. >> reporter: "new york times" reporter jonathon mahler has been following rice for six months. >> he had a very particular upbringing. he is wired a certain way. he's an incredibly intense, passionate, emotional person. these are things that helped make him a successful and a very good basketball coach, even possibly a great basketball coach, but there are also things that made him unable to control himself. >> reporter: those emotions carried rice and his team on a three year winning streak at robert morris university, a small western pennsylvania school. then, the break of a lifetime. the big leagues. head coach at rutgers university. annual salary, $650,000. the mandate, get the team out of dead last and fast. >> the media were calling us the leftovers. and the inexperienced coach from a small school in western pennsylvania. >> so i had a chip on my shoulders. and i think i put a lot on myself to show people, "a," that i could do it, and "b," that this program was going to take off, was going to change, and i was going to help change it. >> reporter: were you ready? >> looking bac