How Hewitt can win back Tech fans – and win games, too
Yes! There's still a chance for Paul Hewitt to win friends and influence people. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Paul Hewitt is still Georgia Tech’s coach. At issue is whether Hewitt can again be the people’s choice. His dialogue with St. John’s extended hope to many disgruntled Tech fans — and there are many disgruntled Tech fans — that they might not have to witness the same underperformance next season. Those folks are now in a curious position: They’re sorry their coach is still their coach.
The onus is now on Hewitt to win back his constituency. For that to happen, these steps need to be taken:
Stop the excuses: Hewitt often acts as if circumstances are beyond his control. He’s paid to control circumstances. If somebody gets hurt, coach up the next guy on the bench. If a talented player leaves after a year, find someone to replace him. If your guards can’t feed the post, teach them how. Tech people no longer want to hear about point guard Austin Jackson choosing the Yankees and baseball over playing for the Jackets — that happened in 2005, but Hewitt brought it up just last week — or about your team being “too young” or “snakebit.” They just want results.
Shore up his staff: Is it only coincidence that the Jackets are 81-78 since assistant Cliff Warren left to coach Jacksonville after the 2004-2005 season? (Fellow Tech assistant Dean Keener departed for James Madison a year earlier.) Current assistants Peter Zaharis and John O’Connor came to Tech not as coaches but as directors of basketball operations. Both have known Hewitt from his days at Villanova. Former Tech player Darryl LaBarrie was hired as an assistant last summer after stints at Campbell and East Carolina. Put simply, there’s a need for stronger voices and new ideas on the bench.
Coach offense as hard as he does defense: With few exceptions, all Hewitt’s players have defended at a high level. His offense has functioned less well. Too often Tech doesn’t seem to know what it should be doing. Chris Bosh averaged only 9.7 shots his season as a Jacket; seven years later, Derrick Favors averaged 8.1 shots. If you’re going to recruit one-and-done talents, you’d better figure out a way to get them the ball. A creative assistant with an offensive background would be most welcome here.
Reach out to fans and alums: Hewitt doesn’t appear to have any idea how unpopular he has become. (His stock response is something along the lines of, “Everyone always tells me we’re doing great when they see me in the airport.”) But Tech hasn’t done great, or even all that good, for five years now. Hewitt needs to cultivate his base — as opposed to challenging it via Twitter — through brunches or dinners or fan-appreciation outings. He can be charming and persuasive. He needs to be both now.
Offer to renegotiate his golden contract: It’s hard to ask anyone to put guaranteed money at risk, but this would do wonders for Hewitt’s image. Too many people have come to believe Hewitt is still coaching Tech only because the athletic association can’t afford to pay him $7.1 million to go away. Hewitt should go to Dan Radakovich and offer to relieve some of the financial burden. He should say, “I’ll waive the perpetual rollover if you’ll give me a five-year deal worth $8.75 million.” That would offer Hewitt a nice salary bump — from $1.375 million per season to $1.75 million — but would remove the most oppressive aspect of his never-ending deal. And it would earn him a mint’s worth of good will.
Win more games: It sounds simplistic, but it’s a time-honored panacea. Win big and people like you. Win big and we in the media sing your praises. Nobody complained about Hewitt’s offensive sets or the new contract Dave Braine handed him in 2004. Nobody was hoping he’d leave for St. John’s back then. Indeed, Tech fans were terrified he wouldn’t stay.
Six years have passed, and there’s no way for Hewitt ever to be as beloved as he was then, but he can reclaim some of those folks who’ve grown disenchanted. He can gripe less. And win more.
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623 comments Add your comment
scottm
March 26th, 2010
9:28 am
Mark – HOW did you read my mind so precisely? This is spooky…
Fungus McGee
March 26th, 2010
9:30 am
The problem is that Hewitt is not a college basketball coach, and after all these years, he’s not going to change. What you see is what you get, and that’s not very much.
Tech will continue to wallow in mediocrity as long as Hewitt is here.
