Paul Hewitt was undone at Georgia Tech by more than losing

I thought both sides have handled this well. I don’t see anything distasteful. Good luck Hewitt and let’s get Tech basketball back in the top 5 in the ACC.

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2nd. that’s more like it!

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I think you’re right on track, Jeff. AS a long time Tech supporter and ticket holder I appreciate Hewitt’s early years but the last few have been terrible. The firing was as much about a dismal future as it was about a recently mediocre past.

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Regarding my “thoughts on the state of Tech’s program,” I’m going to make a blanket statement in general regarding college hoops in the state of Georgia. Neither Georgia nor Georgia Tech have any excuses at this point when it comes to being not only conference powers, but national powers, as well.

High school basketball in the state of Georgia is rich with talent, and now that kids have to spend at least a year in college basketball before going to the NBA, both programs should be on a steady upswing from where they’ve been the past few years. Fox is doing it at UGA, albeit slowly, but I do have faith in him. Tech needs to go out and land a great coach themselves, and they’re an attractive opportunity. Don’t skimp on money now; you’ve already paid the buyout, or you will anyway. Put the actual investment in and bring in a guy that can build a program.

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…Lavin benefitted from having 10 seniors this year – Hewitt knew it would be an arduous rebuilding job at St. John’s after this year, so why leave Tech for that, when he knew he would get the $7mil buyout this year – you gotta admit, the man ain’t dumb…

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I will disagree with you Jeff on suggesting that Hewitt was micromanaging too much, and was too involved with every aspect of the players, coaches, program. My friends and other sources in the GTAA suggest quite the opposite: that Hewitt’s work ethic had become increasingly lax in recent years. Perhaps he was paying attention to the wrong things, but it never appeared he was working that hard to turn around a program that he never acknowledged was falling off. Pride goeth before the fall….and Hewitt was a proud man. That can be a bad thing.

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Re: Lavin, he did have those guys leaving, but look at the clases he’s got coming in. Plus he’s got a strong staff around him. They’ll dip next year [naturally], but 2012-2013 should be a great season for the Red Storm.

St. John’s should’ve never fallen from being a winner. Home games in NYC at the Garden, national exposure with the Big East… the last regime there really took the program off the rails. The same senior laden team Lavin had this year didn’t even see postseason action a year ago and went a combined 7-13 in the Big East.

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The very fact that the national media is paying little attention to Hewitt’s firing speaks to two of Hewitt’s problems. First, the stature of the Tech program has fallen off so dramatically in the last five years that it is not worthy of much mention. Second, so many people assumed it would happen (and that it should’ve happened several years ago) that it isn’t very newsworthy. I do wish Hewitt and his family much luck and success in the future, but my primary interest now is in the future of the Tech program, and in putting in my season ticket order after suspending them for two years.

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The AJC, Mark Bradley, and Jeff Schultz have been more than fair and patient with Coach Paul Hewitt. While Hewitt has definitely “led the charge” in criticizing the media and Bradley in particular, if you read the articles and columns over the past several years objectively it is clear that most analyses of Hewitt were based on hard numbers and clear facts. I am not a big fan of the AJC, and wish we had more sports print media competition in Atlanta, but fair is fair. Bradley and Schultz have done their jobs without getting personal and without crossing any ethical or tasteful lines.

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The Tech job isn’t as attractive as it was before Hewitt arrived, but it is still a good one: Great television market, great conference, good pay, good tradition, good administrative support, good recruiting territory, and excellent location. Now the fans can do their part to restore Tech’s reputation in the ACC and nationwide by ordering season tickets, staying positive, and financially supporting the Institute and program.

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First, it should be noted that the worst thing you could say about Hewitt is that he didn’t win games. He’s not leaving the program littered with academic, legal or character problems. He ran a good, clean program that upheld the standards of Georgia Tech, and the media and fans shouldn’t forget that. Time for a change? Yes. Horrible human being that shamed the school? Absolutely not.

