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
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313 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
March 12th, 2011
7:28 pm
JSS and The Fallen, are you guys from Augusta as I am, or do you both just stay well-informed on basketball in Georgia? I would love to see what Dip Metress could do with the players Tech has now; the man can coach !!! And, as you both said, he IS a recruiter. But I doubt that any Division 1 school in the country would even consider a Division 2 coach for a head coaching position….an assistant, yes, but not a head coach.
Paul Hewitt
March 12th, 2011
7:29 pm
Where is my money?
I need it NOW!
gladheisgone
March 12th, 2011
7:30 pm
Hewitt’s players can sit and say nice things about him but they clearly had no respect for him. I was at the KSU game and saw them stare off into the stands while he tried to talk to them. I saw him jump up and down waving his arms to try to get their attention and they never looked his way. He is probably a nice guy and a great recruiter but he knows nothing about commanding respect from his team.
collegeballfan
March 12th, 2011
7:31 pm
Hewitt is gone. Lets move on.
I would make Brad Stevens at Butler say a loud “NO!” before I even interviewed anyone else for the GT job.
our program is a sleeping giant
March 12th, 2011
7:42 pm
and anybody who says different doesnt know squat.
both bobby c and phew were fairly good recruters. bobby more so than phew. bobby was a good judge of talent an he knew how to put a team together. phew? meh. he liked em long tall black and athletic.
neither coach was an x’s an o’s genius howerver…… bobby can coach rings around time out phewitt..
get a young energetic coach to coach at gt. one that is astute at the x’s and o’s and one that can sell the benefits of gt….. the city of atlnata….. and the acc and we will take off.
there is NO reason why we can not compete every year with duke and nc for national prominence. especially when you consider the wealth of talent that the state has every year.
JB180
March 12th, 2011
7:42 pm
It probably was time for Hewitt to go. That being said, Georgia Tech basketball fans are the whiniest bunch I have ever seen. I grew up here going to Tech events and I love the school. They are my second favorite after the one I attended. However, the basketball fans are very hard to please. They whine at refs calls even when they are winning. Paul Hewitt did not continue his streak after a national championship, but his players also did not get in big trouble and he ran a clean program. He is a class act and I am glad Dave Braine gave him that insane contract! GT fans will whine with the next coach too!
Three points
March 12th, 2011
7:53 pm
1. Don’t think Brad Stevens is coming. Maybe take the IU job, but he appears content at Butler, and has turned down numerous offers over the years. Kind of like Mark Few at Gonzaga and Chris Peterson at Boise State.
2. Heard Mark Price’s name mentioned on the radio. I am assuming Mark has millions in the bank, since he doesn’t look like the guy to blow it. Would he want to put in the work required of a major college coach?
3. Don’t agree with Richt-Hewitt comparisons. Richt has had two poor seasons by UGA standards, but he has 6 top ten finishes, including a #2 and #3 final ranking, along with 2 SEC titles. Hewitt caught lightning in a bottle one time. He finished above .500 in conference play one time. There is no comparison in the records of the two men.
BartBuzz
March 12th, 2011
7:59 pm
Nice article, Jeff.
Paul Hewitt seemed like a perfect fit after his first five years. Then things fell apart. The last 5 years showed me there was no hope in bringing Tech basketball back its glory days if Coach Hewitt stayed. Last year’s team had some great talent but never reached the hoped-for potential. Let’s face it. If not for that farcical buyout clause, Hewitt would have been fired two years ago. I do hope DRad won’t let that ever happen again. Make the next coach earn his pay with some incentive clauses instead.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:00 pm
What are we gonna do without the Armani suits on the sideline
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:01 pm
I am hammered …… the celebratrion started at noon today Iwoulda been 10 if not for yardwork)
DawginLex
March 12th, 2011
8:04 pm
No dawg in this fight obviously but it was time for this to happen.
Hewitt did have a good run but the losses can’t be ignored.
He did run a clean program and he has some talent in house.
Any word on the recruits switching from Tech?
JSS
March 12th, 2011
8:06 pm
@ Supersize that order, mutt…
I’m more a fan of the NBA; but I’ve always followed all levels of hoops here in GA from the NAIA to the old JCs.
