The Green Bay Phoenix are set to hire radio personality Doug Gottlieb to replace Sundance Wicks as head coach.
The college basketball coaching carousel is still moving, and the latest head coaching hire comes at Green Bay where the Phoenix are reportedly set to hire Doug Gottlieb to replace Sundance Wicks.
Wicks left just a few days ago to take the head coaching position at Wyoming in the Mountain West, a position vacated by Jeff Linder who went to Texas Tech to be an assistant coach in the Big 12.
Gottlieb is unquestionably an out of the box hire, coming to Green Bay as a well known figure in the sports media industry – with stops as a broadcaster at FOX Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, and the Pac-12 Network.
He does have some coaching experience, leading Team USA at the 2017 Maccabiah Games and again in 2022 when they won gold. He also has stops at AAU and was a consultant for his alma mater Oklahoma State.
The 48-year-old does not have any head coaching experience at the collegiate level, however, and it’s unusual to say the least to see someone transition from the media space into coaching who has not previously been a head coach.
Green Bay went 18-14 last year and 13-7 in the Horizon League under coach Wicks, a huge improvement after winning just 11 games combined in the previous two seasons.
The Phoenix will hope Gottlieb, who interviewed for the job last year before Wicks was brought in, brings enough name recognition to the position to keep the positive momentum going in 2024-25.
Why hire Doug Gottlieb when you could try to catch a falling knife instead?
When you’re a low major basketball program, you can afford to take risks blue bloods cannot. Like, say, hiring a radio host with zero college basketball coaching experience.
That’s what the Green Bay Phoenix are reportedly set to do, making a Jeff Saturday-esque dip outside the world of established coaches to roll the dice on a media personality. Doug Gottlieb was one of the NCAA’s best ball distributors as a point guard at Oklahoma State in the late-1990s, but he’s best known as a syndicated radio host. Now, despite a coaching resume that starts and ends with Team USA at the Maccabiah Games, he’s getting the chance to take over a Division I program.
Green Bay is expected to hire sports talk radio host Doug Gottlieb as its next head coach, source tells SI.
Gottlieb has hunted college jobs for years and now gets an opportunity at Green Bay, where he interviewed last year before the job eventually went to Sundance Wicks.
This is an odd choice, but the Phoenix — the fourth-most notable Division I team in the state of Wisconsin (out of four) can be excused for taking a risk. Green Bay won 16 total games in the three seasons between 2020 and 2023. The school made a great decision when it hired Sundance Wicks before the 2023-2024 season, only to see his 18-win performance rewarded with a job offer at the University of Wyoming.
Enter Gottlieb, who might work despite the evidence to the contrary. Or he might be stretched entirely too thin if, as reported, he’s planning on keeping his daily three-hour radio show ON TOP of a full-time NCAA head coaching gig.
Green Bay is set to hire Doug Gottlieb as its next head coach, source told @thefieldof68.
Gottlieb, 48, was a standout point guard at Notre Dame and Oklahoma state before working in media for the past two decades – at ESPN, CBS and now at FOX, hosting his own daily radio show.…
That is … huh. At least Jeff Saturday had the presence of mind to leave his desk job at ESPN behind to take over the Indianapolis Colts. Gottlieb is pairing one full time job with another, meaning he’ll have to recruit, scout opponents, work out NIL deals, run practices and create game plans while still finding a way to fill three hours of radio time every weekday.
On top of that, a national radio show obliterates any privacy his program might have enjoyed. Gottlieb’s recruiting pitches will be indelibly tied to the hot takes he makes on air. Any suggestion he’s not the guy you hear on the radio will be met with skepticism, because he’s publicly been that guy for two decades.
When Horizon League rivals eye the same recruit, they’ll be able to make the point that none of their coaches have been sued for libel in the last two years. He’s bringing loud opinions on women’s basketball to a school where the women’s basketball team is by far the most successful program on the books. There is no nuance with a man who spends 15 hours a week shouting into the airwaves; what you see is what you get, and what you get is pretty easy to prepare for.
Green Bay was desperate to maintain the momentum of 2023-2024, a season in which the Phoenix had its second-best ever showing in the Horizon League’s regular season. They landed on a candidate who’ll immediately be the conference’s most recognizable head coach. But that double-edged sword will turn into a falling knife if he can’t focus on the job at hand.
The outlook for UCLA basketball gets worse by the day. The Trojans lost their fourth straight game Friday night, and they absorbed a second straight home-court loss at Pauley Pavilion after winning their previous 29 games at home. Maryland — which, by the way, is not having a particularly good season — went into Westwood and handled the Bruins fairly easily, building a 20-point lead and eventually winning by a comfortable nine-point margin, 69-60.
UCLA’s offense is a disaster. The Bruins simply lack high-end scorers and shooters. They don’t have elite talent. This is UCLA basketball we’re talking about, and the Bruins have been very good in recent years. They made the Final Four in 2021. They were a top-four seed in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments. UCLA basketball is not a program we cheer for here at Trojans Wire, but objectively speaking, UCLA has been good, and when UCLA is good in basketball, it should not have any problem landing top talent. Yet, as we noted earlier this week, coach Mick Cronin basically conceded that the Bruins’ NIL operation is deficient and has failed to bring in elite transfers.