Second, the next person on the chopping block should be Mark Bradley. Was he right to criticize Hewitt? Definitely. However, trying to make it a personal crusade to get a coach fired crosses the line of journalism ethics. Jeff, you cite your lively debates with Hewitt. On the other hand, Mark hasn’t spoken to Hewitt in OVER A YEAR! How can someone call themselves a legitimate journalist without actually speaking to the subject of their writing? Hewitt is among the most accessible coaches in the country, and I’m sure he would have spoken to Mark anywhere at any time. It shows cowardice on Mark’s part that he can’t be man enough to talk to Hewitt. I am hoping the AJC will interrupt Mark’s celebratory dance over Hewitt’s firing and give him his walking papers as well.

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Hewitt was an empty suit who had one lucky season, everything that followed illustrated his utter & complete lack of coaching ability. He’s lucky he didn’t find a moving van parked outside his home long before the administration finally came to their senses today. Good riddance to extremely bad rubbish, although it’s a pity he was allowed to virtually destroy an entire program before that happened.

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Jeff
Nice, well thought out and well balanced column. It is never a good day when a coach gets let go but today has been coming for a long time.

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I’ve felt like my team has been held hostage by a terrorist for the past few years…glad the ransom was paid, and I can enjoy watching my team again…lose or win!!

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I got my birthday present!!!

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I would have loved to have seen the look on his face when you told him he was one of the most paranoid people you’d ever met!

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I’m saddened by CPH’s firing. I’ve worked basketball camp at Tech since 2005 and Coach always came early and stayed late. He interacted with every guy who worked camp and I always appreciated that. I hate that coach didn’t deliver the wins the fanbase, alumni, and supporters wanted but he is a stand-up guy who I found to be a coach’s coach

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I thought you get what you pay for????????????????—guess not

still paul never poisoned 130 year old oak trees!!!!!just saying——-bammer fans are neck–turds

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Montell, that is the dumbest comment i’ve ever seen on a blog.

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Pay the coach from Baylor to come to Tech. He can get us his elite recruiting classes to Atlanta.

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As a good a guy as he seems to be, the team would have been playing to an empty house (where ever they play for 1 yr) and funding would drop out of the bottom next year, it had to be done. I made it to 3 games this year, usually got to about 10 or so. I didn’t make the effort because I didn’t have a very good product to watch. Being an ACC team with a clean record should be appealing to an energetic, young coach. Would love to see someone with an ACC background get a look (maybe a former Coach K assistant) so they would understand the pressure playing in the premier league. I hope Royal will wait a week or two before pulling his name, but he will have to do what is best for him. Let’s prepare to rally around whomever they bring in. This is what the fans have asked for, so let’s make it work.

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todd grantham
March 12th, 2011
2:06 pm
“Is or did Hewitt have one of those Nixon press conferences where he said you guys wont have Hewitt to kick around anymore?”

Actually Nixon said that in 1962 when he lost the race for California Governor to Pat Brown. Most of us know how that turned out!

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Hopefully all will realize that this had to happen, for many reasons. No need to throw any dirt on this situation. CPH has responded in a classy way. Lets have the decency to do the same. Its done, lets move one and talk about who the next coach should be.

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Hey Montell…how is everything at The Varisty? I still say you are one of best burger flippers I’ve ever seen.

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Bruce Pearl from Tennessee will be a good coach for Tech.

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what a depressing weekend for Dawg fans. no hoops for the Dawgs and GT has fired Hewitt.

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`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.”

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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I think you are right.

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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.

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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.

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Don’t feel sorry for Hewitt. He coached like he wanted to be fired. Embarrassing.

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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.

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Jeff,

If you’re St. John’s, how happy are you that Hewitt turned you down?

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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A SAD day for UGA fans. There will no longer be guaranteed seasonal win for a while. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

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GT should just join other less competitive conference that requires less money contribution from tight wad nerds where they can win and get an automatic bid to the NIT.

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GT should just be independent so they can schedule super cup cakes and assure them of super winning season at all times.

