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
Spider
March 12th, 2011
9:35 pm
Lets give credit where it is due. Dave Brain and Wayne Clough virtually assured the mediocrity of the program when they rewarded Hewett with a contract that would only really pay off if he had a series of bad years, which resulted in his termination. I believe Hewett did his best, or as “best” as any assured multimillionaire could do.
Hewitts contract = priceless
Brain and Clough = worthless
Hewitt Fan
March 12th, 2011
9:35 pm
@NoCoach Blewitt You were right..but did he really do enough to get the job at Tech? no..He was not GT’s top target..you know it and i know it..
@Paul in RDU you are right also..so the new coach will be playing for 3rd every year…this conference is quickly becoming a joke..The ACC loses coaches every year it seems..Purnell got the hell out of the ACC quick..he was robbed time and time again.he took a 5 year rebuilding job just to leave…GT did not deserve Hewitt..You guys say you want the new coach to quit recruiting 1 and dones? You guys look at Duke, who has mediocre talent and thinks its all about the coach..NO..The refs help them every year..NC 2 years ago had talent…Florida back to back teams were loaded with top talent..YOU HAVE TO TALENT TO WIN ..well except for Duke.
5150 UOAD
March 12th, 2011
9:37 pm
In Hewitt’s 11 years of all the kids he recruited, how many kids played significant minutes and graduated? Maybe 30. Hewitt was paid almost a Million Dollars per Graduate.
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
9:38 pm
Hewitt Fan
Have you seen Kyrie Irving play? If you think he is mediocre, you probably think that John Wall is also mediocre
Micah_heel
March 12th, 2011
9:38 pm
Thank God that No Coach Hewitt is not a fan of the heels. Not sure you can call him a fan. Surely he did not get a degree from gt.
I am glad to see Hewitt leave. His style of coaching has given Roy fits over years – as evidenced by 4 straight whippings including this year when we basically played a home game at gt and got smoked. The attendence should have been embarrassing to all gt fans. Support your students.
we are back in the acc final and should have better luck against gt with new coach. Hope we destroy duke again tomorrow and cut down the nets in a few weeks. Go heels!
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:38 pm
Hey Paul at least you can give your enitre (FAIL BOAT) effot towards your main job now … being a figurehead for a pointless organization … of course thats what you’ve been doing for years now though so I guess that is no different ….. So what is the over/under on how long til it takes the BCA to drop his butt like a bad case of cancer like GT FINALLY did now that he has now real job?
Tech Forever
March 12th, 2011
9:41 pm
Not feeling good about this AT ALL. DRad is now confiding in EDDIE FREAKIN FOGLER to help find a great new HC???? Are you kidding me? An average head coach in his own right. A guy who left South Carolina essentially admitting he could no longer take the heat, “you’re damned if you do and darned if you don’t”. The guy who just helped Auburn hire a Calipari disciple who, I GUARANTEE YOU< won;t be at Auburn 3 seasons from now for one reason or another. A coach who upon arrivign at Auburn had trouble getting both his prize HS recruit and tranfers from Texas through admissions……INTO AUBURN!!!
This is not good. This is not good at all and all but ensures us we WILL NOT be looking at guys like Mark Turgeon and Scott Drew.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:41 pm
Micah_heel
Huge fluke …. this guy couldnt win a best of 7 series vs Kennesaw St
ivan
March 12th, 2011
9:43 pm
Paul Hewitt was a lousy coach. All of that talent and he could never have his teams ready to play. Worse, he couldn’t instill poise in his team. They felt almost scared at times
His inside game was terrible and the concept of team was never taught. Very glad he is gone
LETS GO FIND A REAL WINNER TO COACH THIS PROGRAM
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:44 pm
Monkey > Seal (singer and animal) > Amy Winehouse > Charlie Sheen > Bree Olson > Paul Hewitt
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:45 pm
VT played the SAME defense the entire game the other day …… please show me any adjustments captain artard made?
