Doug Gottlieb coached Green Bay to the worst record in college basketball during his first season as the head coach in Wisconsin. Although year two got off to a much better start out of the gates, things are already starting to trend in the wrong direction after just 11 games.
A recent conversation with athletic director Josh Moon alludes to serious trouble on the home front.
The good news is that there are still more than two months left in the 2025-26 college basketball season so there is still plenty of time for the Phoenix to turn things back around and make a run. The bad news is that it is no longer looking possible. We’ll see. (I know you’re reading this, Doug. Hello!)
Doug Gottlieb acted like a “petulant” child.
The Phoenix began the year with a 43-point loss at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas is one of the best teams in the country so whatever. No big deal. Good experience!
However, Green Bay lost to Buffalo, St. Thomas (by 19), Minnesota and Yale in four of its next five games with only one win over Division-III Ripon College. Yikes.
Bounce-back wins over UMass and Iona seemed to be a step in the right direction and a blowout win over the Haskell Indian Nations helped to increase team morale. There was hope for a team that looked lifeless throughout most of Doug Gottlieb’s first season as a head coach on any level.
That leads us to last Thursday…
Green Bay held an 11-point lead over a good Robert Morris team at home with less than four minutes remaining. The Phoenix allowed the Colonials to go on a 15-3 run and lost.
If that was not bad enough, Gottlieb refused accountability and blamed his players for the loss after he threw a chair in rage on his way back to the locker room. He lated admitted that he “acted like a petulant child” on the daily radio show that he hosts with Fox Sports in addition to his job as the head coach.
The same could be said about his constant bombardment of sportswriters with whom he disagrees via direct message on social media. (It me, sportswriter with whom he disagrees. Hi Doug!) I digress.
Green Bay lost its Horizon League opener after a heated discussion with the Athletic Director.
The chair toss took place last week. A video surfaced on social media not too long thereafter.
I do not know the full context of the video but it appears to show a conversation between Doug Gottlieb and UW-Green Bay athletic director Josh Moon. It supposedly happened after the loss to Robert Morris. I cannot say for certain but the timing does not change the optics either way. It did not look friendly.
Both parties said their piece and moved on. Green Bay got ready to play Wright State on Sunday.
Gottlieb repeatedly said that his team was ready to compete in the Horizon League. All of the early season losses were indicative of the talent on his roster. They were prepared to win games moving forward. It was time to turn the focus to conference play.
And then the Raiders defeated the Phoenix by 28 points. Uh oh.
Green Bay needs to start winning, now, or what we all thought was going to be the worst head coaching hire in college basketball history is going to be the worst head coaching hire in college basketball history. The clock is ticking!