience. With few ties to programs in the area, it will be a challenge to get top players in his first few years.

These problems could lead to poor results out of the gate. 

Lack of Success as Head Coach

While the 58-year-old former player has been around the NBA for a while, he has not been able to stick with one team for an extended period. This is mainly due to his 257-343 overall record as a head coach between stops with the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.

He coached for parts of nine seasons, making the playoffs four times and winning a postseason series only once.

Throughout his career, teams generally underachieved compared to the talent on the roster. This inability to get the most of his players could remain a problem at Rutgers.

Pros

Opposite Personality of Mike Rice

After the Mike Rice fiasco, the school will be under a microscope, as the NCAA will make sure something like this never happens again. There is no better way to avoid this problem than to hire a coach with very few similarities to the one who left.

Rice was always intense on the sidelines, and that continued into practices. Conversely, Jordan's known as "Easy Ed" and was called "the antithesis of Mike Rice" by David Lariviere of Forbes.

Rutgers showed potential last season with a 12-4 start, but the team collapsed down the stretch by losing 12 of the final 15 games. It is possible the players who did not respond to the anger of Rice will play better under the direction of Jordan.

The Scarlet Knights need a player-friendly coach to rid themselves of this problem, and Jordan is a great choice.

Reinvigorate the Program

This is a huge moment for the future of Rutgers basketball. The school will move to the Big Ten after the 2013-14 season, and with that will come increased expectations.

Of course, the latest incident gave the school national attention for all the wrong reasons. Jordan has to get the program back in the right direction.

Incidentally, he is the perfect person to do that. He is an alumnus who has loads of NBA experience that will come to a school that hasn't had many positive events in recent history. If there is a person that can get the fans excited, this is him.

If Jordan can convince some big-time players to come to the school and have at least marginal success in his first year, it will give the school a lot of momentum as it changes conferences. 

Verdict

In most of Eddie Jordan's stops in his career, his bosses were not patient enough to wait for him to turn things around. This could be a problem at Rutgers.

Fans, as well as the athletic department, must give the coach time to get acclimated to the college game and find a way to have success at this level. 

If he is given opportunity to do things his way, Jordan could be very successful with the Scarlet Knights.

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Eddie Jordan has been pegged by the Rutgers Basketball program as the successor to Mike Rice. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday that the school made Jordan an offer and that the two parties would discuss terms over the weekend.

Jordan was not the school’s first choice to replace Rice, though. University of Rhode Island coach Danny Hurley was offered the position but turned it down earlier in the week (h/t ESPN’s Andy Katz).

While Jordan may not have been their first option, he is the best choice to lead the Scarlet Knights in the wake of this controversy.

The task isn't going to be easy, though.

Rutgers, a team that has struggled in recent years, is preparing for a move to the Big Ten conference and is still surrounded by negative media attention from the Rice scandal. That makes the head coaching position very unappealing for most candidates.

The Scarlet Knights made the right move by pursuing Jordan, an alumnus and former player for the school. He is likely willing to disregard those factors for a chance to coach his alma matter. Rutgers needs to close the deal quickly and begin the process of rebuilding its program.

Getting Jordan in place will allow them to fix their administrative issues while allowing their team to focus on building a successful basketball program.

As a coach, Jordan brings NBA experience to the table after a stint with the Sacramento Kings and head coaching jobs with the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. He is currently employed as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers.

His playing career started in Rutgers from 1973-77 and included a Final Four appearance in 1976. From there, he played for five different teams in the NBA from 1977-84.

Jordan sees himself as an ideal fit for the job, too.

“The only college I would coach would be Rutgers, and I believe it makes complete sense for me to be the next Rutgers coach, or to at least be heavily considered," Jordan said, according to Paul Franklin of NJ.com.

Jordan is known as a “player’s coach.” That description is a far cry from whatever Mike Rice was to his players.

Beyond that, though, he is also a great and innovative offensive mind. His adaption of the Princeton Offense in the NBA may have failed in Los Angeles, but it did wonders for the Washington Wizards during his tenure as head coach.

While in Washington, Jordan led the Wizards to four straight playoff appearances before being fired after a 1-10 start in 2008.

He has led teams to success and has been a strong proponent of others’ successes throughout his career. His attitude, winning pedigree and connection to the Rutgers program makes him a no-brainer selection to lead the school in the wake of Rice’s dismissal.

