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
RAMBLE ON!!!
March 13th, 2011
8:44 am
“The only thing more remarkable than Hewitt’s fall was how quickly some fans and alumni turned on him”
Hey Dude, have you been in a cave the last 5 years?
The guy was the worst coach ever. We have been more than patience with this moron who never knew anything about Basketball fundamentalism.
Just another cheap shot from Mr. Yellow Journalism.
JSS
March 13th, 2011
8:55 am
User Jim Harrick touched on it a little bit, Hewitt mismatched the talent of his recruiting classes. Bosh suffered immeasurably by being matched with Crittenden while at Tech. Just as he was a drain on the game of Dwight Howard at SWAC, Crit just never learned what Magic Johnson called “feed the big fella!” I saw Hewitt implore them to get the ball to the post and play “inside-out.” That was when I knew he might be in trouble at a place like Tech. Still, I thought he might luck up on some players like B.J. Elder (had been) who might develop into something. Favors was a talented kid; but as his first months in the NBA have shown, he is raw. Matching him and the enigma that was Lawal with the at best can be called “the Ren and Stimpy of point guard combos: Udofia and Shumpert was the death blow. By the time they finally realized that Udofia was as lost as the TV series, that is when they found their season and made that run.
This season was going to be a mess unless they had one of the two big men who could counterweight the generally tendencies of Shumpert, Rice, and Oliver had to float within the game. You see what happens… This season they were left to their devices and with the rare exception of Shumpert showing signs that he was the talent as advertised, they failed… Mo Miller was under utilized. It was just a mess…
Tech next coach needs to get that trio rooted in reality. Do that, and you’re on the way to righting your ship at least…
JSS
March 13th, 2011
10:25 am
As long as the fact that Ron Jirsa and Dwayne Morrison have ever roamed a basketball sideline; the following statement can never be used by a knowledgeable observer of the sport: “The guy was the worst coach ever.”
Robert Luciano
March 13th, 2011
10:29 am
To coach at the highest level is all about winning, nothing else really matters. Coach Hewitt is a Class Act in every respect and has reached a point in his career where a fresh start will enable him to once again thrive.
Atlanta, the home of front runner, phoney, alledged “fans”, does not deserve someone with the impeccable character and dignity of Coach Hewitt. Whether it is the Hawks selling Kobe jerseys or Packer fans taking over an empty GA. Dome in the 3Q of a Play-off game, Atlanta is a complete laughing stock. I hope that he lands in the Big East, a real Basketball Conference, has gets the chance to bury Georgia Tech and their Cracker “fans” in the future.
GT95
March 13th, 2011
10:40 am
Robert – 5 nat’l title in 10 years and a gt loss in another, I would say the acc is by far the best conference. The big east looks great until march madness begins then the acc delivers titles. It truly is not close. Do not be surprised to watch an acc team outlast 11 big east teams this year. It is an annual event.
mark richt's tanning salon
March 13th, 2011
10:41 am
Thank the lordie Hewitt is finally fired!!! WOohoo back to the tanning bed and getting my eyebrows bleached!
Paul N Destin
March 13th, 2011
11:30 am
The person(s) that signed Hewitt to a 7 mill buyout should be fired as well. Does Hewitt have someone in the AD’s office red panties? 7 million for a average to less basketball coach at GT! Nick Saban’s buyout at Bama……zip nada…no wonder this country is gone to hell. Stupid college admins point the way.
well
March 13th, 2011
11:31 am
look at his road acc record, that is disarray.
Gatorman
March 13th, 2011
11:34 am
Robert Luciano: “Cracker? You talking to me?” Typical post from the superior people from the rust belt. Oh, I’m sorry you might be from the third world country we sometimes refer to as New York.
JG Wentworth
March 13th, 2011
11:39 am
“I have a structured settlement but I need cash NOW!”
Call JG Wentworth … 877-CASH-NOW
John
March 13th, 2011
11:43 am
Robert Luciano- no it is because all you carpet baggers move out of your slum for a city to Atlanta. You then cheer for your old home team like it is some kind of kid’s blanket. Bunch of pusses.
