Stan Van Gundy (file photo)
Stan Van Gundy was Pistons president and head coach for four years. During that time, the team only made the playoffs once, which didn't bode well for him. Change appeared inevitable.
Before his firing the other day, Van Gundy says he was willing to give up his job as president and keep coaching to at least finish off the last year of his five-year contract. Owner Tom Gores wasn't willing to accommodate.
“Tom was looking to make change and I was willing to make pretty significant changes but even that wasn’t going to be enough," Van Gundy tells Rod Beard of The Detroit News. "Tom decided at the end of the day that he needed to change the structure and the leadership. When it came down to this, I was perfectly willing to only go in one role and to give up the front office and go into coaching.
“I didn’t fight to hang on to [the president role] at all. I was more than willing to just move over into the [coaching] role.”