GTPhenom
March 26th, 2010
9:34 am
Fungus, that is my greatest fear. I just don’t think what happened in 04 can be replicated, and that the past six years of Hewitt are what we are going to get from here on out until he is gone. Now, am I the only one who has noticed this, but has anyone else noticed that with ANY interview Hewitt does, he has this nonchalant, it doesn’t matter kind of attitude, particularly in post-game interviews. He shows little enthusiasm if we win, and shows little concern if we lose. If it were me, I would chew myself out for the loss first, and then I would be in there on those guys making sure they understand what went wrong, why we lost, and what we can do to fix the problem immediately.
Robert
March 26th, 2010
9:38 am
If you can’t teach players how to play the game and your system of basketball, and you can’t control their lack of execution of the system in the game, what use are you as a coach?
Iblameurparents
March 26th, 2010
9:41 am
MB, you almost had me. I was there with you right up until you suggested PH put his guaranteed money at risk. That he if fact would do wonders for his image by forsaking his “perpetual rollover” and thus leave himself vulnerable to the ground swell of discontent amongst some of Tech’s supporters is utterly absurd. Certainly I do not find it necessary for PH to do any of the things you suggest save winning but I would not argue that if he chose to hire better assistants, reach out to alum, refrain from excuses etc. those actions would go a long way in placating the angry mob. However in a society where you are worth what another man is willing to pay, you never take money off the table. By and large I think that is what rankles Tech’s angry fans the most, that their emails, their phone calls, their good connections have no barring on whether PH stays or goes. So like the bad marriage that was based on a faulty premise, now that kids are involved it is too expensive to let go, so you learn to love them. Because ultimately you have no choice. From my perspective you could and have loved worse.
Bill
March 26th, 2010
9:41 am
GT just lost a Basketball Fan………….fire Hewitt and Rads.
Get a grip!
March 26th, 2010
9:41 am
Tired of reading Bradley and other hypocritical journalist, University/College officials and so called supporters / fans. It seems that they all want successful, well run, clean programs that are led by coaches that kids can look up to, learn from and emulate. Then, when they have that high character type coach… they move the ball, and success becomes only wins and losses. Not only just wins loses, but, winning at the highest level all the time. (20 wins or more every year, NCAA Bid every year, Sweet 16 every year and in the 4 final four frequently. Get a grip! Stick to some core principals and stop all the stuff that creates a divisive environment. Bunch of hypocrites….!
Get a grip!
March 26th, 2010
9:46 am
Oh by the way! Don’t hate because Hewitt negotiated a good contract. No one forced GT to agree to those terms 4 years ago. Maybe Mark Bradley should re-negotiate his compensation with the AJC and get paid on the % of the public would pay extra subscription fees just to read his unbiased editorials
OldRat
March 26th, 2010
9:56 am
“KENBUD” referenced Darryl LaBarrie as a desireable assistant because he is a former player. He may be on of the best, but his demeanor on the bench during the last few games didn’t portray that. He appeared almost blase and at times even frightened. Never saw him encouraging, coaching or chastizing. DO SOMETHING!!! A former player with energy would help.
velojacket
March 26th, 2010
9:57 am
Spot on Mark. The contract blurb is the only thing that really is a reach. I am ready for him to be gone, but he can temper my disillusionment by winning games like we know the Tech program is capable of.
okiemon
March 26th, 2010
10:02 am
Best editorial I’ve read on this sorry state of affairs, Mark. I completely agree with your suggestions…though I will be mightily surprised if any of this happens.
Coach Hewitt..
March 26th, 2010
10:04 am
Hey GTPhenom… I have $7.1 million reasons not to care what people think about me…
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-
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I Run This School….$7.1 million or STFU…LMMFAO…Paul.
Mark Bradley
March 26th, 2010
10:04 am
Thanks for the kind words, folks. I appreciate them.
J W
March 26th, 2010
10:07 am
Most accurate, and easiest to agree with, point in your column: something has to be done on the assistant coaches level. Current staff may be decent, likable fellows, but evaluation has to be made based on coaching skills.
