By JIMMIE TRAMEL Sports Writer on Apr 4, 2012, at 10:06 AM Updated on 4/04 at 10:12 AM
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ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb talks ball for money. He seems to have landed the job he was born to do and he’s very good at it.
So, what in the wide, wide world of sports was going on when Gottlieb all of a sudden started talking about how he would like to become Kansas State’s basketball coach?
I’ll answer the question this way: It wasn’t all of a sudden.
Gottlieb has long hinted he would like to try his hand at the family business (his dad was a college coach and his brother is a college coach). He did more than hint when the Kansas State job came open, talking openly to the Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury newspaper about his interest in the position.
Said Gottlieb, “I do believe if given the chance I would do it pretty well.”
Of course it would be a risk for an athletic director to hire someone with no coaching experience.
But, Gottlieb told the newspaper, “Look, nothing great has ever happened without somebody taking a chance. (Kansas State) took a chance on Frank (Martin) and he hit it out of the park.”
Kansas State didn’t take a chance on Gottlieb. The Wildcats hired Bruce Weber, who has Bill Self issues. Weber followed Self at Illinois and grew so weary of hearing about his predecessor that he staged a mock funeral for Self.
I believe an athletic director -- and I have no idea which one -- will take a chance on Gottlieb someday. And I don’t think it’s crazy that he thinks he can coach. Know who agrees with me? Tom Brennan is a former Vermont coach who once was Gottlieb’s broadcast partner during college basketball games.
I interviewed Brennan for a story about Gottlieb in 2010 and Brennan said this: “I used to say this to (Doug) and I believe it with my heart. He could be a hell of a coach. He really could. He’s a point guard.... He is really a smart guy. He has got a photographic memory almost. There is no doubt in my mind that he could coach, but he never has.”
So could Gottlieb actually do it?
“Sure he could do it,” Brennan said. “How successful he would be, who knows? How successful are any of us?”
I don’t question whether Gottlieb could put a staff together (he says he would surround himself with experienced coaches) or recruit, since he’s connected from coast to coast.
I do question whether Gottlieb could muzzle himself. Folks in Oklahoma can tell you that he has been wonderfully candid since the moment he stepped on OSU’s campus, sometimes to the chagrin of his former coach, Eddie Sutton. Gottlieb can get away with saying things in his current job that he couldn’t or shouldn’t say if he entered the more filtered world of coach-speak.
But there’s no doubt the press conferences would be fun. You bring an empty notebook. He’ll bring enough words to fill it.
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