Paul in RDU
March 12th, 2011
9:45 pm
NoCoach
For some reason CPH seems to have Ole Roy’s number. He has a better record against Roy than K has.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:47 pm
Hewitt Fan
I guess you didn’t watch the semis today because one of your blessed ACC teams were getting screwed on calls …… but somehow they won. Hmmmmm wonder how
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:48 pm
I gotta say even though I have been calling for this for at least 5 years now I am sooooo AMPED for next year …. Season tickets I am back
GTHoops
March 12th, 2011
9:49 pm
Hewitt fan
I too have been a fan of Hewit and still am and think with the right situation, you may see him back in final 4 before us unfortunately – only 2 in history does not give much hope. But get off the duke foul calls. Coach k is the best coach in America period. He knows how to motivate, you never see his players in trouble, and he graduates almost everyone. Duke is a far superior program and will continue to be with coach k in charge. Maryland and gt have Both reached championship games in last 10 years – maryland winning – as well as 2 titles for both duke and unc. It is more than a 2
team conference. Other than ucla, the last 10 years have been the most dominant by one conference in history of NCAA hoops. The acc has dominated. Yet the big east will get 10 or 11 teams in NCAA and they will all be home in 2 weeks while the acc will still be playing
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:50 pm
I mean I dont want to beat a dead horse but I dont see how if we didnt have a coach at all how it could have been any worse this year …. there is no development … ZERO
TechRedNeck
March 12th, 2011
9:51 pm
I wish Tech would start winning in something! I don’t see any improvement comming next year in football or basketball.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:53 pm
GTHoops
March 12th, 2011
9:49 pm
Hewitt fan
I too have been a fan of Hewit and still am and think with the right situation, you may see him back in final 4 before us unfortunately
Explain how he will get another major opportunity??? He has KILLED our entire basketball rep. We now look 100% obsolete. He graduates one player every two years …. There is no way he gets another chance with a decent school for at least a decade …. Living off of Brain(less) for yrs to come
Hewitt Fan
March 12th, 2011
9:55 pm
@Paul in RDU
i seen Irving play in person..He is ok…nothing special at all..Selby is 30x better than him..Knight at UK is 20x better….no one on this Duke team will have any success in the NBA. just like last year, when neither of Dukes 2 seniors even were drafted…Last year GT was very very young in the back court but still with Favors, Gt made a nice postseason run..NC had no players last year and they were terrible, this year you add Barnes,STrickland and Marshall at pg and they win the ACC…I think the ACC knew Hewitt was about to take over the ACC and just stopped it quick..His first year when he won with Cremins players and took them to the NCAA’s, I did not see a lot of bad calls..As soon as he brought Bosh in, it started..How does a national title game finalist only go 9-7 in league play? I hope the new coach gets a fair chance..
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:56 pm
This just in Blewey the new coach of Albany St
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:57 pm
Taking his empty suits elsewhere
GT95
March 12th, 2011
9:57 pm
No coach blewitt
Please do not buy season tickets. Go to kennesaw, go to Athens, go to a new program where you can find happiness. You really do not want to support gt and our students. I am glad Hewitt is gone, but never stopped supporting our team. Really, really think about whether you truly want to come back.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 12th, 2011
9:58 pm
Hewitt Fan
We have top 4 ACC talent every year … Without talking about refs please explain why we blow every yrear … Thanks I will hang up and listen
J W
March 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
Thank you, Coach Hewitt. Hold your head high. Relax a bit and enjoy the family; all will work out fine and best wishes for your future.
wreckmaniac
March 12th, 2011
10:06 pm
I agree with the comments on Coach K. NIck Saban, Spurrier in his prime, you name the coach, they all could only pray to lick Coach K’s boots when it comes to coaching in the 21st century. I get sick of the way Dick Vitale carries on about it but he’s absolutely correct.
messin with sasquatch
March 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
so he recruited a team that made it to the NC game, then got a nice contract – what i call a doomed to fail situation in the acc. and because of the nice contract with a fat bonus for getting fired, neither side would budge. then when the new arena with a much fatter pricetag becomes a consideration, Tech does something about it. the fans obviously upset for several seasons now, all I can say is c’mon man. with the price of tickets at Tech, I have a right to expect something better than what i’ve seen. even the fans at FSU expected bobby bowden to move his butt on, and over 20,000 season ticketholders expressed their displeasure there by not renewing. so what would make hewett better than bobby? hmmm?? and yes I have invested in the tech fund and was a season ticketholder once.
messin with sasquatch
March 12th, 2011
10:09 pm
and please……stop with the patronizing of hewett. its a big boy world in sports for coaches making what they make.
SeasonedJacket
March 12th, 2011
10:15 pm
To jfreak & mobo – well said, gentlemen. Best wishes to CPH for his future. It is indeed time for a change. It is hard for me to think that so many decisions now made in collegiate sports depend on revenue (not so much from ticket sales as from the ACC & TV), that college sports is now a business and needs to run as such. The proper business decision was made. BTW, how does “Coach Mark Price” sound?
messin with sasquatch
March 12th, 2011
10:38 pm
when a head coach makes 1.3 million a year, and tickets cost a fortune to help cover it, fans have to be listened to. that is the reality of sports. no matter how nice a man is, he still has to be successful at it. and coach rich at uga has the same problem.
BigT
March 12th, 2011
11:08 pm
Georgia Tech needs to concentrate on recruiting players who want an education and will play four years. Stop going after the one year and gone players (Bosh, Favors etc). Let players develop their skills over the four years and you might end up with teams that consistently making the NCAA tournament.
