Paul Hewitt was undone at Georgia Tech by more than losing
When Georgia Tech's slide started, Paul Hewitt struggled to stop it. (AP photo)
(LAST UPDATED: 3:45 p.m.)
There’s a point at which it’s easy to conclude, “It’s not going to work.” Georgia Tech had reached that point with Paul Hewitt.
Hewitt was fired as Tech’s basketball coach Saturday. Some of this is about bottom-line results. Hewitt had five winning records and four NCAA tournament berths in his first seven seasons; only one winning record and a tournament appearance in the next four. Even the greatest coaches can go through down periods and survive, but that requires creating a positive atmosphere and giving off signals that a turnaround was imminent.
Hewitt didn’t do that. He left little impression that he could do that. Positive energy hasn’t existed around Georgia Tech’s basketball program for the past few years. He would blame critics for that. Critics would blame him. Regardless of where the blame lay, perception was reality.
This was the fallout:
♦ There was the financial side: Fans stopped buying tickets. The decline likely would have continued next season at a time when a drop in basketball revenues has eaten into an already tight budget, and the Jackets are preparing to move into a refurbished arena in 18 months.
♦ There was the emotional side: Hewitt didn’t respond well to criticism. He fell into the common athlete trap of a borderline juvenile Twitter war last year with critics. His intent to come to the defense of his players was admirable. But his actions backfired. It was the strategic equivalent of Wile E. Coyote accidentally tying the dynamite fuse to his foot.
♦ There was the irritant side: Hewitt often came off as arrogant and dismissive in public, even though he actually could be one of the nicest and classiest men around. Some of my more entertaining debates came with Hewitt, even though they also left me with a headache. I told him on a few occasions he was one of the most paranoid individuals I had ever met. His response often was along the lines of, “The world is out to get me.”
The problem wasn’t merely a lack of belief that Hewitt could fix the problems — it was a lack of belief that he could rally the fan base into believing he could fix the problems.
Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich was so convinced a firing was necessary that he reached the decision before the ACC tournament. He met with school president Bud Peterson twice in the past week — before the Jackets played Thursday night against Virginia Tech. Radakovich recommended the firing, and Peterson signed off on it.
In Radakovich’s words, “We had come to concurrence on that.”
Regardless of what happened in the ACC tournament?
“Well, that’s just speculation. There was no finality to it.”
We’ll let you sort out the contradiction.
Hewitt’s dramatic fall has been mind-boggling. He led the Jackets to one of their two Final Four appearances and their only national title game in 2004. Coaches don’t get dumb over night.
In recent months, I’ve asked several people close to the program their thoughts on what happened. Similar themes were repeated. Hewitt tried to do too much. When he lost some assistant coaches, he replaced the bodies, but gave them little autonomy. He obsessed over everything: coaching, academics, the players’ personal lives. Much of that goes with the territory as a college coach. But Hewitt’s resistance to allow others to help hurt his ability to coach.
The only thing more remarkable than Hewitt’s fall was how quickly some fans and alumni turned on him, to the extent that several were celebrating his imminent firing. The whole thing became distasteful.
Guard Jason Morris referenced the “lack of support” from fans, and added: “[The criticism] was worse, having to deal with that on our own home court. Having fans going against our own coach wasn’t something we would ever support. No coach should ever have to go through that.”
Understand this about Tech: The program is not in disarray. Hewitt recruited well. He didn’t bring the program shame or embarrassment. He was devoted to his profession and the mission of college athletics. The problems that exist are easily fixable. But the first chore of the new coach will be to rebuild bridges and energize the fan base. There was no reason to believe Hewitt was going to do that.
By Jeff Schultz
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
313 comments Add your comment
Earl Hickey
March 12th, 2011
3:03 pm
Hey Montell…how is everything at The Varisty? I still say you are one of best burger flippers I’ve ever seen.
Iceman
March 12th, 2011
3:03 pm
Oh darn, I thought his ridiculous contract made sure he’d never be canned.
James
March 12th, 2011
3:05 pm
Bruce Pearl from Tennessee will be a good coach for Tech.
