On Wednesday’s “Larry King Live,” former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Bobby Knight said he was interested in coaching again, especially at the college level.
The Big Ten Conference, however, might not be the best place for the controversial coach to start his job hunt.
Northwestern President Henry Bienen and nine other leaders of Big Ten schools took out a full-page advertisement in the Sept. 22 Chicago Tribune stating their support for Indiana President Myles Brand’s decision to fire Knight in early August. Three presidents of national education organizations also signed the letter.
And although Bienen said Thursday that Knight was “a very fine coach,” he said NU would not have hired Knight if former men’s coach Kevin O’Neill had quit the Wildcats after Knight’s firing, instead of before.
Brand fired Knight Sept. 10, citing a “pattern of unacceptable behavior” and a “continued unwillingness” to follow athletic department guidelines.
After three national titles and 29 tumultuous years with IU, the university in May finally ordered Knight to follow a “zero-tolerance” conduct policy.
When Knight grabbed a student by the arm to lecture him about manners, Brand fired the coach, setting off riots on IU’s campus and triggering death threats toward Brand and the student.
Despite Knight’s support from a large number of IU students and alumni, the Tribune ad endorsed “the difficult but necessary exercise of presidential authority” in firing Knight.
The ad — which did not mention Knight by name — read in part:
“When a university’s essential mission or reputation is obscured by excessive powers concentrated in a coach or ill-considered actions by any member of the university community — the exercise of presidential leadership to counter such situation is crucial.
“Even popular and successful coaches must observe institutional chain of command and be bound by values and policies of the institutions they serve.”
Bienen said the ad sent a very specific message of support to Brand and the IU trustees.
“It was meant to be an assertion of support in a trying time, when a lot of silly things have been said and done,” Bienen said.
Although Bienen said he watched little of the recent Indiana turmoil on television, he said one incident stuck out in his mind: when a woman discarded a pile of her IU apparel in front of the university’s gym.
“It’s kind of lame to think about going to a great university” for the basketball coach, Bienen said.