Tony
March 13th, 2011
11:53 am
All of those whining about the contract that Hewitt received are sounding like hyprocrites. If your boss offered you an outstanding amount of money for the work that you do, I’m sure that you wouldnt turn it down. Right? And no one is that valuable that they are making money for their place of work, hand over fist. Things like this happen in this business. Remember, the NCAA is a business, a business. Let us not forget that not only does the coach have a responsibility but also the players. Let’s only hope that we have a new coach that has the same recruiting effectiveness, a great bit of good fortune, an some on the court intensity.
While Florida, Kentucky play for title, Georgia waits on NCAA | Jeff Schultz
March 13th, 2011
12:39 pm
[...] with the local interest. While the Yellow Jackets have officially begun their head coaching search following Saturday’s firing of Paul Hewitt, the Bulldogs are just hoping they haven’t played their final meaningful game. (We’re [...]
Arrogant Jerk
March 13th, 2011
12:39 pm
Thisarrogant jerk, Powell, should have left in jail overnight!
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/hawks-player-arrested-outside-870433.html
Georgia "Cracker"
March 13th, 2011
12:45 pm
“To coach at the highest level is all about winning, nothing else really matters. Coach Hewitt is a Class Act in every respect and has reached a point in his career where a fresh start will enable him to once again thrive. I hope that he lands in the Big East, a real Basketball Conference, has gets the chance to bury Georgia Tech and their Cracker “fans” in the future.”
If Hewitt gets to the big east, the only way he will win is to employ the “its all about winning” philosophy, i.e. Jim “The Cheater” Calhoun – as UConn has now found out and its basketball program has proven to be an embarrassment to the university and its community. No thank you, I want college basketball – you can have win at all costs. As for “nothing else really matters”, you either did not attend your team’s “university” or if you did your school pride is misdirected.
Hewitt ran a clean program, put his players first, but this change in direction should benefit both GT and Paul in the long run.
Tony
March 13th, 2011
1:01 pm
Georgia “Cracker”…that is true. It is all about winning. Too often people are concentrated on how much money a coach makes. Some should take a look at the salaries around the NCAA, and corporate America, for that matter. That is here to stay. It is the nature of business. Coach Hewitt is no doubt a decent coach, but his tenure at Tech as reached a head, just like other coaches have met their end of the road.
ga tech 92
March 13th, 2011
1:17 pm
Robert Luciano – “bury Georgia Tech and their Cracker “fans”” – Warning – Racial slurs like that are not to be tolerated and if they continue you will be reported. That is extremely insensitive and insulting and has no place on a sports page. AJC – I would suggest that you remove posts with blatant racial slurs like that. It’s the equavalent to using the ‘n-word’ to other groups. Please remove such insulting posts or you will be fundamentally approving of the hate speech.
JSS
March 13th, 2011
1:52 pm
@ GA Tech 92…
I’ll just take it that you born in after “your” generation started using it as a pejorative.
The terms means “boosting and “proud or jocular” person. Try using the dictionary before going on a racial torrent… There was a reason why both Atlanta’s Negro League and Southern League teams used it as their nicknames for over 6 decades…
5150 UOAD
March 13th, 2011
2:04 pm
JSS
You know that that term was used in this blog as a derogatory comment. Yes, the brothers use the N word in their everyday conversation and music, but only a brother can use it to a brother meaning my buddy. Liciano was using as a negative. Let me poke fun then too Lucaino is a we.back that should swim back to the land of cheap Tacos and Tequila. That is what he intended when calling people crackers.
5150 UOAD
March 13th, 2011
2:07 pm
Luciano you do know Tech graduates and has a higher percentage of Latino students than does UGA.
5150 UOAD
March 13th, 2011
2:11 pm
I guess Luciano could be Italian too. I went to school with a Luciano from Bogotá.
JSS
March 13th, 2011
2:13 pm
@ POAD…
If he wanted to make it racial, you just drop the five letter word in front of it…
Come on, and stop with the “Brothers” use that slur all the time. We can fight that battle within our “own” community. By the way, and it is a battle. And I don’t know where you get “cheap tacos and tequila” but it ain’t authentic!
Regionalism only gets offensive when a big chip is on somebodies shoulders…
5150 UOAD
March 13th, 2011
2:34 pm
agreed.
