UTEP Coach Tim Floyd Retires Abruptly After Loss to Lamar
UTEP head coach Tim Floyd, best known for his controversial tenure at USC and a disappointing run with the Chicago Bulls, is retiring.
Floyd, 63, announced after the Miners’ 66–52 loss to Lamar on Monday night that his coaching career is over, effective immediately.
“This is the right time, I know this is the right time,” Floyd told reporters, according to The Prospector.
Floyd’s announcement comes the same day UTEP introduced a new athletic director—Jim Senter, formerly of The Citadel. Floyd told reporters Monday night that he hopes Senter moves the Miners from Conference USA to the Mountain West.
UTEP is 1–5 this season, with its lone win coming against Division-III Louisiana College. He leaves UTEP with a cumulative record of 136–86, though he never led the Miners to the NCAA tournament.
Floyd came to UTEP—where he spent nearly a decade as an assistant in the 1970’s and 80’s—in 2010, one year after he resigned from USC amid an NCAA investigation. Floyd was alleged to have provided improper benefits to O.J. Mayo and USC self-imposed a postseason ban in 2010.
Floyd was also the coach of the Bulls during Michael Jordan’s second retirement and failed to win more than 17 games in a season. He later coached the New Orleans Hornets to a 41–41 record in 2003–04.