BW
March 12th, 2011
3:12 pm
This move was a long time in the making. Putting aside the contract issues, to go from NCAA runner-up in 2004 to where we are now and in the ACC no less is simply stunning. To think of the NBA players that passed thru our doors in Jarrett Jack, Chris Bosh, Derrick Favors, Jarvis Crittendon, Thaddeus Young, Anthony Morrow, and Will Bynum to name a few and after 2004 to barely make the tourney is an indictment of the coaching. This is about wins and losses….of course we are grateful that the program is not immersed in scandal but that is to be expected of any coach at this level. I wish Coach Hewitt all the best in his future and certainly hope that now the fans of Georgia Tech will come back out to support our basketball program and especially the new arena when it opens.
dawgfan
March 12th, 2011
3:12 pm
what a depressing weekend for Dawg fans. no hoops for the Dawgs and GT has fired Hewitt.
Rock Star from Mars
March 12th, 2011
3:14 pm
I say get the coach from Butler….can relate to younger kids and wont have a color agenda, imo. Its about BB first and Ga has plenty of athletes. More Jarret Jacks, less Thad Youngs and D. Favors. One and dones cost Pewey his job. Hope the next coach doenst make the same mistake.
billybuzz65
March 12th, 2011
3:18 pm
`Coach Hewitt lost me a year or so ago when he was explaining that he could not get his players to do what he wanted them to do. I could not imagin Bobby Knight settling for what a player want to do over what he needed him to do. That player would be riding the bench until he could play team ball. I don’t know who was coaching those first 4 years, but it was not Hewitt.”
Tech Fan
March 12th, 2011
3:19 pm
Rock Star I like that idea, that Butler Coach would be a good target
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
3:24 pm
FMJ
Yes, I got the same thing from many people. Hewitt was not all up the players butts and micromanaging a damn thing. The Oppisite is what many said was happening. Hewitt stepped out on the TRULY hard work of running a program.
Delta Stewardess
March 12th, 2011
3:28 pm
Paul Hewitt BLESS HIS HEART!
Ross
March 12th, 2011
3:28 pm
It surely didn’t help that his star players bolted for the Not Basketball Association, basically torpedoing any plans for continuity he might have had working.
will
March 12th, 2011
3:29 pm
No side to pick in any of this. Atlanta is an area waiting to explode on the college basketball scene.
Either UGA or GaTech will do it. Maybe even GaState with the right coach. A market and talent
ripe as a plum ready to pick.
If one of the schools, I attended, Gonzaga can do it in Spokane, GA schools can set the sky as the limit.
JSS
March 12th, 2011
3:35 pm
A lot of people have mentioned Steve Levin and the job he’s done at St. John’s. There is a real lesson in this for Paul Hewitt. As Jeff Schultz can attest about Lavin’s time in Westwood, the same things attributed to Hewitt as shortcomings, were attached to Lavin. The same held true for Fran Fraschilla,
They were sent to old coaches heaven/hell (ESPN). In that time they spent some time seeing what “really” went wrong. Now see the difference, Lavin delude himself into thinking he was a good “X and O’s coach” at UCLA. This time he surrounded himself with different seasoned voices who are not looking for their big shot. Now I’m going to jump on the he’s a great coach now bandwagon. But he’s clearly learned from his mistake in that light…
Paul Hewitt, learn from your mistakes and just wait for a good (not the perfect) opportunity…
JSS
March 12th, 2011
3:38 pm
REPOST
Now I’m (”not”) going to jump on the he’s a great coach now bandwagon.
Gordon Muire
March 12th, 2011
3:39 pm
Earl Hickey
Montell does not work for the Varsity. He doesn’t work at any Varsity location. I would consider hiring him but he will have to show me he has Frank’s values. Mr. Gordy was something special and we expect to hire the type of people that want to be apart of the Varsity Family for many many many years. Irby Walker was the type of person the Varsity is looking to GROW with. Please don’t use my family’s business as a punchline. We have been in Atlanta and a Landmark for a long time. The Coke Cola Bottling Company became Huge with much help from the VARSITY. The Varsity is not and never will be the PUNCHLINE to a bad Joke.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
March 12th, 2011
3:41 pm
the firing was long overdue…program is not the same as it was 5 years ago
gtkenz
March 12th, 2011
3:41 pm
The mental aspect of this whole deal has me torn in multiple places. Did CPH need to go, yes. Did CPH fail as a coach, or did we fail him?
To me, it’s a mixed bag. CPH did what no GT Hoops coach had ever accomplished; he took a team to the National Title Game. How we forget. He also consistently recruited one and done players and rarely developed slightly above average talent.
I think where I struggle with this is the media. The fans spoke and they spoke loud, but how much of that was a direct result of the media and not the losses?