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Tim Pernetti resigned last week as athletic director of Rutgers University, but he will receive $1.2 million in a settlement with the school.

The former AD landed in the middle of a major controversy when a video surfaced featuring men's basketball head coach Mike Rice physically and verbally abusing players. Pernetti fired Rice and resigned shortly thereafter.

However, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN.com) that he will receive money and various other benefits in an agreement:

Under his agreement, Pernetti is to be paid his base salary of $453,000 per year through June 2014 and a one-time payment of $679,500 in the next month. He gets the money even if he takes another job. 

He also gets his $12,000 per-year car allowance through June 2014 and health insurance and pension payments through October 2015. Pernetti also gets to keep his Rutgers-issued iPad and laptop computer.

In addition, the report states that Rice will maintain 75 percent of his salary after being fired "without cause."

The video of Rice throwing balls at players and yelling homophobic slurs during Rutgers practices came to Pernetti’s attention in December. At the time, he made a decision to suspend the coach for three games and fine him $50,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-zjsKsR8wo

However, ESPN's Outside the Lines obtained the video and showed it to the public (via Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN), causing an uproar from concerned viewers across the country.

As previously mentioned, Rutgers fired Rice as a result and Pernetti followed him out the door by putting in his letter of resignation. According to Jerry Carino and Keith Sargeant of USA Today, he stated that he regretted not firing the coach earlier:

As you know, my first instincts when I saw the videotape of Coach Rice's behavior was to fire him immediately. However, Rutgers decided to follow a process involving university lawyers, human resources professionals, and outside counsel. Following review of the independent investigative report, the consensus was that university policy would not justify dismissal.

The dismissal of both men and subsequent settlements should finally allow people to move on from this disturbing incident.

Of course, there is sure to be plenty of debate about how Rice and Pernetti made out following their roles in allowing this type of abuse to occur. Specifically, the head coach being given $1 million despite his firing, according to ESPN.

The ability to avoid lawsuits and appeals might have been worth that price to Rutgers, but only time will tell if the backlash from the event's conclusion make the school regret its decision. 

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The Scarlet Knights are getting a makeover.

After Head Coach Mike Rice was relieved of his duties on Friday (via ESPN.com), Rutgers University is on the market for a new basketball coach, and it appears the school may be interested in another recently-fired bench boss.

According to CBS Sports' Gary Parrish, Ben Howland, who was leading the UCLA Bruins until the squad's first-round exit at the NCAA tournament, has been identified as a leading target for the gig.

Sources told CBSSports.com on Saturday that former UCLA coach Ben Howland is "intrigued" by the opening, and that third-party conversations designed to gauge possible interest on both sides have taken place. The sources added, however, that it's too early to tell if the situation will develop into anything more because Rutgers president Robert Barchi said Friday the school's new athletic director will be hired before its next men's basketball coach.

In other words, the direction Rutgers goes with its search for a new athletic director will, to some degree, dictate the way Rutgers goes with its search for a new coach. But a source told CBSSports.com that Howland would have some supporters among Rutgers boosters based on his ability to recruit New York while he was the coach at Pittsburgh from 1999 to 2003, and that Howland would be interested because, quite frankly, he'd prefer to jump right back into coaching over sitting out a year.

UCLA fired Howland last month after 10 seasons.

Yeah, it's true that Howland was never able to lift the Bruins to the level that's expected of a prestigious program, but that doesn't mean that Rutgers wouldn't be getting a massive upgrade from Rice.

In Howland, Rutgers would be welcoming in a coach who is a proven winner, one who has demonstrated an ability to lead teams on deep tournament runs, even if they haven't culminated in a national title thus far.

But that shouldn't take away from his success, as the 55-year-old has won everywhere he's gone. In fact, Howland is one of the few coaches to lead three different programs to the Big Dance, as he took Northern Arizona and Pittsburgh to the tournament prior to bringing UCLA on multiple trips.

It is true that Howland never put the Bruins over the top, but can one really fault a coach who oversaw three consecutive Final Four runs?

It's debatable as to whether he should have been fired in the first place, but after UCLA's loss to Minnesota in the round of 64, Howland's fate was sealed, but he enjoyed a successful stint in California.

