It’d be better for Hewitt and Tech if the two sides part ways
Even millionaire coaches need to be loved. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
It would be better for both parties if Paul Hewitt leaves. Better for Georgia Tech, which would be free of an increasingly unpopular coach and his onerous contract, but also better for Hewitt, who could return to New York as the people’s choice. As coach of St. John’s, he wouldn’t be viewed as the guy who hasn’t really delivered since 2004; he’d be the man from Queens come home to save the Johnnies.
There was a time when Paul Hewitt seemed the savior of Tech basketball. In his first season he took Bobby Cremins’ remnants and turned them into an NCAA tournament team, and in 2004 he took a team of his own creation to the championship game. And for all those who’ve looked at Tech lately and decided Hewitt cannot coach his way out of a paper bag, the memory of 2004 stands as a golden counterpoint: That team was a triumph of coaching.
I’ve said it before, but here it is again: I don’t know if any other coach could have taken Tech further than Hewitt did in 2004, but I can think of three dozen who could have done better since. Tech hasn’t finished above .500 in its conference or reached the Sweet Sixteen over the past six seasons. His record over his first five seasons was 96-66; his record over the past five is 81-78.
Even more distressing has been Hewitt’s penchant for seizing every crutch. Tech’s too young. Or it’s overscheduled. Or it has injuries, or academic issues, or players who’ve left early. Or it’s just “snakebit.” This willingness to explain away mediocrity has always seemed bizarre, given that the 2004 Jackets were handed a gold-plated excuse — leading scorer B.J. Elder sprained his ankle in Tech’s third NCAA game and didn’t score another point until the final against UConn — and persevered.
There are no perfect collegiate teams. The aim isn’t to see who can cry the deepest river but who can maximize what it has. Thad Matta took an Ohio State team without a true center — or even a real forward — and won the Big Ten; Hewitt took a team with the nation’s best complement of big men and finished seventh in the 12-team ACC. On Sunday, Matta’s team spotted Hewitt’s eight points and won by nine.
Hewitt wasn’t Chan Gailey, who was unpopular among Tech fans from the start. Hewitt was warmly received at the start and beloved after the Final Four, but there was never a follow-through to the daring deeds of 2004. It took Jacket backers a while to get impatient, but they’re there now. They’ve seen the same game lost the same way too many times over too many winters, and they’ve read about his never-ending contract and they wonder if the underachieving will ever cease.
This gifted team was Hewitt’s last best chance to persuade his doubters, and all it did was give rise to deeper doubt. If he couldn’t win big with Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal, what will happen next season when both figure to be gone? Will it ever get better for Hewitt than this? And is 23-13 good enough?
St. John’s isn’t a better job per se, but for Hewitt in 2010 it’s a better situation. He can leave the ACC, in which he has a career record of 67-93, and try the Big East, for which he has great affection. (He was an assistant at Villanova under Steve Lappas.) He can charm the New York media, which has the reputation of being nasty but is a pushover for a return-of-the-prodigal yarn, and he’ll recruit well and have the Red Storm back in the Big Dance soon enough.
Six years ago there seemed no better fit than Paul Hewitt for Georgia Tech, but today the two need fresh starts. No coach wants to fall into the disfavor of his constituency, and no constituency wants to root against its coach. But that, sad to say, is the reality at Tech. Paul Hewitt wasn’t Chan Gailey, but Paul Hewitt has become Chan Gailey.
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
567 comments Add your comment
btgt69
March 23rd, 2010
5:10 pm
Sorry Mark and Old School, but I for one hope he stays. Mark you have been on a mission to run him out of town for weeks. I hope and pray that you do not suceed. I also hope and pray that you relocate to NYC where your predetermined bias and vengeful nature will fit right in with the NYC media. How much would it take to buy you out of ATL ?
AMG
March 23rd, 2010
5:12 pm
If CPH leaves then this is the best possible outcome for GT and for CPH. He is going to be fired as soon as Tech has the money to fire him, so don’t think that he had a good enough year to stop the pressure, there is no pressure at all, he is as good as gone when Tech has the money.almost nothing will change this. So if I am CPH I would leave while I still could chose to leave.
Eman
March 23rd, 2010
5:12 pm
Yeah, it always seems that the grass is greener on the other side, until you cross the road and the grass is not that green at all, in fact the grass is dead! GT basketball is not going to get the talent it getting now. Bank it!