JSS
March 13th, 2011
2:39 pm
If you want to get “upset” about something, what is up with that “New York City” wise crack? That is why I say 9-11 only means something when some folks are looking for justification…
BartBuzz
March 13th, 2011
2:40 pm
I keep reading all these comments about Paul Hewitt being classy and a true professional. Give me a break. He may very well be a nice guy and he may really care about his players. But classy would have been to say “You know, that $120K per month you have to pay me for the next 5 years is something I just don’t feel right taking. I know it’s in my contract but I’ve done such a lousy job these past 5 years that taking all that money would be stealing from the university that gave me so much.”
JSS
March 13th, 2011
3:08 pm
Listening to Mike Krzyzewski talk is like having a Proctologist exam, a necessary evil…
GT95
March 13th, 2011
3:30 pm
Bartbuzz-are you buzzed? Why in the world would hewitt not take the money owed per his contract that he earned? You are absolutely insane. Come on man? You are lying if you say you would not take the money. Go support another school.
BartBuzz
March 13th, 2011
3:38 pm
Come on GT95…didn’t you see the tongue in my cheek? Thanks for the goat. BTW, insanity was offering that contract in the first place. However, I’ll have to respectfully disagree with your assessment that Hewitt “earned” that money.
Tony
March 13th, 2011
3:39 pm
LOL
IL Jacket
March 13th, 2011
4:07 pm
Unfortunately, Tech has parted ways with an exceptionally classy coach who represented the Institute with integrity and honesty. He also provided us with our magical run to the National Championship game for which we all should be grateful. He also recruited players who were excellent representatives of Tech. I wish Coach Hewitt all the best in wherever his journeys may take him.
Now we shall see about all those wonderful coaches we will have beating down our door that I see referenced so often on these blogs.
Go Jackets!!
MonkeyDew25
March 13th, 2011
4:07 pm
Georgia Tech Fans are racist. The way they treat Paul Johnson shows how they were racist towards Paul Hewitt. If Hewitt was white than he wouldn’t be fired.
Anytime GT Bball lost a game, Tech fans quickly attacked Paul Hewitt. Anytime Tech loses a game in football the fans blame everyone else EXCEPT Paul Johnson. Hewitt takes his team to the Championship game with his players, and it’s not good enough. Johnson wins the 2009 ACC with Chan Gailey’s players, and Johnson is GOD! Schultz states in this artilce, Hewitt could come off as “arrogant and dismissive”. Johnson comes off that way, but you don’t see Tech fans complaining about that.
I’m not saying Paul Hewitt didn’t have some bad seasons, but he didn’t get the support at Tech like Paul Johnson gets. Georgia Tech had a horrible 2010 season in football after losing Chan Gailey’s players. Johnson also didn’t do so well in recruiting, and he’s getting praised for that? Tech fans and Schultz can say he was fired because of his record & not having positive energy, but the real reason he was fired was because of racism.
Stinger
March 13th, 2011
4:23 pm
I’m just glad he’s gone. No hard feelings..he’ll get a good job.
Rumor has it that Hewitt will be in a new movie?
March 13th, 2011
4:29 pm
Starsky and Hutch II and he will play the part of Huggy Bear
Tony
March 13th, 2011
4:35 pm
Race is not the issue here. Hewitt just ran his course at GT. There are several firings this season, none of which race played an issue. Hewitt is a respectable coach. There is huge pressure to win no matter what color you are. That is not to say that race has played an issue in some places, but a change of course was imminent at Tech. I, a longtime fan realized that 2 years ago. I hate to see anyone lose their job, but that is the nature of the biz.
JSS
March 13th, 2011
4:40 pm
That casting director must be blind? Or a blogger?
Jeff
March 13th, 2011
5:18 pm
You need some type of mix to have a winning program. Hewitt never recruited white players other than the token big guy. That was absolutely his problem. He proved you can’t have a high caliber program with just athletic players, you have to have people who can shoot the rock. Just watch march madness and see how the small teams do. It speaks for itself.
Whaaaah??
March 13th, 2011
5:39 pm
MonkeyDew25
March 13th, 2011
4:07 pm
“Georgia Tech Fans are racist. The way they treat Paul Johnson shows how they were racist towards Paul Hewitt. If Hewitt was white than he wouldn’t be fired.”