I’m no different, I read and I post, but I generally don’t side with the writers. I played the game and other games at a high level, and I just don’t think these AJC writers ever did. I question their knowledge of the game. Certainly they understand the rules and how the game is played, but do they really understand the game………I think not.
It was time to move forward, I think, but no one deserves to have their future dictated by a bunch of non-athletic geek journalists. It’s like Obama. Does he deserve to be President or did the liberal media get him elected?
I’ll continue to read your stories on the net, I guess, but I’m not buying your fire starter papers ever again. I wish CPH the best and I hope he can find a way to rebound and get back in the game.
JSS
March 12th, 2011
3:44 pm
Ain’t nobody touching Bruce Pearl with a “Eddie Sutton pole” right now!
mrb
March 12th, 2011
3:46 pm
The most anticlimactic firing in the history of sports. If it wasn’t for the buyout, it would have happened a couple of years ago. Jeff, on several occasions you have mentioned how suprisingly fast Tech fans turned on Hewitt. Frankly, I just don’t see it. The decline in the program started immediately after the pinnacle of 2004. That’s seven years ago! I’d say that shows the Tech fan’s hallmark patience, not a quick “turning” on our coach. And the criticism of Coach Hewitt by our alumni and fans is rooted in the fact he can’t win ACC games. While I have seen understandable frustration turn to dreaded apathy, I haven’t heard of, or seen any widespread “distatseful” behavior. It’s nnot like the guys had bricks thrown through his windows. I suppose you could argue that the fact everyone is so well versed in Mr. Hewitt’s contract is distasteful, but is it not the media in general and the AJC in particular that has been disseminating that information?
The Fallen
March 12th, 2011
3:50 pm
Dip Metress at Augusta State University..He is hungry, turned a fair division II team into a powerhouse division II program. He could be had on the cheap and would absolute win at Tech. But don’t take my word for it. Check him out.
blazerdawg
March 12th, 2011
3:54 pm
Why criticize GT’s fans for criticizing CPH or making them seem ungrateful?
Would UNC, or UK, or even USC put up with the poor results of the past few years? We would not have even accepted this level of performance at UGA – at least we keep trying to find the right fit.
This is CPH’s fault alone. Wish him well, but c’mon Tech fans and alum sharing in the fault – pleeease.
gtne80
March 12th, 2011
3:57 pm
I could be wrong, and I hope I am, but I think 3 years from now we will regret this decision. I fear that we’ve fallen into the NCState trap. Hewitt is a classy guy. He may have gotten snippy with the press lately, but he’s been under increasing pressure. As an alumni, I appreciate the fact that he represents Georgia Tech well. He has run a clean program and avoided any major off-court embarrassments in a time when it’s easy to fall prey to such things (e.g., Bruce Pearl, Jim Harrick, etc.). Good luck to Coach Hewitt. I hope we’re able to find a good replacement.
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
3:58 pm
PEOPLE don’t even bring up names that don’t have a WINNING record in Bad conferences. This is a JOB in the ACC. The next coach has to be ready to face the Best of the Best. The ACC is not the SEC, Pac10. Mountain West or the likes. TECH needs a coach that understands the ACC and the requirements. Hewitt knew the risks and fell victim to those said RISKS.
I am glad I have not seen the MARK PRICE crap today. I would rather hear Perry Clark than Mark Price.
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
4:01 pm
gtne80
How is PAUL classy? Why would Tech be unhappy in a few years even if the new coach is losing? If the next coach loses Tech can get rid of him for a lot LESS than it is costing to be rid of Blewitt.
JSS
March 12th, 2011
4:02 pm
Dip Metress has a good thing in Augusta. He’d be a “DWayne Morrison fool” to touch the Tech job. Metress is a great coach but he doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The Tech job is a fine job; but it needs to go in different direction and have someone who can deal with those types of fringe expectations as well…
The Fallen
March 12th, 2011
4:06 pm
Dip Metress also makes less than $70K a year at ASU. He would jump at the opportunity to double his salary with access to shoe/camp/radio money as well. He will give Tech or whoever gives him his chance 110%, which I suspect will be better than any retread “name” coach out there for a fraction of the cost. He knows how to recruit and build, which is what Tech needs.
gtne80
March 12th, 2011
4:08 pm
5150 UOAD – If the new coach is losing in 3 years, we’ll be getting rid of another coach AND still paying Hewitt. As to how Hewitt is classy, I tried to explain my basis for that in my earlier post (i.e., running a clean program in a time of so much electronic media exposure). I’ve seen him on CBS basketball programs with other coaches and he came across well. I don’t think I’ve read anything where he’s taken any dirty shots at his critics. For the most part, he’s either accepted responsibility or kept his mouth shut. No one’s perfect.
gtne80
March 12th, 2011
4:11 pm
I think we’re paying a karmic debt for forcing Bobby Cremins out in the way that we did.