Stinger
March 23rd, 2010
5:12 pm
Please leave !!!! We will never get better with Hewitt.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:13 pm
btgt69- what about CPH’s results make you want him to coach our team? Could it be his losing conference record? could it be his SIX conference road wins in the last 5 years?
SecondGenJacket
March 23rd, 2010
5:14 pm
Mark, given all your recent columns about Hewitt, I am curious about the last time you spoke to him directly.
Herschel Talker
March 23rd, 2010
5:15 pm
Siegfried—–>Jesse Stone—–>Roy
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2010
5:15 pm
There’s obviously no guarantee that any coach who might come after Coach Hewitt will do better. Obviously.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:16 pm
Eman- If the grass is greener now, it’s only due to the fertilizer that CPH puts on the floor.
Old School
March 23rd, 2010
5:16 pm
bgt69: I am surprising myself by taking up for Mark because I really tired of him saying how talented Tech was all season, but you are absolutely clueless in saying that Bradley “has been on a mission to run (him) out of town for weeks.” That is the biggest crock I have heard on this site in a long time. He has been fair to Hewitt in his columns to a fault. If you have read columnists from cities other than Atlanta you would really know what it means when a columnists ridicules a coach/player and “is on a mission to run (them) out of town. You bought into the Koolaid that Hewitt has been drinking in that it is the “Atlanta media” who are out to get him. Far from it, bgt69, it’s the longtime fans who have endured his 10 years here with one full-season exception and the last 2 weeks of this season. Show me me one clear-cut example in his prose that shows Bradley has been out to get Hewitt. I’ll wait.
Mark Bradley
March 23rd, 2010
5:16 pm
After the ACC final, SecondGenJacket. I shook his hand and told him, “Nice job.”
**Frederick(Bailey)Douglass**
March 23rd, 2010
5:17 pm
@Old School:
Yes, I’m a diehard Tech basketball fan…been one for years. For that reason, I know that Tech is NOT a stop on the prestigious college basketball coaching tour. Its a set-up job. You are not going to get ANYTHING BETTER THAN PAUL…you are going to recruit a young up-and-coming guy that will be VERY RISKY.
Look at good franchises…look at Michigan State. If you have a coach that took you to the title game, at a non-powerhouse school like Tech…you need to keep him as long as you can unless he steals $$, or hits a player. Period.
Don’t confuse Tech with North Carolina…
critic
March 23rd, 2010
5:17 pm
MB is right on here.
I don’t think there is any going back now that the fans have turned on him, not that it wasn’t well deserved. We’ve seen nothing except than underachievement since 2004.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:18 pm
Any guest on Jerry Springer > Herschel Talker
T-Bone
March 23rd, 2010
5:18 pm
Hey layoff Bradley. He’s just doing his job. Besides, CPH would not be a story if he was doing his job!
JustaThought
March 23rd, 2010
5:19 pm
Hamad Meander……So now he’s right up there with Roy Williams? May I remind you ol Roy won the NC last year, or did you miss that? You are closer to being the coach Roy is than CPH!
RAMBLE ON!!!
March 23rd, 2010
5:19 pm
Quincy Carter > Herschel Talker
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:20 pm
Tech a set-up job??? I can’t remember the last Tech BB coach that left for a better job.
4ph
March 23rd, 2010
5:20 pm
I agree with btgt69…Mark, St Johns is probably looking for a waterboy too…you will have to study hard to get the job though. good luck.
Herschel Talker
March 23rd, 2010
5:21 pm
RAMBLE ON!!! -
hahahahaha. That was awesome!
RAMBLE ON!!!
March 23rd, 2010
5:21 pm
But, Herschel Talker > Paul Hewitt
Herschel Talker
March 23rd, 2010
5:21 pm
RAMBLE ON!!!—>Jesse Stone—->Barney Frank
Brent
March 23rd, 2010
5:21 pm
Paul Hewitt is a class act, but for whatever reasons the magic is gone at GT. Sometimes people just need a change of scenery. Mark, you are dead on that it would be better for both, and I just hope that Paul Hewitt sees it that way also. You’ve certainly done your part to make that point.
