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Oklahoma State Basketball

Doug Gottlieb Gets His Head Coach Job

May 14, 2024
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STILLWATER – I can hear his college coach now from beyond the grave. “Doug Gottlieb, Doug, Doug, what are you thinking Gottlieb,” comes the crash voice of the late Hall-of-Fame head backetball coach Eddie Sutton. “I know you want to coach, but Doug you can’t be hosting a radio show and trying to coach your team at the same time.”

Pokes Report
Gottlieb on the practice court as an analyst for Mike Boynton at Oklahoma State.

That is what Doug Gottlieb is apparently going to do. He will become the new head coach of the UW-Green Bay Phoenix, the 10th head coach in school history and he will continue to host a national radio show on Fox Sports Radio. Most recently, in the coaching realm, Gottlieb served as an analyst for Oklahoma State basketball and recently fired head coach Mike Boynton. Gottlie, for the second time, showed interest and mounted a campaign for the OSU position.

Tuesday afternoon, Director of Athletics Josh Moon officially announced the hiring of Gottlieb. Gottlieb replaces Sunny Wicks, who left Green Bay to take over the head coaching job at Wyoming. An introductory press conference to announce Gottlieb as the next Phoenix head coach will be held on Wednesday, May 15th at the Kress Events Center at 10 a.m. CT. Tune in to our YouTube page to watch the press conference live.

“As of [Tuesday] morning, I’m the new coach at Wisconsin Green Bay,” Gottlieb said on his show. “There’s a side note, the Doug Gottlieb Show will continue on as we’ve come to an agreement that this is what we’re gonna do. But I’m excited.”

Oklahoma State Basketball
Gottlieb at Oklahoma State.

Gottlieb came to Oklahoma State after starting his college playing career at Notre Dame. His father had been an assistant for Eddie Sutton, so when Gottlieb had some off the court issues and had to transfer to a junior college his father contacted Sutton. 

Sutton and Gottlieb were a strong pair as head coach and point guard, although Sutton had probably not had too many players as opinionated as his point guard during those seasons. In his first season at OSU, Gottlieb was named All-Big 12 honorable mention and conference newcomer of the year, breaking OSU's single-season assist average. The following season, Gottlieb was named All-Big 12 honorable mention, and led the nation in assists; only the second Cowboy to lead the nation in a statistical category. Capping off what would be a stellar college career at OSU, Gottlieb finished out his Senior season second in the nation in assists, while ultimately leading Oklahoma State to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.

During his playing career at Oklahoma State, Gottlieb started broadcasting as a part-time job. He first filled in for me on my radio show. He was good, really good. When we were together with the USBL Oklahoma Storm on the road, Gottlieb and I would often co-host the show.
 
Internationally, Gottlieb traveled to Israel and won a gold medal as the MVP for the United States team at the 2001 Maccabiah Games. He would later return to the Maccabiah games as a coach, alongside Bruce Pearl for Team USA at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, as well as the 2017 and 2022 Maccabiah Games, where he helped lead the US to a gold medal in Jerusalem.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Gottlieb on CBS doing NCAA Tournament games.

Gottlieb continued his broadcasting career with ESPN Radio's GameNight in 2003, eventually becoming a regular host and filling in on other ESPN shows. He transitioned to TV, contributing to SportsCenter and ESPN/ESPN2 games, while also launching ESPNU. In 2012, Gottlieb made the move over to CBS Sports. There, he co-hosted "Leadoff" and his own show, later transitioning to Fox Sports in 2017, where he hosts "The Doug Gottlieb Show" on Fox Sports Radio and occasionally substitutes for Colin Cowherd on FS1's "The Herd."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Discussion from...

Doug Gottlieb Gets His Head Coach Job

2,684 Views | 6 Replies | Last: 6 mo ago by RodeoPoke
TUSKAPOKE
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Congrats to Doug!!! This will be fun to watch.
Zen
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Obviously, this job is a stepping stone for Doug. I don't think he will give up his quest to become Cowboy coach. Glad to know he loves OSU that much. He'll need several years of success before he would be considered as a candidate. He's young enough to pull it off eventually. I can't imagine UW-GB has much NIL money, so he might not have much to work with there in terms of talent. Doug is a high achiever, so this should be interesting now that he finally has his foot in the door as a coach.
RodeoPoke
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WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT COACH DOUG GOTTLIEB
Matt Holliday Former MLB Star
"I'm thrilled to watch Doug lead a program as head coach. Coaching is something he's watched his father and brother be very successful at and has always been in his blood. He's a great communicator and has a vast knowledge of the game from lots of different perspectives. The University of Wisconsin Green Bay is in great hands and I'm looking forward to getting my Green and White sweatshirt in the mail."

Tom Izzo Michigan State Men's Basketball Coach
"I am so excited when I heard Doug was going to be the next head coach at Green Bay. 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."

Shaka Smart Marquette Men's Basketball Coach
"Doug Gottlieb will be a terrific coach at UWGB. He will instantly connect with players, recruits, and fans. He possesses terrific basketball know-how, and his infectious passion and energy will make an unmistakable impact on the Horizon League almost immediately. This a tremendous hire."

Fran McCaffery Iowa Men's Basketball Coach
"I've recruited, coached and mentored Doug Gottlieb for the last 30 years. Doug has a unique ability to both understand the game and teach it as a broadcaster. As a player his mind was that of a coach, as a broadcaster the same. He has the passion for the players, the game and is going to be amazing with the community building something special in Green Bay."