The Fallen
March 12th, 2011
4:12 pm
I think you are right.
Bill Walton
March 12th, 2011
4:13 pm
Just make sure Isiah isn’t in the mix for a new coach
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
4:15 pm
So Hewitt is like the captain of the Titanic. All calm and polite telling the band to play as the Ship sinks. Paul has shown very little passion EVER. 2 yrs ago at the Caravan in Cobb. I called him out but instead of answering DRad took the question. DRad deflected the Issue of TECH SUCKING and Hewitt doing little or next to nothing to pose a fight or good comeback.
Eddie Sutton
March 12th, 2011
4:16 pm
Two openings for college coaches in Atlanta? Wonder if State or Tech will sign the better coach?
mrb
March 12th, 2011
4:16 pm
Pretty sad commentary when running a clean program is considered “special”. Coach Hewitt had his chances. After ‘04, he lost two very good assitant coaches and never replaced them with comparable talent. I’ll never understand why. But one thing’s clear, if he didn’t do it in the last seven years, it was never going to happen. I doubt we’ll regret this decision, but regardless, the relationship is beyond repair anyway.
The Thin Gold Line
March 12th, 2011
4:19 pm
It was time to make a change, needless to say. Hewitt’s downfall was the one & done player. However, if you are going to be a top 5 pick (Bosh, Favors), you’re crazy for staying in school. Remember James Forrest? Had he come out after being MOP in the ACC tourney (when his stock was as its highest), he would have been better off. Crittenton’s decision to leave after 1 year & Lawal leaving after 09-10 season didn’t do Hewitt any favors. Jeff, I’m glad to see that you think Tech basketball is NOT in shambles unlike some blowhard talk show people think. When Tech first came into the ACC & when Cremins came to Tech the program was in shambles, but not now.
GIVE ME A BREAK
March 12th, 2011
4:19 pm
Don’t feel sorry for Hewitt. He coached like he wanted to be fired. Embarrassing.
Hire the General
March 12th, 2011
4:22 pm
There is only 1 name you need for the Tech job—the General, Bobby Knight. He can restore discipline to an out of control program and clean out all the rif raf. Tech can get Knight for $3 million and he will sell big tickets.
moboman
March 12th, 2011
4:22 pm
CPH is gone not because of the media. He lost the fan base because his teams consistently failed to do the things necessary to win basketball games, despite having the talent level to do so on many occasions. Because the fan base got sick and tired of seeing teams that gave games away at the free throw line, on inbounds plays, and displaying a lack of team oriented discipline in playing style. Paul Hewitt is a fine individual, but his job was to coach up his players to the ACC level. That he did not do.
JSS
March 12th, 2011
4:24 pm
There has been no greater supporter of Dip Metress and his abilities to build a program than me. But “Dip Metress also makes less than $70K a year at ASU. He would jump at the opportunity to double his salary with access to shoe/camp/radio money as well” doesn’t mean diddly compared to having control in your program and peace of mind. Now if he wants the headache that is Tech, be my guest. But he can stay at Augusta and be like the coach at Minnekota State or some of the other great coaches in this land who most of you have not heard of. But they graduate their kids, they run clean programs, and they develop the occasional diamond in the rough that no one else would have touched like Garret Siler. If Dip would have taken a chance on Garret at Tech; you folks would have been up in arms. Instead because he was at Augusta, a young man had his life changed…
O'Brien
March 12th, 2011
4:32 pm
Jeff,
If you’re St. John’s, how happy are you that Hewitt turned you down?
JSS
March 12th, 2011
4:33 pm
“He can restore discipline to an out of control program and clean out all the rif raf.” Say what? Bobby Knight is most undisciplined person around. He has Tiger Woods like discipline. Go ask Texas Tech what it is like when you make a deal with the devil!
