CP: So you are saying that Flip had ample warning? He said he was blindsided. Taylor: I am saying Kevin did not do that. He came to McHale first, and asked McHale if he should step down. And McHale didn't have an answer. He didn't necessarily think Randy would do better and still thought Flip was a pretty good coach. So instead he said, here are some suggestions, try them and do all this stuff. Then, after we saw the team quitting on Flip, Kevin came to him and said, Okay, I'm going to have you stop. CP: Was it supposed to be couched as a leave of absence at the time? Taylor: Whatever Kevin said. I talked to Flip then, not Kevin, and said, I know this is a tough thing. We are not kicking you off the team. Just take a little time and let us evaluate this thing. He said, good, thank you, that kind of thing. [I said] let's not call it a firing, let's not call it anything. He agreed, and that's what I thought we had. About four days or five days after that, he said we fired him. Well, I don't know what Kevin said exactly. Yes, Kevin said [Flip] was done. And maybe Flip was truthful in that Kevin did say, "you are not coaching tomorrow night; I have taken over." Kevin did come to me and say, "I'm not going to turn it over to the assistant coaches. It is such a mess, and it's my responsibility." CP: So before Flip said anything about being fired, you still felt in your mind that there was a possibility that he would return? Taylor: Yup. And I had that conversation with him later on, and asked him if he wanted to come back. Before we hired Casey. I said, "I told you the door was open. Nobody had ever said you were fired, even after you said it. I am saying to you, I have not come to that conclusion." Now I knew that he still might come to me and say, well you've got to fire McHale before I come back because I don't like the guy now, or something like that. --

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