Don
March 26th, 2010
10:21 am
Doug Gottlieb (substituting on Mike and Mike this morning) was talking with Mark Schlabach this morning about the terrible turnovers Syracuse committed last night against Butler. He said something along the lines of “Mark, you’re from Atlanta. With all those turnovers, Syracuse looked like a Paul Hewitt coached team last night.”
I guess once Hewitt hears about that he can add ESPN to the AJC on his enemies list.
Tell It Like It Is
March 26th, 2010
10:23 am
Having watched fickled fans and sports writers in Atlanta for years, there is no reason for Coach Hewitt to waste any of his time trying to win them over. If he wins games, then these yahoos will crawl back under their rocks and shut up. To suggest that he should give back some of his salary is even more ludicrous. Why is there so much envy in regards to his position and salary and the obvious questioning of his coaching skills by people who have never coached. It reminds me of the comments directed toward President Obama and Tiger Woods. I am sure that there is no correlation…or is there?
Lethal Weapon 3
March 26th, 2010
10:23 am
Renegotiate his what? Are you kidding me. Everything you said was fine, but since when do people say..”Uhhh, you know what, I don’t need this money.” He has a family and I’m sure his wife would beg the differ, besides, money has nothing to do with it. You know what TECH truly needs… A POINT GUARD… Remember Cremmins… He was notorius for getting GREAT point guards..(except for Tony Akins) When you think of GT you think of Price, Anderson (my favorite TECH player), Best, and Marbury. Great players. Next, get players that do special things like defend, shoot, and rebound. Get players that have some sort of basketball IQ. For instance… Just listen. I’m watching the OSU/GT game and this is just before their 3 point guy goes on a tear. I’m watching the OSU player come up the court on an appearent 3 on 3… There is a Tech player guarding the wing and for some strange reason he chooses to run to the paint where there is already a defender there to stop ball penetration. Well, we all know what happend next, the ball handler kicks the ball back out to the best shooter on the floor…SWISH! OSU goes up by about 5 or 7 and the shooter gains his confidence and proceeds to sank GT with a shooting clinic. Why did the defender not make a double move fake inside, anticipate the kick back and be in position to play defense… Coach Hewitt… He’s a New Yorker…. Go back up top and get us a saavy point guard worthy enough to be placed in the pantheon of the great GT point guards of the past.
Don
March 26th, 2010
10:27 am
Guest hosting on the Mike and Mike show this morning, Doug Gottlieb of ESPN was talking about the rash of bad turnovers Syracuse had last night against Butler and said they looked like a Paul Hewitt coached team.
PMC
March 26th, 2010
10:35 am
If they could win an ACC regular season title and have a team that is fun to watch and fundamentally sound I think he would win back a ton of people.
PMC
March 26th, 2010
10:36 am
What he needs…. is the next Kenny Anderson.
Tell It Like It Is
March 26th, 2010
10:42 am
Lethal Weapon 3,
Thanks for the enlightening comments and TELLING IT LIKE IT IS.
MiGT
March 26th, 2010
10:44 am
I’ve been a devoted Tech fan since 1970. Hewitt reminds me quite a lot of Bill Curry. He puts a good face in front of the program (for the most part), but he’s not a smart coach. Further, it just doesn’t look like there’s any way to get rid of him. And there is this: Curry’s football teams were just awful until he hired an extremely good DC; then, they got better. Then, he got rid of a terrible OC and hired a good one. He had two good years, the good OC left, and the hired the bad one back again. Then, I knew. He didn’t really care about Tech. Paul Hewitt looked pretty good early in his career at GT because he had some good assistants; now, he’s on his own. He’s not going to fix that and there is no way to make him do it. I’m still a fan, but I’m tired of this.
Here’s another thing: Tech used to graduate a higher proportion of athletes than of the overall student population. They don’t now, and basketball is a worst offender. How long can that continue to be the case? Why is it the case now? Is this actually bad recruiting or just not applying enough pressure to the players so that they know they’ve got to be students first.
