Pat Riley to Step Down as Miami Heat Head Coach

This is probably a shocker to no one as Pat Riley looks like he will quit as Miami Heat head coach once again.

Riley only likes to coach when he thinks his team has a chance to win a championship and we all know the Heat are probably not good enough to do that. I give him credit for making the Shaq trade to bring him to Miami, they would not have won a championship if it was not for that trade. He definitely unloaded Shaq at the right time too and whether they keep Shawn Marion or lose him, they still stand to benefit from either having an All-Star quality player or the cap space if he leaves.

Now it will be interesting to see who Riley brings in to coach this team. I doubt we will see Larry Brown's name pop up here because I would think that Larry Brown wants some control over his team and Pat Riley is not going to give up any control. Maybe Mark Jackson's name pops up here too or even Jeff Van Gundy? I'm not sure who else is out there but maybe Billy Donovan will decide to leave for the NBA for real this time.

Update: Pat Riley will be replaced by assistant Erik Spoelstra.

Erik Spoelstra, who has never been a head coach at any level outside of the NBA's summer league, has been with the Miami Heat for 13 years after starting with the franchise as a video coordinator.

Here's a closer look at his career:

• 13 seasons on Heat coaching staff

• Heat assistant coach/director of scouting for the last seven seasons

• Heat summer league team coach for the last three years

• 2 years as player/coach for Tus Herten (Germany)

• Played college basketball at Portland

• Former West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year