SALT LAKE CITY -- Fred Williams resigned as head coach of
the Utah Starzz on Friday.
|  | | Fred Williams resigned as coach of the Starzz just hours before their Friday night win over Cleveland. |
Williams, saying only that it was "time for a change," left
the team immediately.
Williams made the announcement at a news conference two hours
before the Starzz were scheduled to play the Cleveland Rockers. He
said he was not pressured to quit and that it was his decision to
leave the team.
"I've been thinking about this the past few days, and then
waking up this morning, I felt that it was time to step aside,"
said Williams, who led the Starzz to an 18-14 record last year, the
team's first winning season. "It was time to look at other avenues
and kind of walk away right now."
Utah had lost three straight games before beating Clevland 73-69 on Friday and has a record of 6-8 this season.
Jay Francis, chief operating officer for the team, said he regrets Williams' decision and reiterated that he was not forced out.
"Waking up this morning, I felt that it was time to step aside," Williams said. He didn't say what he would do next.
Assistant coach Candi Harvey was to take over as head coach, beginning with Friday night's game.
"This team is going to be very sad," Harvey said. "It's going
to be hard to go out and play tonight."
She deflected questions about future coaching strategy.
"This has all happened within the past hour," she said. "Stay focused -- that's what Fred would have wanted us to do."
Williams took over as head coach in June 1999 after working as
an assistant coach under Frank Layden. Harvey took Williams' vacant
assistant coach spot in 1999.
Williams coached the Southern California women for two years
(1995-97). His 1996-97 team had a 20-9 record and advanced to the
second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Harvey is former head coach at Texas A&M University.
Her reaction to Williams' resignation was "total shock.
Williams said he is leaving a team that has promise, "One or
two shots away, one or two possessions away" from success
He called serving as a WNBA coach an honor, even though he weathered some criticism for coming to Salt Lake City.
"Being a minority here, I get teased about that a lot," Williams said.
Williams said he was proud to have helped establish the Starzz
in the WNBA.
"Some things have been done for the future," he said.
Williams said that he will keep an eye out for another coaching
job, or possibly enter sports broadcasting.
"I would love to get into broadcasting or color commentary on
radio or TV," he said.
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