Who Is Jim Boylen? Chicago Bulls Fire Fred Hoiberg, Promote Former Utah Utes Head Coach

After a little more than three uninspiring seasons as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Fred Hoiberg was fired on Monday morning. Top assistant Jim Boylen was named head coach, but according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it is not on an interim basis as Boylen will be the coach of the Bulls going forward.

The 53-year-old Michigan native has been an assistant coach in both college and the NBA for most of the last 30 years, getting his first gig at Michigan State University in 1987. He has been an assistant with the Rockets, Warriors, Bucks, Pacers and Spurs, but his most prominent role was as head coach of the Utah Utes men’s basketball team from 2007 to 2011.

Boylen’s Utes had early success, winning 18 games in their first season and winning the Mountain West Conference in their second. However, after going just 27-35 over the next two seasons, Boylen was gone and back to being an NBA assistant.

Boylen, who has a bachelor's degree in business, joined the Bulls as an assistant in 2015.

The Bulls fired Hoiberg after a 5-19 start to the season, including nine losses in their past 10 games. He guided Iowa State to a pair of top ten finishes in his last two seasons in Ames, but accumulated just a 115-155 record with one short playoff trip as an NBA head coach.