Doug Collins Quits The Bulls Before Ever Being Named Coach

This whole Doug Collins to coach the Bulls was weird from the start and now the TNT analyst isn't going to be leaving the booth to coach Chicago. Reports surfaced yesterday that John Paxson was waiting on word from Jerry Reinsdorf to approve a deal, but Reinsdorf was upset with Collins for breaking the news of his trade to the media. Today Collins decided he's waited long enough.....

Doug Collins is a heart-on-his-sleeve type of guy, so when he and his wife, Kathy, sat down for breakfast at their Scottsdale, Ariz., home Friday morning, the obvious didn't need to be said.

Collins wouldn't be returning for a second coaching stint with the Bulls.

A 15-minute phone call with Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf later Friday afternoon confirmed what the longtime friends already knew: Reinsdorf had too many reservations about entering into another business association with somebody he might have to fire.

"I just knew over the last few days that Jerry was really struggling over whether or not to do this, and I didn't want Jerry to have those struggles," Collins said in a telephone interview. "I love him. And I didn't want him feeling that kind of angst.

So I guess that's that. We're stuck with Doug Collins for another season at TNT, but he's surprisingly gotten more tolerable these days.

Change of heart: Doug Collins will not return to Bulls (Chicago Tribune)