Doug Gottlieb is currently in the middle of a historic college basketball losing streak at Green Bay. However, the 49-year-old head coach still decided to leave his team in Wisconsin to do his other job at the Super Bowl in New Orleans even though he has a big road game on Saturday.
The optics really could not be any worse!
Gottlieb was hired to coach the Phoenix during the offseason. He inherited a program that won 11 games last year and won 20 games as recently as 2018/19. It’s not easy to win at Green Bay, per se, but it can be done. There are worse programs out there.
Just not this year. Mathematically speaking, Doug Gottlieb is coaching the worst team in college basketball. Only one other school, Canisius, has two wins at this point in the season with two less losses.
Even though the Phoenix is in the middle of a 19-game losing streak at 2-22, its head coach claims that his team is actually much better than the record suggests. He even went so far as to demand a “mea culpa” from “every f—— one of you” when if they start to win. We’ll see…
Green Bay travels to Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday. The Mastodons currently sit second in the Horizon League at 16-8 overall. It is a huge game for a team that is in desperate need of a win.
And yet, Gottlieb is currently in New Orleans for the Super Bowl as a radio host for Fox Sports. Seriously.
The Phoenix is currently 2-22 with a loss to a Division-II team at home. Its head coach still decided to leave his team in Wisconsin to be on radio row in Louisiana.
Just saw, uhh, the head coach of University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, who are currently in the middle of an NCAA basketball season, doing media at Super Bowl radio row for some reason
— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) February 5, 2025
This unique agreement between Green Bay and Doug Gottlieb is between Green Bay and Doug Gottlieb. The trip to the Super Bowl was presumably agreed upon long before today and the practice schedule is likely adjusted to make accommodations. That does not change how this looks. A Division-I college basketball coach left his team, on a game week in the middle of a losing streak, to focus on his other job in a different state.