Pat Riley, after his worst season coaching in the NBA, has called it quits. At least for coaching.

The reins are being handed over to bench coach, scouting director Erik Spoelstra who at 37 is now the youngest coach in the NBA.

Riley originally quit back in 2003 about 4 days before the regular season started handing over head coaching duties to Stan Van Gundy. Then back in 2005, Stan Van Gundy cited personal reasons and left the bench to become a Heat consultant while Riley stepped back in.

After winning the championship in 2006, the Heat have spiraled downward quite quickly - beset by injuries, bad offseason moves and apathy. This offseason, the Heat are facing the possibility of landing their first ever #1 pick and Pat Riley felt now, more than ever, this team needed a change in direction. Prompted perhaps by the departure of Shaquille O'neal, whom Riley himself traded, the move became almost inevitable.

Spoelstra, however, has been with the Heat for 13 years and since 2003 has served on the bench of the Heat. He has been groomed to be a head coach in this league and will have his work cut out for him. Yet, don't think that because you may not know who he is the Heat players don't - they have been working with Spoelstra since they have each arrived here in a Heat uniform and he has been responsible for helping them develop as Heat players. Spoelstra is also in charge of scouting and getting the team ready for their opponents during the regular season watching endless video and writing mounds of scouting reports compiled from data he has collected. Now he is ready to put it to use.