I’ve said it many times that I’m no fan of D-1 basketball… I’ve been watching basketball (on all levels) in the State of Georgia since 1967. I understand a lot of the frustration in this State in regards to the so-called “never tapped resource of home grown talent.” But when you look at it realistically in its true historical context, basketball is on the level that it should be here…
Dip can couch on any level even the D-League. He understands the International game better anyone in the South. I think the Tech folks would go nuts because he believes in shooting teams out of zones, as opposed to penetrating them unmercifully. The college game is built to that more than the pro game. But I have no doubt that he can recruit enough in GA and use his international links to get a competitive ACC team. I just think he is served better being at Augusta… Give him 4 guards with range and a wing that can finish and look out…
blazerdawg
March 12th, 2011
8:10 pm
Dip can coach ANYWHERE…as far as jumping from DII to DI goes, how about Hal Mumme from Valdosta State football to UK; worked out pretty well, for a while, then…
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:14 pm
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”
HAHAHAHAHAHA stressed over academics??? REALLY???? What did he average one graduate evey two years??? Bravo Paul bravo… If he was stressing about all this he is a bigger failure than I thought he was, which believe me I thought that was impossible
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:15 pm
So who do the tech fans want?
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:16 pm
Been screaming this for 6 years … good to know the people running the institure where I graduated are on top of the ball …. Hey F HEW Savannah St might need a coach
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:21 pm
And also I would like to add how pathetic the AJC has been over the years. I am from Queens NY and if theis JackA$$ was coaching up there he woulda been gone by 2006 (at the latest). Either the media woulda made him cry (heck Mark Bradley cracked him, MARK BRADLEY) or he woulda been canned due to the ineptitude before it got outta hand
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:23 pm
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:15 pm
So who do the tech fans want?
OBAMA
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
8:24 pm
Cattle
I don’t the Tech fans really have a favorite right now. We have been trying to rid of Hewitt with little success. Him finally being fired has left us some what shocked and not ready to name a new coach as fans. I want to see who is interested in facing the challenges of the ACC. I am sure there are a few coaches that would love to be at TECH. As much as we need the right guy the right guy has to want to be at TECH and face the rigors of ACC play every year.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:30 pm
And please stop claiming F HEW is a nice guy … Have you hung out with him?? Is you wife friends with the nut carrier in the Hewitt family?? I mean please. …. Who the HECK did not think Tiger was a straight and arrow guy two years ago??? Guess what ……. I mean he can’t graduate players, he can’t coach, he obviously can’t take ANY criticism ???? How can anyone give this N.T.A.C. a job?
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:33 pm
How bout Pitino?
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
8:35 pm
Pitino? Why not DEAN SMITH.
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:39 pm
I mean Pitino still has his teeth in, I think.
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:43 pm
Just keep him out of Italian restaurants.
NYJacket
March 12th, 2011
8:44 pm
I hope we are smart enough to include a performance clause in the next coaches contract.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:45 pm
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:33 pm
How bout Pitino?
C’mon SON!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LITi7H4T72I
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
8:47 pm
POAD
You do realize that poor old Deano has senile dementia, I hope
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:51 pm
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
8:47 pm
POAD
You do realize that poor old Deano has senile dementia, I hope
Are you really trying to talk bout Dean Smith this way???
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:51 pm
Hech a trained sral is better than what we had this year
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
8:51 pm
Wow typo central ….. trained … seal
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
8:53 pm
Paul in RDU
after saying that you better sleep with one eye open sitting on the front porch with a shotgun across your lap.
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
8:53 pm
A sad story
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/07/17/1568523/family-details-dean-smiths-health.html
NYJacket
March 12th, 2011
8:53 pm
gtkenz,
Are you serious about questioning did the fans fail Hewitt? Give me a break. The guy is paid a million bucks a year to win basketball games or at least put an entertaining and competitive basketball team on the floor.
He has been an absolute failure. If this guy had had a job in industry, like most of our alumus, he would have been shown the door years ago.
He has gotten what he probably wanted – dismissal with a 7 million dollar payout that is golden even when he gets another job.
