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
Brent
March 25th, 2010
6:48 pm
As long as we’re using marital analogies, Hewitt had an opportunity for an amicable divorce without hurting him financially but decided to “stay together for the kids” as it were. That only prolongs the agony and delays the inevitable
Jackets2010
March 25th, 2010
6:49 pm
Ricky B, glad you made it.
Been arguing all afternoon.
I get confused with a lot of people.
My last post sums me up best maybe.
RickyBobbyOnFire
March 25th, 2010
6:49 pm
Hewitt Fan, buddy! You’re back, they must’ve let you out for a little while. Good for you. Now you’d better stop spreading those fabrications (like 3 job offers a year) around or they’re gonna lock you up again.
Hewitt Fan
March 25th, 2010
6:52 pm
George P
Gt has one sure NBA player..Favors…I wish people would stop saying we had final four talent…..NC had 7 high school all americans…..we had 3, so is Hewitt a better coach than Roy Williams?
Wilson Dunkitt
Duke won the regular season championship and the ACC tournament when Singlar shot more free throws than the ENTIRE Gt team…..I told u its only 2 allowed to win it….pay attention
RickyBobbyOnFire
March 25th, 2010
6:53 pm
Paul in RDU: That is the key difference indeedy! A good coach (Roy) takes responsibility for his actions and then takes action to correct his mistakes. A bad coach (Hewie) doesn’t.
Paul in RDU
March 25th, 2010
6:53 pm
Hewitt Fan – No good big men who are likely to leave early go to the ACC?
Ever hear of Marvin Williams (1 and done), Ed Davis (will be gone this year after 2 years)?
How about Josh McRoberts (a 2 and done white guy from Duke, no less)?
Alabi from FSU (he’ll be drafted this year) – Singleton will be gone next year. Don’t let facts get in the way of your thoughts.
And if UNC and Duke only have good records in the ACC because of some kind of conspiracy between Swofford and the refs, how the heck did they get to win all of those NCAA champiuonships?
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
6:56 pm
Why Hewitt Fan, how nice of you to explain yourself again, but I was listening the first time. Don’t get us wrong, we’re paying attention, we’re just not buying the crap you’re trying to sell. You do make excuses just as well as your namesake, and I thought we’d all decided you could just drop that “Fan” from your handle since your M.O. is clear.
Hewitt Fan
March 25th, 2010
6:56 pm
How could Favors dominate when hes on the bench…Carmelo played in a leauge where its not all about the coaches, its all about the players…thats why he dominated….
Gordon
March 25th, 2010
6:59 pm
We have now reached the absurd position of having the coach we do only because his wife doesn’t want to move and his employer can’t afford to buy him out. At tonight’s press conference, Dan Radakovich and Paul Hewitt will sound very serious when they say how this is a fresh start, but everyone knows the truth: Hewitt would rather be at St. John’s and everyone at Tech would rather he be anywhere but here.
For me, excitement from years gone by has given way to disappointment, then anger, and now apathy. Until this sad situation is brought to a merciful end, I have attended my last Tech basketball game, contributed my last dollar, and written my last blog entry. I love Georgia Tech basketball and will miss it very much, but my patience has run out.
Paul in RDU
March 25th, 2010
7:00 pm
RickyBobby – In the N&O article Ole Roy talks about how the pain of losing is greater than the joy of winning. Coach K and Gary W are pretty much the same. You read the same thing about guys like Parcells and Belichick (to quote coaches in another arena). Maybe you need to be an obsessive to go all the way.
George P
March 25th, 2010
7:02 pm
Don’t forget Lawal because I guarantee you the scouts won’t. GT had one of the biggest and talented big men in the Dance, but the cracks in the foundation kept us from succeeding this year. The talent was wasted, and the only way to explain how that can happen is by flaws in how the ship was run. In our case, the captain has been inept and we hit shore a few too many times.