GTHoops
March 12th, 2011
11:12 pm
ncb
he will get a job as soon as he wants.
GTHoops
March 12th, 2011
11:16 pm
ncb
CPH will coach as soon as he wants. Many scools would love to reach ncaa every other year, have no players in trouble, ensure players go to class. CPH is coaching USA bball this Summer and coached GT to a championship game. He can coach, just could not sustain here. Graduation rate not good, although we all know at another school like UGA that would be miraculously better without calc and the harder academic challenges. Plus he is cheap, he can be hired for free on our dime the next 5 years. pretty attractive resume to me.
GTHoops
March 12th, 2011
11:18 pm
Big T – you are correct. That has killed college basketball and GT and CPH really struggles coaching one and done players.
GTHoops
March 12th, 2011
11:21 pm
ncb
Hewitt is in NCAA every other year, keeps kids in class and out of trouble, made a championship game in NCAA in toughest conf in America last 10 years, head coach usa basketball under 18 this Summer – I’m sure lots of schools would love this. Plus CPH is cheap the next 5 years as we are paying his salary for another school. Looks impressive to me.
Ted Striker
March 12th, 2011
11:27 pm
I agreed with every single word — every one — of this column. (Scary, eh?)
Marty
March 12th, 2011
11:36 pm
I’m hearing rumors that one of the Tech assistants is likely to have a real shot at the job.
Jim Harrick
March 12th, 2011
11:44 pm
Hewitt’s problem was simple, extreme focus on recruiting kids that can make you look good. Unfortunately, you can’t throw a bunch of talented high school phenoms on the floor and expect them to make you look good without being able to coach them.
DH
March 12th, 2011
11:59 pm
$120,000 per month for the next five years. Wow . What a buyout. No wonder he said the administration has been more than fair to him.
Moe
March 13th, 2011
12:10 am
I think GTech made a big mistake by firing Paul Hewitt.GTech fans are weak By not coming to the game you gave up on the players not the coach.
Rx
March 13th, 2011
12:56 am
This says way more about the hypocricy of college athletics does it does any short comings of Paul Hewitt.
To the dislike of many, including a few scribes, Hewitt is a man’s man who insisted on his players being student-athletes and gentlemen. Hewitt carried himself with dignity and integrity, and expected the same of his players. His firing underlines the fact that college athletics is nothing more than big business that serves as a farm system for an even bigger business – professional sports.
Here’s hoping that Hewitt enjoys every dime of that 7 million dollar buyout.
David Braine
March 13th, 2011
1:03 am
Ha, ha, ha, egads, I can’t stop laughing. You got rid of me, but I laughed the longest.
BH
March 13th, 2011
3:10 am
why not the head of ACC instead of tail part of it.
Chuck Pattillo
March 13th, 2011
3:27 am
To all the Tech ‘fans’ that quit coming to games and supporting the players because you didn’t like the coach, do us all a favor and don’t bother to come back!!!
The Dude
March 13th, 2011
3:32 am
I applaud the fans whose last resort to affect change was voting with their dollars. By staying home and rooting from the couch, we finally got that change. Now it’s our job to show up at Gwinnett and Philips and where ever else Georgia Tech might play a home game next year. Go Jackets!
Chuck Pattillo
March 13th, 2011
4:19 am
Don’t flatter yourself Dude, sitting on your butt doesn’t help anything.
Road to Selection Sunday for March 13 « freeagenttalk.com
March 13th, 2011
6:33 am
[...] Hewitt is done as coach at Georgia Tech after being the national runner-up in 2004 and 11 [...]
BubbaDaBaller
March 13th, 2011
7:15 am
” I’m not paranoid, now would youse quick pickin on me?”
gt
March 13th, 2011
8:20 am
All of sport gives calls to the the teams or players that have earned a position of respect with the ref. I don’t think we really get the real picture of our sport’s teams in Atlanta. I think the SEC looks at Georgia like the thugs they are, underachievers styling for ESPN highlight coverage instead of playing smart football. You could really see a mark difference in the attitudes of the refs after that Florida game a few years ago. I think Tech basketball may have had a little of that going on too. You put a group of unorganized kids out on a court, that like to run their mouths, along with a coach or coaches that have no control of them but want control of the refs. They are playing a Duke or Carolina or a half dozen teams in the ACC that run their programs right, you could hardly help yourselves when an indecision comes to favor the team that seems to have their act together.
Little Girl
March 13th, 2011
8:30 am
The End:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Hn1Rj2jpY
d.carter
March 13th, 2011
8:38 am
Again I really want to see this same zest for firing Saint Mark Richt of Georgia who also gets paid alot of money and produces no results.. Matty Ice Mr i have never won a playoff game, or any meaningful game for that matter, He craps the bed every big game he has ever played in…