IndyGT
March 23rd, 2010
5:22 pm
based on what’s in that NY Post article.. it looks like DRad is already looking at coaching candidates to replace him. So, if CPH leaves.. we’re going to have to hope we find a diamond in the rough. No way, we’re getting anyone established. I just wonder how many others would leave if CPH leaves.. do the freshman take off? Shumpert? Could be interesting.
Eman
March 23rd, 2010
5:22 pm
Tech is not a ACC power house basketball school! Its in the same class as Wake, NC STATE, and Clemson. Sorry but PH will get it together soon. Give him the right players with high B ball IQS AND WATCH HIM TAKE OFF. I believe that the team was really young.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:23 pm
Matt Stafford > Herschel Talker > Joe Cox
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:23 pm
Eman- HE CHOOSES HIS PLAYERS. He is COACH and GM
Old School
March 23rd, 2010
5:23 pm
How many times do I have to say it on this and other sites. I truly think that Tech can get someone who can do better than the following in 10 years:
*have more than one(1) winning season in ACC play in 10 years
*have a winning record(like one game over .500) against more than 3 of the 11 other teams
*have a winning record against UGay
No, Tech will never be a national title contender virtually every season like Carolina or Duke, but I would like someone who could simply be more competitive in the ACC, win more than they lose in the ACC, and give us a legitimate hope that we will be good enought to get in the NCAA Tournament more often than not and make a little noise each time.
Can Tech not get anyone out there who can do better than Hewitt has done in the entire body of work? I just can’t believe that. If you do, then you are satisfied with mediocrity at the very most.
freshd
March 23rd, 2010
5:23 pm
If Hewitt leaves or is forced out, you are going to see a lot of tranfers. He also has signed another 4 star guard. There will be a backlass in recruiting in the state of GA. Like him or not, he can recruit.And he has owned the state of GA.
Daniel
March 23rd, 2010
5:24 pm
Frederick (Bailey) Douglass – any player that has one good season is gone. That has nothing to do with which school they attend. Kevin Love bolted UCLA and Cousins and Wall are both gone from Kentucky in 2 weeks. There are tons of other examples of players leaving “blue-blood” programs after one year.
richard smallwood
March 23rd, 2010
5:24 pm
‘Paul Hewitt has become Chan Gailey.” Mark you do realize that to many Tech fans, you have written just about the worst thing that could be written about a man. (I never understood that level of hatred, but it’s there).
You could have Hewitt a cheat, an adulterer, an ax-murderer…just about anything.
But Chan Gailey??
You have no soul.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:26 pm
freshd- We aren’t going to be good next year, anyway. I’ll gladly tank next year for a fresh start and new philosophy.
Eman
March 23rd, 2010
5:26 pm
I know he does!! As Glen Rice and Oliver grow older they will be great players for Tech. They do not have a big man now that will be the big problem next year. I bet Tech goes 8-8 in the conference next year without a big man because of player development.
BB's
March 23rd, 2010
5:28 pm
Please don’t tease me on this. DRad, please let him go if he wants. The man is a good man. The man is not a good coach. The only player on the current roster who improved this year is Favors. There are a number in the pros (Bosh & Morrow stand out) who improved only after they left. Again, if you simply watch this team attempt to inbound the ball under pressure of any kind you will see that they have not been taught what I was taught at the high school level. We can do better
Old School
March 23rd, 2010
5:29 pm
**Frederick(Bailey)Douglass** : by the way I am still waiting on a clear cut example of a column or columns where Bradley clearly showed he “was on a mission to run Hewitt out of town.”
And no, as Bradley said, there is no guarantee that we will get better than Hewitt if he leaves. But after 10 years and that 2004 yoke still hanging around our neck and only decent season since (look at his ACC record in the last 4 years), I am a little tired and frustrated. I know I keep harping on our lack of competitiveness in the ACC (no finish higer than 3rd in 10 years and the rest in the mid or lower level of the league standings) but Georgia Tech is in the ACC, and if we are going to be in this league then at least be competitive.
Delbert D.
March 23rd, 2010
5:29 pm
Bob Knight. Dan Reeves (awesome in high school at Americus). Ron Bradley, legendary Newton County coach. Heck, Mark Bradley.
