Rugters University Men's Basketball Coach Mike Rice was fired after video surfaced of his abuse towards his players, according to the Associated Press.
The video surfaced on Tuesday, which was broadcast on ESPN’s "Outside the Lines", has repeated footage of Rice shoving players, throwing balls at them and using homosexual slurs during practices.
Upon the release of the video, many began to call for Rice’s job—including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Since Rice is an employee a state school in Rutgers, he is techinally an employee of the state of New Jersey.
Rice responded to the firing in an interview outside his home on Wednesday.
"There will never be a time when I use any of that as an excuse," Rice said according to ESPN.com. "I've let so many people down. My players, my administration, Rutgers University, the fans. My family, who's sitting in their house just huddled around because of the fact that their father was an embarrassment to them.”
In addition to Rice’s job, some a have also questioned whether Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti should still have his job.
Pernetti was handed the video back in November. After an internal investigation it was decided that Rice would receive a $50,000 fine, as well as a three-game suspension. Rice was also instructed to take anger management courses.
Pernetti has since admitted that he made a mistake. Rice is known around the basketball-coaching world to be a firey guy. According to ESPN Radio, Pernetti said in an interview that he had sat down with Rice to discuss the subject. After their talk, which Pernetti says consisted largely of Rice’s questionable behavior in the past, he decided Rice was the man for the job.
"I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice," Pernetti said. "Dismissal and corrective action were debated in December and I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community."
Michale Drewniak, a spokesman for Gov. Christie, expressed Christie’s feelings on the subject.
"Governor Christie saw the video today for the first time and he is obviously deeply disturbed by the conduct displayed and strongly condemns this behavior," spokesman Michael Drewniak said. "It's not the type of leadership we should be showing our young people and clearly there are questions about this behavior that need to be answered by the leaders at Rutgers University."
There is still no word on whether Pernetti’s job is in jeopardy.
