Jazz Signs Head Coach Tyrone Corbin to Multi-Year Contract
SALT LAKE CITY (March 2, 2011) – The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed head coach Tyrone Corbin to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.
“I am confident that Tyrone is the right man to lead this team into the future. He is someone with longstanding ties to the Jazz and this community, and who has embraced the core philosophies and ideals this organization holds true. I feel that his character and leadership qualities will be true assets to the Jazz moving forward for many years to come,” said Greg Miller, CEO of the Utah Jazz.
“I am really excited about the opportunity to lead the Jazz, and to get to follow a legendary figure like Coach Sloan,” said Tyrone Corbin. “I am truly grateful that the Miller family has the confidence in me to allow me to lead this team into a new era.”
Corbin was named head coach of the Jazz on February 10 following the resignation of Jerry Sloan. Corbin is the seventh head coach in Jazz history and the fourth since the franchise’s relocation to Utah, following Tom Nissalke, Frank Layden and Sloan. Corbin had served as an assistant coach under Sloan since the 2004-05 season, and prior to the 2010-11 season was ranked second in voting for the NBA’s top assistant coach as selected by league general managers. Corbin joined the Jazz after spending the 2003-04 season as manager of player development for the New York Knicks. Prior to his stint with the Knicks, he spent two seasons as a player mentor for the North Charleston Lowgators of the NBA Development League.
“Ty is a driven individual and tireless worker who possesses all of the qualities we are looking for in a head coach,” said Randy Rigby, president of the Utah Jazz. “He has been widely recognized as one of the brightest young coaches around the league and we are thrilled to have him as head coach of the Jazz.”
A native of Columbia, S.C., Corbin played for nine teams during a 16-year NBA career (1985-01), including three seasons with the Jazz from 1991-94, where he averaged 9.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 233 games. Corbin appeared in a total of 1,050 games over the course of his career that included stints with San Antonio, Cleveland, Phoenix, Minnesota, Utah, Atlanta, Sacramento, Miami and Toronto. Corbin was originally drafted by San Antonio in the second round (35th pick overall) of the 1985 NBA Draft out of DePaul University, where he earned a degree in computer science during his four-year, two-time honorable mention All-American career with the Blue Demons.
“Ty has 16 years of experience in this league as a player and has spent the last seven seasons working here as an assistant coach,” said Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. “He is ready for this job and we feel certain he will excel as a head coach just as he excelled as an assistant coach and as a player.”