Long Beach State athletic director Bobby Smitheran was hired by the university in August. He chose to fire 17-year head basketball coach Dan Monson less than seven months later.
It was a shocking move that was undoubtedly intended to make a statement.
However, Smitheran’s decision completely backfired and reflects poorly on his judgement. His moste recent comment on the situation makes him look even worse.
The Beach finished tied for fifth in the Big West at 10-10. Smitheran and Monson “mutually agreed” to part ways on the Monday before the conference tournament. The winningest head coach in school history was offered the chance to stay with his team through the postseason.
He agreed.
Monson — who was actively fired — led Long Beach State to a Big West Tournament title as a No. 4 seed. In doing so, he clinched the second March Madness bid of his tenure in Southern California.
As a result, Monson is a lame duck head coach in the NCAA Tournament. It is something out of an episode of Seinfeld.
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few offered high praise to Monson for how he has handled the unusual sequence of events.
Everything that has gone down over the last two weeks has made Smitheran look awfully dumb.
To make matters even worse, the first-year AD tried to take credit for the March Madness run in a conversation with the Associated Press. And he was dead serious!
My belief and hope is that by doing what I did and the timing of it, they would play inspired, and that’s what they did. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but it worked.
— Bobby Smitheran
Smitheran also claimed that Monson actually brought the idea to him and refused to use the word “fired.”
I don’t buy into that narrative. I think this is really getting lost on people, that we agreed that a change in leadership was necessary. This was something Coach Monson brought to me.
— Bobby Smitheran
True or not, Smitheran made the decision to announce Monson’s departure before the season’s end. It was a bad look then. It is a bad look now.
For him to then say that the timing was intentional is a joke. Smitheran, a first-year head coach that removed one of the longest-tenured coaches in college basketball, truly believes that his decision to remove one of the longest-tenured coaches in college basketball is why the college basketball team won its conference tournament.
Not the players. Not the coach. He did it! Smitheran led the Beach to March Madness by firing its coach before the season was over.
How can anyone take this guy seriously?!