At this stage, what Rutgers needs more than anything is stability, because after a traumatizing situation like the one that has unfolded around Rice, the Scarlet Knights have a tough climb back to respectability before them. 

Realistically, anything would be an improvement from Rice, at least from a PR standpoint, and Howland is a coach with a successful track record when it comes to rebuilding basketball programs.

Howland may not even lead them to an NCAA tournament berth, but that doesn't matter. What he will do is right a ship that is unexpectedly sinking fast.

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi and anyone else who saw the disturbing Mike Rice video, and did nothing to immediately dismiss him, deserves to be fired as well.

In case you aren't aware of the situation, the since-fired Rice is caught on tape shoving, grabbing and throwing basketballs at the legs, chests and heads of his players.

As if that weren't enough, Rice can also be heard verbally abusing the players with homosexual slurs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wZ3z0HeLq4

How this video couldn't lead to immediate dismissal is beyond me. Instead, he was simply suspended until the world caught a glimpse of the video, and that seemingly forced the school's hand.

Per Kate Zernike of the New York Times, Barchi was made aware of the tape, its content and he was told it was taken from three years of practices.

Even with that information, Barchi admits he didn't even take 30 minutes to watch the video until hours after it went viral, per Marc Raimondi of the New York Post. So a 12-year-old in any given state in this country would have seen what was happening in Barchi's school before he did.

Is that neglect or an attempt to protect a coach or institution while putting student-athletes at risk? Either way, there should be no tolerance for it. 

Tom Pernetti, the school's athletic director, has resigned, and in his resignation letter he states he wanted to fire Rice immediately, but Rutgers' legal process dictated the decision, per John O'Boyle of the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

I understand that very few things in this world are black and white, and that there is an order to most things. But there is no context, or further understanding that would have changed or put what Rice was doing in that video into an acceptable perspective.

Where is Latrell Sprewell when you need him?

This is an example of a disturbing abuse of power, hate and bullying.

All three of those things are seemingly traits this country and world are cracking down on. Society isn't tolerating this behavior, so why should Rice's dismissal be up for debate, or delayed?

According to Fox Sports, two Rutgers players actually back Rice and defend him as a coach. This means nothing and shouldn't sway public opinion on the subject.

Perhaps they only had two basketballs hurled at them instead of four, and they consider themselves the chosen ones. It still doesn't excuse this type of behavior. This is not a matter of tastes and preference. 

On Earth, you don't get to slap, grab, push and insult people with hateful comments simply because you're the coach. That's not leading and Barchi should have seen that, or cared enough to investigate.

He didn't and thus he deserves to lose his job.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaYqcMMZ6A

Mike Rice has been fired by Rutgers University following the leaked footage of inexcusable player abuse, the school announced on Wednesday morning.

Based upon recently revealed information and a review of previously discovered issues, Rutgers has terminated the contract of Mike Rice.

'I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice,' said Rutgers Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tim Pernetti. 'Dismissal and corrective action were debated in December and I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community.'

Rice's out-of-control temper has been an issue in the past, and this time, there's video evidence that will undoubtedly come as a shock to all in the college basketball community. 

In a report for ESPN's Outside the Lines, Don Van Natta Jr. details hours of abuse—physical and mental—that Rice has inflicted upon players during practices. In the video obtained by OTL, Rice is shown berating his players with homophobic slurs and throwing basketballs at their heads and legs, among other despicable transgressions. 

This continuous abuse has caused at least three players to transfer from the program, according to former director of player development Eric Murdock, who spoke to Van Natta for the story.  

Giving even more credence to the video evidence was former Scarlet Knights forward Gilvydas Biruta. The young Lithuanian transferred to Rhode Island due to Rice's behavior and detailed his former coach's abuse, per ESPN:

He would throw his cap at me and he would call me many names. The adjectives were creative. They were mean words. If you're going to criticize me as a basketball player, I'm OK with that, but he would criticize me as a person.

Rice was suspended three games and fined $50,000 back in December after the school was made aware of his actions. Rice apologized to players "past and present" when suspended and vowed to make amends for his past behavior.  

He returned to his post following the three-game suspension, leading Rutgers to a 15-16 record, including 5-13 in the Big East. The 44-year-old coach has yet to have a winning season or make a postseason tournament appearance in his three years at Rutgers after taking the job prior to the 2010-11 season.