Following the Maryland loss, Doug Gottlieb of Fox Sports not only made light of the Bruins’ NIL problems; he said Mick Cronin might get restless as a result. That point might be going too far — we think Cronin loves living in Los Angeles and won’t want out of UCL — but the focus on UCLA’s NIL deficiencies is impossible to ignore right now. It offers a parallel to what USC football is going through, and it’s something we’re going to continue to talk about.
If UCLA doesn’t get some NIL going, bet Mick kicks the tires on Louisville
When asked about leaving Oregon for USC, Mario Cristobal answered in a hilarious and abrupt fashion, reaffirming his place with the Ducks.
If there was ever any question about whether or not Oregon Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal might jump ship in Eugene and take his chances as the head coach of the USC Trojans, it should be put to rest immediately.
While appearing on the Doug Gottlieb show on Wednesday afternoon, Cristobal thought he was going to be involved in a conversation about his team, likely going over the program-defining win over Ohio State that took place in Columbus less than a week ago.
Instead, Gottlieb had other ideas and tried to talk to Cristobal about how possible it was that Oregon’s leading man would be interested in the job down in Los Angeles.
Cristobal’s response is priceless.
Take 30 seconds out of your day to hear Mario Cristobal dunk on Doug Gottlieb when asked about the USC rumors.
It was hard to imagine 24 hours ago that there’s anything Cristobal could do to make Oregon fans like him more, but he sure found a way to do it. The abruptness with which he shut down all questioning and even met Gottlieb’s hot-take persona with annoyance was endlessly entertaining, and something we will be listening to on repeat for quite some time.
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After having a coach leave Oregon for a “better job” less than a decade ago, it is refreshing to see Cristobal meet these rumors with such clarity. We can trust that his answer was honest.
Maria Taylor stands up for herself after being called out by Doug Gottlieb.
The NBA released the media voting results for its end-of-season awards to the public on Friday, which meant that several reporters across the country had angry fans in their mentions asking them to clarify their ballot. One of these reporters was ESPN’s Maria Taylor, who left Lakers center Anthony Davis off her ballot entirely.
Davis received 99 out of 100 total media votes to make an All-NBA team, including 79 first-team selections, and 20 second-team selections. The only member of the media to not cast a vote for Davis was Taylor, and once fans on Twitter noticed and started calling her out, she explained that it was a “CLEAR mistake.”
Wow it’s been a long week. But if everyone would now like to take away my voter privileges because of a CLEAR mistake. Please feel free.
Fox Sports’ Doug Gottlieb chimed in on the controversy, and openly asked why Taylor deserves to vote on the NBA’s All-NBA teams, arguing that she isn’t qualified for the privilege.
Why does Maria Taylor have a vote? Real question. She is a studio host/sideline reporter in her first year covering the NBA. She works a ton, not just on the league. No reason for her to have a vote https://t.co/Sy2M2jW9Pb
Studio hosts don’t give opinions. Analysts do. Panel of voters should be all former players, coaches, execs and current analysts. Doris yes. Maria No. this isn’t hard https://t.co/6hKt7p4mzm
It ain’t sexist. Don’t care that she is a wonderfully talented woman. In covering the NBA – to be a host, one who is working all over the place, she is being asked to do something she isn’t the most qualified to do. Period https://t.co/eZXn1LVwv3
Gottlieb didn’t stand down, though, and dug in on his take.
.@MariaTaylor no one questioned your work ethic.. but you are being asked to do the impossible by never saying no to an assignment. Covering a sport as a host isn’t covering it as an analyst, we both know this. Paul,JWill,JVG, Mark Jackson,Legs will all agree but it is unpopular https://t.co/oG4rrdpnrs
.@MariaTaylor these feelings are reserved to you or women. Hosts are there for opinions. Ernie, Kurt Menafee, James Brown are all great at what they do.. but they aren’t analysts paid for their opinions. https://t.co/oG4rrdpnrs
The exchange comes just a few days after had to defend herself after a radio host made sexist remarks about the outfit she wore during a Monday Night Football broadcast. The host, Dan McNeil, was later fired.
Oklahoma State football players — led by star running back Chuba Hubbard — threatened a boycott on Monday after a photo circulated on social media showing head coach Mike Gundy wearing a One America News T-shirt.
Yet, Hubbard promised that change was coming for the program. And on Tuesday, former Oklahoma State basketball player and current Fox Sports talking head Doug Gottlieb claimed that players came to Gundy with a list of demands. Those demands concerned things like hair, music and the ability to sag pants.
Oklahoma State player demands a change in policy – 1) Earrings 2)Du-Rag/Wave-Cap 3)Ability to Sag pants 4) Hair 5) Music – Music previoisly could not contain curse words, derogatory language toward women/race – These were damands, all agreed to by Gundy #NoSarcasm
Gottlieb — who has even had his credibility questioned by his own colleagues — said that Gundy agreed to those “demands.” But immediately upon seeing that tweet, Oklahoma State football players were quick to dispute the claim in its entirety.
Be careful what you say and who you listen to. The entirety of this isn’t true and depicts a bad image on us. I haven’t heard anywhere within the program that someone wants to play music that is disrespectful towards women. This isn’t the sincere objective we’re trying to achieve https://t.co/C0k3T4kDzK
Who ever said this??? That’s people problems now! NOBODY said this.. if you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes then don’t make a comment. I’m so tired of seeing this stuff. https://t.co/UX8cKOJvoz
Gottlieb’s only follow-up on the unsourced tweet was to tell someone that he was “serious.” But the chorus of Oklahoma State players denying that tweet should be telling in itself.
