Doug Gottlieb had a bizarre first year as head coach in college basketball. To make it even more strange, Green Bay managed to accomplish something that North Carolina could not.
The Phoenix beat a team that is going to make the NCAA Tournament!
Gottlieb was hired in May despite a complete lack of experience coaching any sport on any level. That is in addition to his role as a radio host for Fox Sports, every day during the week for three hours. It is the most unique agreement in college basketball, if not sports as a whole.
And as could be expected, the 49-year-old looked absolutely exhausted throughout the entire season. The last 10 months have been a rollercoaster.
Not only did Green Bay finish with only four wins and 28 losses, there have been a lot of hiccups along the way. Gottlieb had to suspend his star player in early December, lost to a D-II school, got into a spat with Adam Schefter on social media, deleted a hot take after getting bullied, abandoned his team to do radio at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, had his Hummer involved in a hit-and-run and was mocked by LeBron James. That only begins to scratch the surface of the strange occurrences.
However, the Phoenix can claim something that the Tar Heels cannot!
Green Bay defeated SIU Edwardsville by 25 points on Nov. 19, 2024. SIU Edwardsville defeated SEMO in the Ohio Valley Tournament final on Saturday to punch its ticket to March Madness.
Thus, one of Doug Gottlieb’s first four wins during his first year as a college basketball coach came against an NCAA Tournament program. North Carolina cannot say the same this season.
All 20 of the Tar Heels’ wins were against teams that are not going to make the Big Dance. 10 of their 12 losses were against teams that are going dancing.
Let that sink in for a second. Four-win Green Bay beat an NCAA Tournament team. 20-win UNC did not.
I know it is not apples to apples, nor anywhere close, but it is truly a mind-boggling reality nonetheless. Maybe Doug Gottlieb should take over in Chapel Hill? He can beat a March Madness team….
(… just don’t ask him to win any other games because … 28 losses … YIKES!)