Brian Barone SIUE Men's Basketball Coach
"Green Bay is bringing a wealth of basketball tenacity of Doug. He has been around the game since the day he was born as coach's son. I saw firsthand how he was a leader on the floor when I competed against him in college. Over the years I have always respected how Doug had a true passion for the game. He once told me to remember to tell the people that you love WHY you love them and not just THAT you love them. The Green Bay community means so much to my family and I'm excited for him to share that same insight and passion to Green Bay that he shared with me."

Chris Beard Ole Miss Men's Basketball Coach
"Congrats to UW-Green Bay on a great hire. Doug has been around college basketball his whole life in many roles and has always been successful. He was a leader and champion as a player. He will show it again as a head coach. Doug is truly a student of the game and he knows what it takes to achieve excellence. Above all, he is a winner on and off the court."

Miles Simon Phoenix Suns Assistant Coach
"Doug is one of the best basketball minds I've been around! He can see the game, understand the game and teach the game at a high level. He loves to be around young players and help them grow and develop as people and players!"

Brian Anderson Sportscaster, TNT and Milwaukee Brewers
"I've known Doug Gottlieb for nearly 15 years. We've spent many hours together, on and off the air, talking college basketball. I always believed Doug was a college basketball coach. Even as his broadcasting career skyrocketed and his commentary expanded into various topics and sports, he has been, and always will be, a coach. I saw it when he broke down film and practices. I saw it in his interactions with coaches, players and programs we covered together on television, and I saw how he led our production crew on the games we were assigned. I always believed that, just like his father and his brother, Doug did all of that not as a media personality, but as a coach. Kudos to the administration at UW-Green Bay for recognizing the "coach" in Doug Gottlieb. He was born in Wisconsin and now he's back in Wisconsin, right where he belongs."

Scott Van Pelt Sports Media, ESPN
"I'm thrilled for Doug to bring his knowledge of the game as well as his passion for it to the bench. He now only "knows ball", he's lived it. He grew up with it and now he can share all that he knows with these young men. I can't imagine how proud his dad would be. He's excellent at what he's done in media but THIS is what he is meant to do."

Colin Cowherd Sports Media, Fox Sports
"Doug always wanted to coach above everything else. That's his passion and I'm glad he's pursuing it. He genuinely loves teaching people about the sport, and that's what it takes to flourish in a competitive business. He's got energy and enthusiasm about this opportunity. I think it's a great fit."
RodeoPoke
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"I know what I'm signing up for, I know what I'm doing," Gottlieb said on Inside Wisconsin. "I wake up every day and I love having a purpose. I love having a team. I love building culture. I want the kids to love playing with each other, for each other, and for the school. They may like playing for me. I just want them to respect playing for me."

"First, we want all the dudes that are there, we want them all to stay," Gottlieb said on Fox Sports. "Secondly, we're gonna go get some good ones. Third, we wanna raise some money because none of this is done for free. We have to start that process. But in terms of things i want to do in Green Bay, Iwant to go to Summerfest. Brian Anderson, who calls Brewers games, said maybe I can get you on a Brewers broadcast. Like, Brew Crew! Let's go! I want to have Jordan Love ride my bike."

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The prior coach (Sundance Wicks) was only there for 1 season before going to Wyoming, and Doug was a finalist then.

Coach Wicks turned the program around, and left it in pretty good shape.

It just doesn't seem to matter with this group, which has moved into a tie with Towson for the single-best turnaround in Division I men's basketball history with a 17 game improvement.

May 1st - Wednesday afternoon, Green Bay men's basketball Head Coach Sundance Wicks announced the addition of two transfers to the 2024-25 roster, Cole Henry and Scottie Ebube.

"Going into this offseason one of the biggest areas of improvement on our roster that we needed to address was that of size, skill, physicality, and depth inside," said Wicks. "We hit on our top two targets in Cole & Scottie, and they are going to be difference makers! Adding two experienced, tough-minded winners from the always physical Missouri Valley to go alongside Amari (Jedkins) gives us a look inside that not many teams in this league will have."

backphil
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No man can serve two masters. Split loyalty is no loyalty. Doug is a joke if he believes he is justified in splitting his time between his radio show and coaching duties. Surprised he was able to make that deal. oSu would never agree to that. It is all about the money to Doug. Whether stealing from his team mate at Notre Dame or from the student athletes he proposes to coach. He cannot bear to "suffer" any personal financial sacrifice to become a basketball coach, which virtually every other successful head coach has done. You start at the bottom and give it everything you have, not half effort.
Class 1980
RodeoPoke
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backphil said:

No man can serve two masters. Split loyalty is no loyalty. Doug is a joke if he believes he is justified in splitting his time between his radio show and coaching duties. Surprised he was able to make that deal. oSu would never agree to that. It is all about the money to Doug. Whether stealing from his team mate at Notre Dame or from the student athletes he proposes to coach. He cannot bear to "suffer" any personal financial sacrifice to become a basketball coach, which virtually every other successful head coach has done. You start at the bottom and give it everything you have, not half effort.
I tend to agree with you about splitting duties.

However, I'm thinking that might just be old-school mentality. If the only way they could pay him was to agree to outside income (most schools have a "coaches show" on radio/video to help offset the coach salary, just really isn't that much different.

If it gets GB's name out there, increases fan and corporate interests, and gets the attention of potential recruits, then one could make an argument that he is actually doing a big part of his job with the on-air gig.

I'm going to wait and see if it is actually a hinderance, as you suggest.
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