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Funny contracts are only important when holding a player to it around these parts… Pay the man and learn from your mistake like so many love to come on here crying…

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Hewitt was a horrendous game coach. He couldn’t develop a game plan to save his life, especially for big men. His offense consisted entirely of passing the ball around the perimeter hoping something happened and then when it didn’t, there would be a hapless dribble drive. It became clear as early as 2005 that all of his success was from Jack and Bynum willing those teams to victory. He can recruit his ass off, no doubt about that, but it’s astonishing how bad he was at Xs and Os.

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Thank goodness there will be no more Hewitt bashing. Now these people who live to post blogs to hurt coaches will have to find someone else. I am sure it will not be hard for them to do and it will not be long before they have picked new targets. The UGA fans have been on CMR for quite a while and I have already noticed some on CPJ.
Get a life fans. If you do not like your coaches, find another school. Fans and the media have no clue as to who is a good or bad coach. Only the ADs who hire them are ina position to judge their performance.

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This is definitely not a time for celebration, but the right move was made. Coach Hewitt may not be a good coach, but he ran a clean program, and it’s not his fault he got such a sweetheart contract (I sure would love a contract like that!). It simply was time for a change.

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Sorry it had to happen, but it HAD to happen.

DRad, thanks for doing the right thing. And by the way, it wasn’t because of Shultz and Bradley that the fans turned on Hewitt – he brought our frustration due to his total lack of leadership and development of his players. I guess he’s a nice guy from what I’ve heard and read, but as a coach he just doesn’t cut it.

And yes, Tech was WAY more than fair to Paul Hewitt. I wish he and his family the best, but am glad they and GT get to move on.

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Who is Todd Granthams on here? Isn’t that a damn Dawg??

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There is nothing nasty and distasteful written about him in the media. He lives a descent and honorable life. Yes, he is proud. His was raised by well-raised and classy parents. What do you expect of him. He is a product of his environment. Something some of you will never understand. You need to know the community he born and raised. What am I doing trying to explain…daaa

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I don’t know why everyone is on Jeff’s back about this. Mark yes, but he was doing his job which makes for a better sport’s team in Atlanta when he does what he is paid to do. Jeff has been covering Hewitt like a player with 4 fouls. The AJC even got down last week after the Va. Tech game to just showing video when words would only aggravate what was already cancer. Tech and Georgia both have let down this state and their conferences in basketball and football. When Carolina and Duke are not playing well the ACC suffers, Tech is a best supporting actor in that league, but they have to carry a load they are not carrying now. We have fired our underachiever Georgia now if is your turn to pay your dues for the state and the SEC. Tech basketball will be back before Georgia football, watch and see.

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@ POAD…
I hope you’ll do better than regarding the victims of a tragedy. That is all I have say. Oh, you can not buy it unless it was not already for sell!

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good point JSS. I guess that is why the Japanese own so much real estate in the US. The US has many people that need our help more than our competitor. Charity starts at home. I wouldn’t send a penny to Haiti either. All that money is going to the already rich on the island. Why is half that island RICH (Dominican Republic) and the other dirt POOR (Haiti)? The earth cannot sustain the number of people that now inhabit the planet. There is not enough CLEAN water right now to allow the worlds population live. Most of the water we drink has been filtered by human Kidneys and Bowls more times than we would like to admit. People have to die. If Wars don’t get rid of the excess humans, then natural disasters will. I hate it but it is true.

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Anyone who thinks he’s ready to coach at any ACC school had better be ready for a lot of glare, second guessing, and criticism. Its only natural and will never change. Nor should it. This is the pinnacle of college hoops. I know the Big East is the best this season. No question about that. But the ACC invented college basketball. To last, like Coach K , you must win, develope a system, and surround yourself with a key group of trustworthly supporters.

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The fan who gives Tech $10 per year is getting a far greater payback that the fan that gives UGA $1000 a year.

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Believe me , the up and coming coaches are lining up for this interview. DRADs phone and email will be choked Monday.

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Boras can only envy what Hewitt negotiated.

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the attorney that negotiated the hewitt deal with ga tech should wear a cape to work with a big S, not a suit. that’s a superstar contract.

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With hewitt’s $7 million buyout plus all the millions he’s banked from other years, he may be in line to buy the atl hawks from the worthless owner group. Can they contact him for some investment cash?