And one last note for today: Tech’s basketball team WAS over-rated earlier in the season, but the baseball and softball teams are both as good as advertised. We sweep UGA in baseball and I’ll be greatly mollified.
Dealarue
March 26th, 2010
10:46 am
My guess is u all in the Atlanta area are pretty lucky Hewitt stayed at Tech. Now lets see if all of you including sports writers can be as loyal to him????????
Coach Cool
March 26th, 2010
10:52 am
Spot on about the coaching staff.
Did anyone catch this item: Chris Petersen, coach of Boise State football, is going on trips to watch Oklahoma and Oregon practice spring ball.
WHOA! Boise has, of course, beaten those two clubs last time he played them! Check out this quote:
“I just have a bunch of questions. And I want to watch how they practice.”
CPH: you could learn a lot from a Blue Field.
wordy
March 26th, 2010
10:52 am
They are losing 3/4 of their offensive production. Almost all of their rebounding. And they will have one forward that played meaningful minutes next year. Rooster is averaging at a height of about 6-5. good luck with that winning part next year.
wordy
March 26th, 2010
10:58 am
@lethal weapon 3 Tony Akins is still playing ball. He is in S Korea.
Sicmdawgs
March 26th, 2010
11:01 am
Dude, UGA would love to have the caliber coach that Paul Hewitt is. Fox has potential, but he’s no where near as accomplished as PH. This guy got to the NCAA finals and, this year, the final game of the ACC tourney–you know how hard that is? Do you realize how few coaches can put that on their resume? Sure he has incredible talent, but they’re incredibly young and, sometimes, chemistry is just not going to be there. Bradley has obviously never played on a basketball team. I don’t know why you have it out for this coach.
Langley
March 26th, 2010
11:02 am
Don’t kid yourselves- He wanted to leave and this will be remembered by the fan base. His family just wouldn’t let him. So I don’t blame him for following the family first, but he is really going to catch heat from the fans for a while until he proves that he wants to coach Georgia Tech.
JD
March 26th, 2010
11:03 am
Just can’t get of the yanks from New York. They talk about how great it is but never want to leave when given the opportunity.
David
March 26th, 2010
11:05 am
St John’s is a dead program. The college is in one of the worst parts of NYC, and the administration has left the practice facilities in poor shape. Until the administration changes, St John’s will never be as strong as it was in the 80’s.
JacketLady
March 26th, 2010
11:10 am
Great article and excellent points however I don’t know many people that would be willing to give up that good of a contract…they would be a “saint”. Unfortunately for me Hewitt has had too many years of mediocrity especially with the talent that he has recruited. It’s fine to go after the McDonald’s All American’s but if they leave after a year they hurt the program more than help and in alot of cases it takes them most of the 1 season they are here to adapt to the college game. Get the next tier guy and coach him and if he leaves after 3 years we should have another that’s experienced to take his place. I’m not sold on the “All Americans” especially after watching some of the guys at the smaller NCAA 1 schools who are outperforming some of the hot shots from the larger schools. They work as a team! Hopefully Hewitt lies and will read your article and take heed.
Who cares
March 26th, 2010
11:17 am
I know a lot of folks seem to care especially from reading these post and others. Really though if the football program is winning and making money the way the SEC schools do then we shouldn’t care about the basketball program that much. Even the traditional BB schools are now trying to greatly improve their football programs. Football is the money maker not basketball. So keep Hewit, keep him at his current rate with the current deal and he will eventually move on. “Hear me now beleive me later” football is all that matters.
Who cares
March 26th, 2010
11:25 am
Oh and by the way, take away the basketball “special admits” you know the guys who could never get into Tech on their own merits academically. Use the basketball “special admits” on football guys. Economically using them for football players will be far more profitable than on basketball players and that may convince Hewit to take another look around for a different job.
bubba
March 26th, 2010
11:41 am
Next year will be a terrible season for tech . … Non of the players like him …Iman is leaving , Gani Leaving , D Favs leaving …Peacock gone , Deandre gone… U have three head case freshman that think they are better than they are and an a–hole for a coach.
