Tim Floyd resigns as head coach of USC

Reports are flying from every major news outlet that Tim Floyd, the head coach of the USC Trojans, has resigned.

The Clarion (Mississippi) Ledger was the first to report it, as they were able to obtain a letter from Floyd to USC athletic director Mike Garrett which read:

As of 1 p.m. today, I am resigning as head basketball coach at the University of Southern California. I deeply appreciate the opportunity afforded me by the university, as well as the chance to know and work with some of the finest young men in college athletics. Unfortunately, I no longer feel I can offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families, and the supporters of Southern Cal. I always promised my self and my family that if I ever felt I could no longer give my full enthusiasm to a job, that I should leave it to others who could. I intend to contact my coaching staff and my players in coming days and weeks to tell them how much each of them means to me. I wish the best to USC and to my successor.

In his four years at the helm of the Trojans, Floyd went 85-50, reaching the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons. But ever since Yahoo! Sports reported on May 12th that Floyd had paid Ronald Guillory, a runner for the Bill Duffy Associates sports agency and a known associate of OJ Mayo, everything Floyd had built has slowly begun to disintegrate.

First, Daniel Hackett, Demar Derozan, Taj Gibson (Gibson can still return to the Trojans as he has yet to sign with an agent), and later on Marcus Johnson all declared for the NBA Draft. Then, Floyd's recruiting class started falling apart: Solomon Hill decided to go to Arizona, Noel Johnson backed out of his commitment, and Renardo Sidney was not allowed into USC.

We will be following this story as more information comes out, but according to FOXSports, neither Taj Gibson nor the USC coaching staff knows anything about Floyd's decision.

To be completely honest, I really hope that Floyd was fired (UPDATE: The Dagger believes that Floyd was fired/forced to resign). He got himself into this mess by allowing OJ Mayo and his handler's to take advantage of the situation. Now there is this shitstorm brewing around his program, and this shitstorm is only aiding in the decision of some very good college hoopers to avoid USC like the plague. For him to walk away right now and leave USC - the players, the fans, the administrators - in the lurch is cowardly.

You, coach Floyd, brought this on the program. Not the guy that will be brought in to replace you. Not the players still left on the team. Not the fans who started to believe that the Trojans could be a basketball school. Not any future recruit that will have to deal with any NCAA sanctions handed down.

You should be riding this out with your team and your university.

How does the saying go? The Captain always goes down with the ship?

Terrible analogy aside, Tim Floyd hopped on the first life boat, and left the rest of his crew on the USC ship to drown.