IMAGINE THE FALLOUT: IF GOTTLIEB WINS AS A COACH AND THRIVES AS A HOST
The sports radio industry has too many issues to worry about Doug Gottlieb, who will continue a weekday national program from 3-5 p.m. ET yet begins as the head basketball coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay
One day on the radio, Doug Gottlieb explained his life crisis. He was ordered to leave Notre Dame’s basketball program, as a freshman fraud, because he used stolen credit cards. I was his partner that morning, in a tandem that might have lasted if he hadn’t wandered to Fox Sports and I hadn’t stayed at ESPN.
He spoke the truth, appreciably. So did I.
And today, let me shoot straight about two morons at my old network. They laughed this week about Gottlieb’s unprecedented journey: a decision to remain as a national sports host while taking over the men’s hoops program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. This is what people do in that clownish profession — laugh, giggle, backstab — when they’re lucky to be hired beyond fast-food takeaways. I’d rather ask questions and wonder if he actually might pull off his sideline-to-studio perfecta.
At first, while pondering Gottlieb’s risk, I weighed how a guy who performs weekdays from 3 to 5 p.m. ET will coach, instruct, recruit, travel and locate NIL money. Won’t game time be approaching quickly for someone expected to finish an advertising allotment at 4:50 p.m.? What happens when a player must see him during those two hours? When an assistant has a game-plan concept? When a parent shouts with a must-take call? When a local he met at a banquet wants speed-dial tickets?
Maybe it won’t work. Maybe he loses a coaching job AND a broadcast gig. But as a host, Gottlieb also will conduct 10 hours of programming and, in part, discuss a coldly ignored team in this country. It’s a convenient form of communication to people who wouldn’t be interested. “In terms of the mental gymnastics of doing it, I know I can do it,” he said at his introductory news conference. “I just have to prove I can do it.”
He’ll have to win, attract fans and support his ambitions in the Resch Center, which is seen by Packers fans on Lombardi Avenue near Lambeau Field. The Phoenix reached the NCAA tournament in 2016, but qualifying once in a while isn’t the idea, with previous appearances coming four times in the 1990s under famed Dick Bennett. When a call came from athletic director Josh Moon, who interviewed Gottlieb last year, the offer happened when Sundance Wicks accepted the lead position at Wyoming. Never mind that “The Doug Gottlieb Show” would continue. He’ll try kicking ass against ESPN, then deal with Oakland University — the Golden Grizzlies and coach Greg Kampe sent John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas — and the likes of Youngstown State and Wright State. Wicks finished 18-14, one season after a 3-29 blunder. With NIL — and visits with Jordan Love and other Packers stars — there are opportunities in Green Bay.
Will he have enough time to reach the big party in a state ruled by Wisconsin and Marquette … and discuss it on the clock? “Most coaches have their own coach's show — obviously not live, not for two hours live nationally,” Gottlieb said. “Most coaches have moments in which they're out of the office and someone else is managing the players and situations. But obviously, we're going to play it kind of as we go here. It’s not a forever, forever with the radio show. It’s a ‘let’s see how it works.’ ’’
Hmmm. I tried an anything-goes deal while performing a daily radio show with a five-day-a-week column, which included extensive travel. Later, the mixture included eight years of almost-daily TV work on ESPN’s “Around The Horn.” I stood on the site of the ancient Olympic Games, dating back to 1896 in Greece, and spoke on the phone in Chicago with a host talking about … the Bears? No one was fond of my busy career, including a wackyass producer named Cliff, who was so angry when we didn’t want a baseball executive on the program that he grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and came after us in the hallway.
This is where Gottlieb must watch his back. He has a way of finding trouble on the air, such as two years ago, when he tweeted misinformation about Freddie Freeman. Agent Casey Close sued him for defamation, forcing Gottlieb to apologize and admit he was wrong. He ripped Andrew Luck for retiring from football, tweeting, “Retiring ‘cause rehabbing is ‘too hard’ is the most millennial thing ever #AndrewLuck” — prompting Troy Aikman to fire back at him. He accused Fox’s Nick Wright of “a fake racism take” about NIL and Deion Sanders.
If he loses too many games, Gottlieb will be viewed as a failure — at least in some of the radio shops I’ve worked. Here is where I insert Len Weiner, a program director who demanded I sign a document that I wouldn’t criticize the White Sox or Bulls. I refused. I was fired, despite my ratings romp over the other local sports station, which also is run by a corrupt lifetimer. If I’m Gottlieb, I’m winning immediately, staying for a dozen years and dumping the show. Radio is a lost art. A coaching success story is not.
“Steve Kerr never blew a whistle a day in his life before he took over the Warriors. I think that’s worked out OK,” he said. “Fred Hoiberg coached at his alma mater (Iowa State) after being in the front office in Minnesota for a year. And that worked out OK. There's been plenty of nontraditional hires. I tell my kids that if somebody's not laughing at your dreams, you're not dreaming big enough.”
Some are laughing. I’m not.
“I am so excited when I heard Doug was going to be the next head coach at Green Bay,” said Tom Izzo, the Michigan State legend. “He has great passion and love for the game. It's in his blood with his father being a coach himself. Get ready Green Bay, high energy is on the way.”
“Doug Gottlieb will be a terrific coach at UWGB,” said Shaka Smart, his new rival at Marquette. “He’ll instantly connect with players, recruits and fans. He possesses terrific basketball know-how, and his infectious passion and energy will make an unmistakable impact. This is a tremendous hire.”
And, of course, a radio talent boldly approves. “Doug always wanted to coach above everything else. That's his passion and I'm glad he's pursuing it,” Fox host Colin Cowherd said. “He genuinely loves teaching people about the sport, and that's what it takes to flourish in a competitive business. He has energy and enthusiasm about this opportunity. I think it's a great fit.”
Imagine if he wins games and thrives with the microphone. Who’s next, Dan Hurley?
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.