The Fallen
March 12th, 2011
4:37 pm
All fair points, JSS…sounds like you and I are both fans of his. You may be exactly correct in that he is quite content and will spend his days a very, very big fish in a very, very small pond. I personally believe that he aspires for bigger and better things, both in basketball and at the bank. I said all that to say this, Tech might be too big a step, a nice mid major close to home (Winthrop, Georgia Southern, think Big South or So Con) might be what the doctor ordered. If we was having that kind of success at a D-I mid major today, I would really agree with you, who needs the headaches? But the fact that he is at a DII school, I bet he feels the itch to jump to D-I…Unless, of course, ASU is planning on rejoining the D-I ranks? That I doubt.
JSS
March 12th, 2011
4:42 pm
Look, you don’t have to get a retread, pay too much, or get make a deal with the devil at Tech. Coaching at a meat grinder like Tech requires three things 1) ability 2) KY – because you’re going to get screwed and 3) people skills…
There are some fine high level young coaches ready for the challenge. Then when they do the job, be ready to pay! Just don’t give them a ridiculous rollover clause! Good luck in your coaching search…
gtne80
March 12th, 2011
4:52 pm
I hate Bobby Knight. I’d love to use the term “overrated” in describing him, but I’m afraid that I’d catch flack. I think ESPN has overblown his reputation as a coach. He’s a thug, a brute and the most arrogant ^&^%&% I’ve ever observed. I’d pukeif we hired that jerk.
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
4:53 pm
@blazerdawg
Ask Matt Doherty if UNC will put up with mediocrity in basketball.
JSS
March 12th, 2011
4:59 pm
I have no doubt that he can coach or may want to coach D-1. Still, I hope he stays there because this benefits more from him being at Augusta then it will ever benefit from him being at UGA or a Tech. He develops “men” at Augusta. He will only develop basketball players for the most part at a D-1 program. It is just the nature of the beast.
I don’t think he’s a big fish in a small pond guy, I just have watched how he runs that program. They people at Tech would be up in arms at his level of control there… He is not a dictator, but he knows what is going on everywhere…
Javaris Crittenden is no more prime example. You can’t blame the “urban public schools” as many love to point out on these blogs. He was a product of a insular private preparatory education. Hewitt gave him free rein within the offense at Tech and he was immature 3 years into his professional career as the day he led SWAC. Do I blame Hewitt? No, his door was open. Do I blame Crittenden? Heck yeah, he threw away all of that promise. I’d hate to see him having to be in that fish bowl instead building fine young basketball players with a shelf beyond the NBA…
The Thin Guy
March 12th, 2011
5:07 pm
Why is it Duke has one of the best basketball programs in the country and a horrible football team? You can’t blame athletics for everything. I’d feel sorry for Hewitt but with a $ 7.4 million payment coming up, I’d take that in a minute. Millions to pay a coach not to coach and 45 million for a new top for the BB stadium, what is this recession thing? At least Coach Hewitt is a class act and not a Charlie Sheen.
anon
March 12th, 2011
5:17 pm
Gt is going to be in no position to pay anyone, they’re definitely going to have to look at the low to mid major level to find their coach.
GT is a 4th rate high school team
March 12th, 2011
5:25 pm
???????? Have North Ave fans really, really purchased tickets???????
gtne80
March 12th, 2011
5:25 pm
Bobby Knight? You’ve got to be nuts. Knight is the most overrated coach of all time. He’s a brute who coached at Indiana by intimidation. His performance at Texas Tech wasn’t anything to recommend him. His methods are outdated. He’s a product of Dick Vitale’s overblown praise and ESPN playing him up as a commentator.
Honestly, I don’t know where we’re getting a coach. The ACC is still among the best conferences, if not still the best year after year, but it’s not the dominant conference that it once was. That’s possibly because the ACC is now even more stratified than when we first got into the conference. It’s now Duke, then Carolina and then “everybody else.” When Tech first got into the conference, you could count on Maryland, NC State, UVa or Wake to have decent teams (and Tech had some good ones too) to challenge the “top two.” Now it seems that no one has an answer for Coach K. It’s frustrating to watch the top talent just line up to beg to go to Duke year after year while the rest of the conference scrambles for the scraps.
Prayers Are Answered
March 12th, 2011
5:28 pm
If you people could see how the basketball (Insert Laff Here) are on the GT campus, perhaps you would have a better understanding of the attitude & ego concerns that exist. To see Shumpert, Rice & the rest of the followers doing their” Look at Me, I’m the man on campus” would provide anyone with some of the problems with the “Basketball Team” ( Insert Laugh Again). GT is no better than & perhaps not as good as a street pick-up game.. D. Miller gives 100% & it’s sad the rest of the team doesn’t..