Case - Coach Jekyll and Coach Hyde
Bobby Knight is not an easy coach to fathom. One of the youngest coaches ever to achieve 700 wins in NCAA basketball, Knight argues that his style may not be pretty but his teams win. He is right about that. Knight achieved his 880th career win on January 1, 2007. He is currently second on the list of most career victories in NCAA Division I men's college basketball.44 Knight's coaching style is certainly not pretty-in fact, it is vocal, confrontational, and loaded with controversy.45 Mention Bobby Knight, and chair throwing comes to mind (Indiana vs. Purdue, 1984-1985 season)-so does winning (Indiana was NCAA champion in 1976, 1981, and 1987).
Fans like winners, and Knight, a true basketball genius, built a large and loyal following in the state of Indiana. Knight was very successful at externally recruiting players. But there can be costs to winning, and sometimes they are too high. Knight's costs came home to roost in March 2000, when his high-visibility style got him into hot water. Knight's coaching style is to be highly energized and to control his team as much as possible. However, a former player, Neil Reed, asserted that in 1997 Knight choked him on the court.
Allegations by other former Indiana players began to surface. Knight held on to his coaching position for a while but was fired in September 2000 for what university president Myles Brand considered a pattern of unacceptable behavior. Of course, much of Knight's personnel information at Indiana is private. But it behooves us to wonder. Where was HR as his behavior began to deteriorate?
Are some people above HR? Are some positions above the behavior parameters set for others? If so, is the organization still liable for unacceptable behavior from people in such positions? Did HR let Knight and the university down? Did Knight receive fair treatment? Was a program of progressive discipline or counseling undertaken before he was fired? Does he have a case against Indiana if he didn't receive counseling? Do his former players have a case against Indiana for allowing them to be endangered? Did the fact that Knight brought fame and fortune to the Indiana campus enter into Indiana's winking at his behavior? Should it have?
In 2001, Texas Tech reached outside the university in its search for candidates to coach the men's basketball team. Tech selected Knight, and he led the team to an NCAA tournament appearance. In November 2006, it appeared that Knight might have slipped into his old pattern. He gave a quick head slap to a player who was coming off the court after receiving an ill-advised foul.
Although the incident caused a great deal of media attention, it quickly died out because most observers believed that the incident was a harmless attempt at making a point. Some have speculated that Knight receives attention for actions that would not be noticed if done by another coach. Overall, Knight led by being a fairly positive example at Texas Tech. He retired from coaching at Texas Tech in February 2008. Knight was able to hand off the coaching responsibilities to his son and assistant coach, Pat Knight. Coach Bobby Knight said he might have wished he had done a few things differently in his career, but he was proud of his teams, players, and accomplishments. After nearly three seasons, Pat Knight was fired subsequent to losing a series of close games in the last few minutes. He gave the following speech at one of his last postgame interviews. "We've lost seven games in the last minute," he said, according to the Associated Press. "This program is competitive.
But thats not for me. I mean, honestly, I'm going to be coaching here, I'm going to be coaching somewhere else. I've proven I can coach. I run a clean program, I don't cheat, my players graduate and we have discipline. So if you don't want me here there's going to be someone else that wants me."46 Pat Knight left Texas Tech for Lamar University. In 2012, at Lamar, Knight led the team to the NCAA mens basketball tournament for the first time since 2000.
However, he also threw a temper tantrum at the end of the game toward his players for the poor quality of play and the lack of effort by his senior players. You can watch this 9-minute rant at www.nesn.com/2012/02/lavar-university-basketball-head-coach-pat-knight-goes-on-rantreminiscent-of-his-fathers-tirades-vi.html. For a multimedia presentation on Bobby Knight, see https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ multimedia_central/news/2000/03/15/knight_mmc.
Case Questions
1. Which area of training would benefit Bobby Knight?
a. technical training
b. people skills and conceptual training
2. At Indiana, Knight's primary recruiting source for players was
a. internal
b. external
3. There were good employee relations between Bobby Knight and Indiana University.
a. true
b. false
4. Coach Pat Knight received a reserve clause after he was terminated.
a. true
b. false
5. Coach Knight's management style was to let his players run the team.
a. true
b. false
6. Knight left Indiana University for which reason?
a. retirement
b. another job
c. breaking the rules
d. layoffs
7. Internal recruiting occurred when Knight accepted the position at Texas Tech.
a. true
b. false
8. Texas Tech's replacement for Knight was his assistant coach, Pat Knight; this is an
example of what recruiting method?
a. walk-in
b. educational institution
c. agency
d. promotion from within
9. Apparently, Texas Tech was comfortable with Bobby Knight's record at Indiana. Based on Knight's prior coaching behavior, this is an example of possibly not using _____ effectively.
a. application form
b. screening interview
c. testing
d. background check
10. Bobby Knight eventually met with Texas Tech's president to discuss the possibility of taking the coaching position. This is an example of which stage of the selection process?
a. application form
b. interview
c. testing
d. background check
11. Use the Lamar University website at the end of the case to learn about Knight's behavior during the past collegiate basketball season.
12. Why do you think there is such a high turnover rate among college coaches?
13. Do you believe that Indiana University gave Bobby Knight enough chances before they fired him?