Response To Tim Floyd's Claim That His Resignation Is Not Admission of Guilt

Former USC men's basketball coach Tim Floyd finally spoke to ESPN.com about his abrupt resignation from USC and the allegations surrounding his recruiting of O.J. Mayo.

The timing for Floyd to speak was fitting as Wednesday, Mayo's Memphis Grizzlies met up with the New Orleans Hornets, where Floyd is now an assistant coach. 

A quick recap before I respond to Floyd's defense that he did not leave USC because of the sanctions, but because he had no relationship with athletic director Mike Garrett: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncb/news/story?id=4845312

Following the 2008-2009 season during which the Trojans won the Pac-10 Conference Tournament and were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by eventual runner-up Michigan State, Floyd was rumored for two coaching vacancies: Arizona and Memphis, the latter which had opened when John Calipari left for Kentucky.

Floyd even flew to Tucson to interview for the Wildcat job but, upon returning to Los Angeles, decided to stay at USC. Then in June he resigned, soon after it was reported Floyd had received cash from an associate of Mayo's.

Now Floyd is an assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets.

Naturally, Floyd claimed he left USC because Mike Garrett failed to support him, not because of the reports, stating in the ESPN.com article, "Why I left was not in any way an admission of guilt. It was a complete testament to a lack of support by my administration after four years of doing everything the right way."

There are problems left and right with Floyd's statements in the ESPN article.

First, what did everyone expect Floyd to say? He's not going to say, "I resigned because Louis Johnson gave me a thousand dollars and I wanted to get out of there before the NCAA found out."

If President Nixon can resign without admitting guilt over Watergate, does anyone think Tim Floyd was going to leave USC saying he got caught?

Then, if in fact Floyd was directly involved with illegal recruiting related to O.J. Mayo, that would have occurred during his second year as USC coach. Therefore his "four years of doing everything the right way" is a straw-man argument since it would not have happened after four years.

Floyd went on to complain that Garrett, upon reading the breaking story on Floyd receiving payments, called him and told him to "get your ass back to Los Angeles." 

My only problem with Garrett's statement is that he did not add the words "right now" to it.

Mike Garrett had every right to bring tell his coach to come home, explain what had actually happened, and determine what needed to happen inside the men's basketball program to ensure it was not crossing the line with regard to NCAA rules. Get this through your head, Tim Floyd. The head coach works for the athletic director.

(Maybe not if your name is Mike Krzyzewski, but since Tim Floyd is not, I go on.)

Floyd then continued complaining about the way his coaches were treated. It must have been quite awful since all of them are still coaching in the program. In fact, assistant coach Bob Cantu is now on his fifth head coach at the university (Henry Bibby, interim coach Jim Saia, Rick Majerus for four days, Tim Floyd, and now Kevin O'Neill).

I'm glad that in "over 33 years" of coaching you have "never [had your] integrity challenged." That does not mean you are innocent. 

And if your Mike Garrett, its your job to find out what wrongdoing was committed, if any, and make sure it does not happen again.

Coach Floyd, it is very convenient to place the blame on your former boss. The fact of the matter is that it was you who allowed Rodney Guillory (Mayo's "friend") access to the men's basketball offices, practices, and your locker room for three years. You knew he was dirty at best after what he did with (former player) Jeff Trepagnier. Garrett did not force him upon you.

I do not know whether Tim Floyd was directly involved in illegal recruiting practices that resulted in O.J. Mayo becoming a Trojan. But the people Tim Floyd allowed to have access to his program, combined with his sudden resignation, certainly creates some serious doubt to his veracity.

Oh, and Trojan haters that may be reading: This O.J. Mayo/Tim Floyd stuff has nothing to do with Reggie Bush/Pete Carroll (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/319059-the-oj-mayo-scandal-completely-different-from-the-bush-investigation).

You can follow my thoughts on the sports world and more on Twitter at @plh55.