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hey dont feel bad you know we still ‘embrace’ you.

hell you ‘embraced’ us too.

we were ‘embraced’ everytime you called a momentum killing to
we were embraced with ever road loss
we were embraced when you had us put on probation
we were embraced when our program finished last acedemically
we were embraced when our team finished with losing records in 3 of the last 4 years
we were embraced when your teams always underachieved even when you had 5 nba players on the same team
we were embraced with all your excuses
we were embraced when espn called your offense the clogged toilet offense
we were embraced when espn chuckled when they read the kennesaw state score.

yes paul you embraced us so much we kicked your a## to the curb.

finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we were embraced
we were embraced

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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What are we gonna do without the Armani suits on the sideline

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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?

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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…

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So who do the tech fans want?

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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

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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.

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How bout Pitino?

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I mean Pitino still has his teeth in, I think.

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I hope we are smart enough to include a performance clause in the next coaches contract.

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POAD
You do realize that poor old Deano has senile dementia, I hope

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Hech a trained sral is better than what we had this year

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Paul in RDU
after saying that you better sleep with one eye open sitting on the front porch with a shotgun across your lap.

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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!!!!

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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

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I got a mixed family across the road from me to, but they a few sandwhiches short of a picnic.

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How bout a blind squirrel? Ive heard they even find a nut every now and then.

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Butler’s Brad Stevens would be a great choice.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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

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VT played the SAME defense the entire game the other day …… please show me any adjustments captain artard made?

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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

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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

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I wish Tech would start winning in something! I don’t see any improvement comming next year in football or basketball.

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@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..

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Taking his empty suits elsewhere

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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

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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.

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and please……stop with the patronizing of hewett. its a big boy world in sports for coaches making what they make.

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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.

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ncb
he will get a job as soon as he wants.

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Big T – you are correct. That has killed college basketball and GT and CPH really struggles coaching one and done players.

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I agreed with every single word — every one — of this column. (Scary, eh?)

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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.

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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.

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Ha, ha, ha, egads, I can’t stop laughing. You got rid of me, but I laughed the longest.

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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!!!

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Don’t flatter yourself Dude, sitting on your butt doesn’t help anything.

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” I’m not paranoid, now would youse quick pickin on me?”

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The End:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Hn1Rj2jpY

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“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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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[...] 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 [...]

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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I guess Luciano could be Italian too. I went to school with a Luciano from Bogotá.

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agreed.

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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.”

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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.

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LOL

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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.

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Starsky and Hutch II and he will play the part of Huggy Bear

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That casting director must be blind? Or a blogger?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Well I bet even Morrison could design some form of an inbound play.

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That bum lost 63 of his last 99 ACC games. Any questions?

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GT93
March 13th, 2011
7:56 pm
“Yurtle the turtle,, 5150 uoad – some poor tech bloggers. Add to the list jss.”

Huh? I have no dog or jacket in that fight… If you are a ‘93 graduate, you don’t know how low it can be at Tech… Absolutely no clue how bad those teams under Dwayne Morrison were in the Metro and first seasons in the ACC…

If you’re going to pretend to be a basketball power just because of your conference affiliation like Clemson did for 35 years, go ahead… But if you are going to be all in with that program after letting Hewitt go, then be willing to pay the price and the consequences for such a choice… Ask Memphis and Southern Cal about that weight…

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Great sport (Cricket), but they don’t play it in the NCAA, so I know you’re just being snarky. So why jump on people who who have an interest in college hoops or just the general welfare of the game? I thought the fan blogs were for you folks who are looking affirmation about your institutions?

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COME ON, UGA. MAN UP.

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@ 1980…
“Sounds like uga and football – 1980 was so long ago”
That case sure can be made… It’s never stopped Ole Miss from delusions too!

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That bum Hewitt lost 63 of his last 99 ACC games. Anybody want to defend him now?

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CPH was so bad that he would have coached the 1992 Olympic Dream Team to a sixth-place finish in the ACC. He was one of just a handful of coaches in the sport’s history that made his players worse.

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[...] – Paul Hewitt was undone at Georgia Tech by more than just losing [...]

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