Gold&White
March 23rd, 2010
5:29 pm
Mark…
When can we expect the same treatment of Richt? Years of top 10 recruiting classes, a budget that could buy many nations in the world, entrance requirements that would allow a third grader to play if only they were athletically gifted (and final exams that even the third graders could ace – See Harrick, Jr. and the Georgia final exam, I am sure they still linger on the net)…
Yet, they always seem to have depth issues, injury issues, arrest issues (even with all the religion jargon), and only win the SEC when UF, Bama, UT, and LSU are having atypical years. Surely if UGA fails to win the EAST this year you will be calling for Richt’s job??? UF lost basically their whole defense, UT has a new coach and a defense to rebuild, and many are picking USC with nowhere near the talent of UGA to win the EAST this year??? Where is the articles explaining why UGA should part with their coach?
I know….it’s because the Red $ Black Walmart greeters and insurance salesmen/car salesmen (and women) would run you out of town! LOL So, stick to picking on those of us that only have 40,000 alumni in the state and save your neck.
1990_Champs_GT
March 23rd, 2010
5:31 pm
Before this year, I thought that Hewitt could turn this thing around. I wasn’t ready to call for his head until mid-season really.
I hate to see that all the promise I saw in his hiring, all the excitement I felt during the run to the championship has ended with Hewitt entertaining offers from crappy schools.
But I agree it is for the best for both Hewitt and the Jackets.
aztec
March 23rd, 2010
5:31 pm
lets find out who that other shcool is that he would consider, pool our money together for that school too take him away
**Frederick(Bailey)Douglass**
March 23rd, 2010
5:31 pm
Old School, the only teams in the ACC that “win more than they lose in the ACC” year in and year out are you know who: Duke and North Carolina.
Tech is not breaking into that company…unless they hold on to a coach, ride with him through the storms. Period. The only reason that they made this initial step is because they stuck with Cremins all that time. Stability matters my friend.
I look at the vision the guy has…specific parts that come together every 2-3 years. At this point in time, thats all you can ask for at Tech.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:33 pm
Eman- whose fault is it that we won’t have a big man? He knew Favors was 1 and done, he knew Z-Cock was a senior, he knew Gani was most likely gone. All we have left is this decade’s version of Randy Breuer
**Frederick(Bailey)Douglass**
March 23rd, 2010
5:34 pm
@Daniel
My point exactly…Tech aint UCLA, Kentucky, or Kansas. When it happens over at the flats, it is DEVASTATING. It takes Paul 2-3 years to recover. Period.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:35 pm
Douglass… ONE WINNING CONFERENCE RECORD IN TEN YEARS!!!!!!
Isawoj
March 23rd, 2010
5:36 pm
Great article Mark and spot on. The one thing you didn’t mention is that a lot of the fans frustration isn’t just the ridiculous roll over contract, but also that Hewitt has no accountability. If he wins, he gets paid. If he loses, he gets paid. It isn’t really a Hewitt issue as much as it is a basic human nature issue. Anyone offered a sweetheart deal with few ramifications at all if they under perform would have a hard time getting their competitive juices flowing and coaching like their career depended on results.
Maybe Hewitt can go to St. Johns, get a reasonable contract and succeed. IMHO, he will never be successful again at Tech under his current contract.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:36 pm
6-34 CONFERENCE ROAD RECORD THE PAST 5 YEARS
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:36 pm
Who has done worse?
cewbee
March 23rd, 2010
5:39 pm
The handwriting is on the wall. Loyal Tech fans refuse to renew season tickets if CPH stays. Students don’t even go to games (my son included) – since when is studying a more attractive alternative to a 2 hour respite watching BB? Only when the team stinks things up compared to their potential!
Leave Paul. Leave now. Before it gets even uglier. If you didn’t like the press this year, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
**Frederick(Bailey)Douglass**
March 23rd, 2010
5:41 pm
@Jesse Stone
I hear you…loud and clear.
But in a sport where you are judged by how you END ONLY (just be good enough to make it into the tourney), as a visionary, I too would use the regular season to cultivate moderate talent. This is Paul’s strength…road records and conference records are merely process indicators.
Daniel
March 23rd, 2010
5:41 pm
Frederick (Bailey) Douglass, I don’t think you’re dealing with reality. Hewitt had Bosh in 2003, Bosh bolted after one year, and we were in the Final Four the next. It appears that was an aberation, but at least work with facts here.
Jesse Stone
March 23rd, 2010
5:41 pm
I hear the Washington Generals are looking for a coach. The media is very forgiving to the holder of that position. Expectations are low.