Mike Woodson and his whole coaching staff have been fired.

Here, rather early in the day, is the Mike Woodson news we'd been expecting.

Knicks announce Woodson and his staff have been fired.

— Scott Cacciola (@ScottCacciola) April 21, 2014

Knicks announce Mike Woodson & staff officially out. Our own @Chris_Broussard reports dismissal comes after Phil Jackson meeting w/Woody

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) April 21, 2014

The statement from Phil Jackson:

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike Woodson and his entire staff," Jackson said. "The coaches and players on this team had an extremely difficult 2013-14 season, and blame should not be put on one individual. But the time has come for change throughout the franchise as we start the journey to assess and build this team for next season and beyond.

"Everyone in this franchise owes a great deal of gratitude to what Mike and his staff have done. We wish him the best."

We'll talk more about this in a bit, but for the time being:

1. The whole staff! That means Darrell Walker, Jim Todd (NOOOOOOOOOOO), Herb Williams (NOOOOOOOO LET ME GHOSTWRITE YOUR TELL-ALL BOOK) and a couple consultant/unofficial assistant types.

2. Now we wait to see what the interview process is like. Is Steve Kerr as much of a frontrunner to take Woodson's seat as he appears, or will there be some genuine competition for that spot?

3. Who's next?

Farewell, regular Woody. Long live Cool Woody, who might be in the playoffs right now if he'd stuck around.