He hasnt recruited Jack cause he is expecting them to fire him. Basically , he aint trying to win he is going through the motions because he is holding the program hostage.
Will
March 26th, 2010
12:00 pm
Great article Mark. I agree mostly. But there is one other thing. It seems to me that Hewitt is almost afraid to “get on” his players. Maybe that’s not the case in reality but it sure seems to be that way. Personally, I think he needs to go “grow a pair”. Short of that, he needs to go and get a pep talk from Paul Johnson. I don’t think that CPJ is afraid of Satan himself. Hewitt seems like he’s afraid to offend anybody. I can’t believe that Mrs. Hewitt is in a position of ultimately controlling the fate of Georgia Tech basketball for the next number of years. My God, how di we get in this position. Oh, I forgot, Dave Brainless strikes again…
Tell It Like It Is
March 26th, 2010
12:06 pm
Who Cares,
You make good points. Are you saying that a notable institution like Georgia Tech would allow “special admits” for monetary reasons? The term “using them” is very interesting. Is this not a plantation mentality phrase where black athletes are used as slaves with no pay just to enhance the bottom line.Surely the one and done athletes( “special admits”) are not smart enough to see that. I thought that the discussion was about Coach Hewitt and winning basketball at Tech. Maybe Coach Hewitt and the “special admits”(including football players) are not as naive as you seem to imply.
I noticed that a lot of Tech alumni on this blog have elected not to renew their season tickets. What is the price of a season ticket? I would suggest to you that Tech’s revenue is generated by TV contracts. There must be some funding somewhere in the chain. Tech and their All Americans are a pretty good TV draw. Too bad that they do not get paid like everybody else since”special admits” do not graduate in most cases. You have identfied something to think about my friend. Oh well…Who cares. Right????
Stan
March 26th, 2010
12:06 pm
Us Tech fans are stuck with Hewitt….What a disgrace
Pay Me ...Or Shut up and let me Coach
March 26th, 2010
12:13 pm
Listen. The power structure at Georgia Tech can solve this with the stroke of a pen. Fire the man, pay the man and go get who you want as a coach. Stop waiting for Hewitt to the job for you. The Tech faithful only have the school to blame for this situation. If I were Hewitt I would not leave either. I am not going to let you off the hook after you have shown me that you don’t want me anymore. If the Tech power structure is unwilling to buyout the contract well Hewitt should continue coaching until his contract expires. Either way Hewitt wins. So Tech fans get over it and continue to support your team.
Lethal Weapon 3
March 26th, 2010
12:15 pm
I think TECH justs needs some good players. Like I mentioned earlier… They have athletes, but don’t have ball players… Forget the McDonald’s All America types. Just find a 3 star recruit that isn’t all hype and work with him. It will pay off in the long run. But most importantly, get a good point guard… That’s what the jackets are known for… He’s from N.Y. (Hewitt) and can’t find a good point guard? Another point I’d like to make is TECH should be able to recruit with the likes of DUKE due to its academic opportunities… Why does DUKE get the Hurleys, Laitners, Reddicks, and Hills and TECH cannot. Hewitt should be able to attract the top academic players as well as get the best talent? He’s a good coach, I just think he needs to revaluate his priorities with regards to recruiting…
Kevin
March 26th, 2010
12:18 pm
So what do you suggest be done to the Tech Administrator who negotiated the sweet, outrageous deal with Hewitt?
King Herod
March 26th, 2010
12:28 pm
MEMO TO PAUL HEWITT
Just win, baby.
T3
March 26th, 2010
1:00 pm
Bradley, Kudos. Correct on every point.
I’ll add, D-Rad must REQUIRE some changes, including the asst coaching staff.
It will be VERY BAD for BBall season tix sales and fan attendance, if no changes are made.
Besides, if CPH doesnt like it, then he can always quit.
Also, in a recent AJC article, CPH seemed to make it apparent that there is really only one other school he would go to, because he said that there was only one other school “on a similar mission” as GT.
Since CPH is Catholic, I can only assume thats either Notre Dame of Georgetown.