Some tough luck!!!!
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:55 pm
A trained seal? Thats pretty funny.
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
8:55 pm
POAD
I have a mixed family across the street (Duke-UNC), VT next door, OSU on one corner and NCSU fans on the other corner – it’s a real United Nations around here
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
8:58 pm
NoCoach
Back away from the Jack and Ice.
HECK a trained Squirrel is better than a seal
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
8:59 pm
I got a mixed family across the road from me to, but they a few sandwhiches short of a picnic.
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
9:00 pm
Well at least there is almost always somebody happy about the weekend games.
cattle dawg
March 12th, 2011
9:01 pm
How bout a blind squirrel? Ive heard they even find a nut every now and then.
Wake Forest
March 12th, 2011
9:03 pm
You can have our coach.
Jim Sneddon
March 12th, 2011
9:05 pm
Butler’s Brad Stevens would be a great choice.
Hewitt Fan
March 12th, 2011
9:15 pm
Jim Sneddon
March 12th, 2011
9:05 pm
Butler’s Brad Stevens would be a great choice.
LOL..No way Stevens comes to GT..I told you all that no top players are ever going to come to GT again..I am hearing most of the team is leaving….Who really wants to play for the worst fan base in America…I am going to sit back and watch this unfold…! Gt has let Mark Bradley run away maybe the best head coach in GT history,,Hewitt name is floating all around for a new and better job..From my inside source (A REAL GT ALUM WHO IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CELTICS) Travis Ford will get the first call..But why come to the Coach k conference and play for 2nd every year?..Just watch..Due to Mark Bradley, the ACC refs, and a terrible fan base, GT will not be able to find a good coach…
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
9:19 pm
Play for 2nd in the ACC behind Duke every year?
How the heck did UNC win the regular season this year???
I guess Swofford remembered where he went to school.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:20 pm
Hewitt Fan … You never responded to your claim F HEW only had one winning season at Sienna on the last blgo
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:22 pm
Was it the MAAC conference refs on the side of Iona and Niagara? Is that why the Atlanta Celtics stayed away?
And on a side note I watched a little bit of the Milton game last night and this kid can take his “talent” elsewhere if he desires …. rather have an actual coach
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:26 pm
Hewitt fan I am sure is a fan of the government employees … Must be if he can defend some drawing 1.3 mill a year for a side job with no sign of accomplishment. Hey maybe now we might actually go after players based off the merit and not by their complextion
Pittsburgh Jacket
March 12th, 2011
9:27 pm
AJC– here is a scoop for you to investigate—
A report here in Pittsburgh..coming from the Fan: Rumor is that Georgia Tech AD Dan Radakovich is using his Pittsburgh contacts and connections to go after Jamie Dixon from Pitt. That being said, there has been no direct contact… which means Dixon can always have plausible deniability by saying ” I never spoke to anyone from Georgia Tech”, because Dixon won’t have to speak to any GTAA representative until it is a done deal. That is also why Radakovich said he hopes to have made the hire by the Final Four. He has to wait until Pitt exits the tournament, which may or may not be by then.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:27 pm
Hewitt Fan
March 11th, 2011
2:18 pm
Please lets not forget that when Cremins left Gt could barely find a coach..I love Hewitt but lets face it, He really only had one winning year at Sienna..So why did Gt hire Hewitt?..
3 years at Sienna
97-98 —- 17-12
98-99 —- 25-6
99-00 —- 24-9
Hewitt fan please do not let facts get in the way from your propaganda. C’MON SON
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
9:28 pm
Hewitt Fan
You have said that Hewitt is a great coach but that because of Mark Bradley, the ACC refs and a terrible fan base, GT will not be able to find a good coach.
When Cremins retired wasn’t Bradley at the AJC, Coach K at Duke (getting all the calls), the ACC refs were pretty much the same as today and the fans were down on Bobby. Yet somehow, GT managed to hire a good coach back then.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:28 pm
Hewitt Fan
March 11th, 2011
2:18 pm
Please lets not forget that when Cremins left Gt could barely find a coach..I love Hewitt but lets face it,
and by love we all know what he means …… C’mon SON