Wow! I thought “Hewitt Fan” took the prize as the biggest idiot blogger on here but you, sir, have just propelled yourself to the top! That just might be the most absurd line of thinking that any of us have had the misfortune of reading. Everyone here is now dumber for having read it (oh, sorry, was that a racist comment?) … or maybe you’re just an infantile UGA fan with nothing else to do.
The truth hurts
March 13th, 2011
6:30 pm
Georgia Tech NCAA tournament tickets- call 1-800-home watching
BravesFan79
March 13th, 2011
6:47 pm
Imagine a football coach who refused to hire an offensive or defensive coordinator. This is what happened to GT after the top assistants left in 2005 and were replaced by….?
I supported Hewitt and PLEADED when he was recruiting Favors to also bring in a Top assistant/ or ex head coach. He didnt do this, that team underachieved, and now Hewitt is gone.
Credit to Hewitt for being a class act tho, and representing GT well.
JSS
March 13th, 2011
7:04 pm
“That just might be the most absurd line of thinking that any of us have had the misfortune of reading.”
Sorry, not even close, I’ve been reading UGABugKiller and Larry for years. That would not even get in their Top 40.
But it was a distasteful comment. It has no place in the discussion.
Dave (Tech '75)
March 13th, 2011
7:15 pm
What a perfect opportunity for Tech to get out of the business of providing farm team services for pro basketball teams. Phase out basketball then start the same process for football. Take the school back to its core missions of teaching and research.
Tony
March 13th, 2011
7:32 pm
Dave, should service academies and Ivy League schools do the same?
Dave (Tech '75)
March 13th, 2011
7:42 pm
Service academies – yes, there is no reason for tax funded institutions to participate in subsidizing professional sports by providing them with farm team services.
The Ivy League – if they lose their tax exempt status for the portion of their revenue that goes into this activity then they’re private and they are free to do as they wish.
GT93
March 13th, 2011
7:56 pm
Yurtle the turtle,, 5150 uoad – some poor tech bloggers. Add to the list jss.
Antoine Ford
March 13th, 2011
7:57 pm
CPH was the worst coach we’ve ever had. The only national story I saw about the firing was on ESPN yesterday and they pointed out a pretty ugly stat. Tech has lost more ACC games in the last five years than any team in the conference. That is the story. He was a loser.
Dave (Tech '75)
March 13th, 2011
7:58 pm
You were obviously born after the Duane Morrison era.
Antoine Ford
March 13th, 2011
8:01 pm
Well I bet even Morrison could design some form of an inbound play.
Ben
March 13th, 2011
8:03 pm
People are wondering why Hewitt isn’t ticked off about this. The reason why? Ugh… I can think of 7.2 million reasons why. He’s not going to start any wars and risk a lawsuit in which he could lose that money. He’s still gettin’ paid…. why sweat?
Antoine Ford
March 13th, 2011
8:13 pm
That bum lost 63 of his last 99 ACC games. Any questions?
ILuvHewitt
March 13th, 2011
8:14 pm
To: Hewitt supporter @ 5:48pm on March 12th,
Well said! GaTech will never be a consistent competitor in the ACC. They will ALWAYS have ebbs and flows. Cremins got lucky with three ACC Championships, Hewitt got lucky by going to the NCAA Championship Game. But the ACC will ALWAYS be Puke and Carolina … ALWAYS!!! Either Puke or Carolina will be in the ACC Championship Game. It’s just “meant to be” that way in the ACC.
Actually, GaTech will never be a consistent competitive team in the ACC. They will have some good years every now and then. But it won’t be consistent.
It was time for GaTech and Coach Hewitt when Hewitt came to GaTech. It now it is time to part ways. No hard feelings either way. It was just time. The new coach will have a grace period of sorts with no home games (so to speak) for the first year. GaTech will ring in a new era with a new coach and a new arena in the Fall of 2012. It was time!
Wish GaTech and GaTech fans all the best. But a reality check is needed for their basketball program. Even Cremins had a losing record in the ACC.
Wish Coach Hewitt all the best also.