Tech Lifer
March 26th, 2010
1:18 pm
Mark, I simply can’t put my finger on the the problem. When Tech is “ON” they are “ON” and look like they coud beat anyone in the country. Why can’t they stay consistent? I like the guy, but the free throws and turnovers are due to discipline which goes back to CPH.
I hope he does well.
Tech Alum
March 26th, 2010
1:18 pm
You guys just want this guy gone for other obvious reasons. The guy has gotten Tech to the 03-04 championship game. Has reach the big dance facing all these, as you state, “excuses”. He still manages to attract top players who are apparently NBA material by their second year. Come on, give me a break! With Hewitt, Tech has went toe to toe with likes of Duke! With Hewitt, Tech has reach its highest heights in years. C’mon man, if you want something better, ask Coach K to talk his boss out of a gauranteed deal. Geez!
chris
March 26th, 2010
1:18 pm
U Tech fans won’t be satisfied until yall get a coach like Calipari who is a complete snake, and Tech ends up on probation or something like that. You got good kids in the program on and of the court pretty much, a good coach who loves Tech and wants to be here. If u people check the stats of Coach Cremins and Coach Hewitt they are not that far off. Coach Cremins wasn’t tearing up the ACC like some of u think. Do i want Tech to win more games yes, but i also look at the big picture. Sometimes u gotta be good and have some luck (Maryland, Miami, and FSU games) we win those games and Tech would’ve been 10-6 in the ACC. Tech has a good program and some years will be a great program but u gotta continue to support your team good or bad. I love Tech and i will continue to support all the programs as i do the falcons, hawks and braves. I hope yall will do the same
tarheelsfan
March 26th, 2010
1:21 pm
Please you Tech fans. Paul Hewitt is the best thing you will have. dont try to run him out because you dont want to pay him. Quit crying. Why dont you go and coach them.
eggguy
March 26th, 2010
1:30 pm
Did I really see that white boy score the bucket AND make the free throw in the Ohio State game?
MAYBE we need to see more of that!
BrokeBackJacket
March 26th, 2010
1:31 pm
well well…..another day and you techies just keep the fun coming….this is soooo past funny, but God I do love every minute of it!
Every day…every week…every year all us dumb arse, inbred, trailer living dawgs that all work at McDonald drive thrus hear from you extraordinary tech men (men used loosely) is how much those tech degrees are worth…how much money ya’ll make!….yet you cry and cry about how you cant afford to get outt or CPH’s contract…many begging him to do the “honorable” thing and re-negotiate his contract…well gents..there is another side to that coin..simply put….let GT do the “honorable” thing and pay the man! OR STFU!
Suggestion…you might want to hire the UGA educated lawyer that negotiated CPH”S contract for him…he might….might I say be able to negotiate on your behalf a loan from UGA’s atheletic department….they are sitting on a 30+ million surplus even after recently donating 2 million to the university itself! Of course the interest rate might have to be a bit extreme…but “any port in a storm”…right?
In the meantime Mr. Bradley…keep throwing out the chum…this truly is quite entertaining!
Wooglin
March 26th, 2010
1:32 pm
Braine deserves a lot of the blame for this contract, but remember, it was approved by the Athletic Board and the President, if my memory is correct. We should be asking what kind of due diligence our Board is doing. Clough is gone so we can’t do anything about that.
macarolina
March 26th, 2010
1:37 pm
Greed from the athletic department also plays a role in dwindling fans. I had been a mini-plan season ticket holder for years prior to the big ncaa tourney run. I wanted to renew the next year (and willing to buy full season as they weren’t offering mini plan). But even as a loyal fan I was not offered ability to get on the priority list for renewals and new purchases– I had to make a fat donation to the dept to do that. Sorry, I don’t have cash to do that but I wouldn’t remained a loyal fan through thick and thin. The attitude of the dept when I called to ask was terrible- (basically, sorry, we don’t care that you bought tickets faithfully during our slim seasons). They chased away the loyal fans, and are getting what they (the athletic dept) deserves. I feel badly for the players, they deserve to have a full gym their athletic dept is denying them.