Gordon
March 25th, 2010
7:02 pm
We have now reached the absurd position of having the coach we do only because his wife doesn’t want to move and his employer can’t afford to buy him out. At tonight’s press conference, Dan Radakovich and Paul Hewitt will sound very serious when they say how this is a fresh start, but everyone knows the truth: Hewitt would rather be at St. John’s and everyone at Tech would rather he be anywhere but here.
For me, excitement from years gone by has given way to disappointment, then anger, and now apathy. Until this sad situation is brought to a merciful end, I have attended my last Tech basketball game, contributed my last dollar, and written my last blog entry. I love Georgia Tech basketball, and will miss it very much, but my patience has run out.
gt
March 25th, 2010
7:03 pm
Tech Fan and Voice of Reason very well written words, good job!
and let me tell you just one of many differences between Cremins and CPH. After going 2-14 in 08/09, Cremins would have approached DRAD and renegotiated the rollover making it fair to all parties involved. Cremins would have made it to the championship game in 1990 had they had Arkansas to play instead of UNLV. Duke had the easier draw.
yes he!! is eternity but so is CPH’s rollover, so what is the difference? Wilson Dunkitt that was funny. I needed a good laugh that was funny
Hewitt Fan
March 25th, 2010
7:03 pm
Paul RDU
Remember these players……
Duke( the team that dominates the ACC) former players that have been busts in the NBA
Parks,Mc Cloud,Hurly,Jayson Williams,Sheldon Williams,Avery,Dunleavy jr,Reddick,Ferry, the list goes on and on….do u remember big bad Sean May……
But look at GT players Jack,Bosh,Young,Morrow, are all solid players…i wonder whats the problem….
RickyBobbyOnFire
March 25th, 2010
7:03 pm
Jackets2010: I’m just glad to be alive! I’d be more glad if Hewitt and clan were on a plane to NYC, but I’ll live. This is taking on some queer similarities to Cremins crawfishing out of USC, except that Cremins was still generally popular, as you note. Hewitt is definitely on the downhill side of popular and he should have paid better attention. I believe you are right, not much good in hoping for a multimillionaire savior, but I think Hewitt is going to end up this way:
Radakovich or his successor will fire Hewitt in the next couple of years as the fanbase and alumni support continues to crumble. He’ll get most of his $7 million, with maybe some creative payment solutions thrown in. He will likely take some time off and then get another job, not a a major school or a major conference, but somewhere, and he’ll live in the back corners of ours memories with his little dark-circled raccoon eyes peering out at us to remind us to never, NEVER, NEVER sign a contract without reading the fine print.
Ok, enough
March 25th, 2010
7:04 pm
Will you please shut up already about Hewitt? It isn’t that big of a tabloid-esque scandal/tragedy like you are making it out to be. Hell, if Mark Richt had sex with a pig or Barbara Dooley in public in the trailer lot of the latest Georgia Baptist Convention, you wouldn’t give it this much ink if at all.
Move on, Kentucky boy…
Jesus,
StingerSplash
March 25th, 2010
7:07 pm
Mark,
With all due respect, if Hewitt hasn’t done certain things by now (stop the reliance on the one and dones, and Cremins’ last few years were destroyed after he thought Marbury was going to stay longer than he did, learn to defend or execute an inbounds play, have an offense that relies on more than one pass per possession, teach fundamentals such as boxing out — too many of Tech’s rebounds come not through great positioning or technique but rather on their athleticism and size) what makes you believe that’s going to change even in the least? Because it just isn’t. It just isn’t going to change.
RickyBobbyOnFire
March 25th, 2010
7:07 pm
I am predicting that Radakovich may be leaving in the next year or two, completely of his own accord, as he was bound to do anyway. This whole unpleasantness may indirectly his decision to go, but I do hope he has the decency to fix this thing before he goes. Even if it means firing Hewitt outright and paying off the whole amount, and then turning around and hiring a relative unknown with reasonable salary requirements. Please, do this for us, DRad.
p
March 25th, 2010
7:08 pm
LMAO at Tech!
RickyBobbyOnFire
March 25th, 2010
7:08 pm
this whole unpleasantness may indirectly INFLUENCE his decision to go
China Tech
March 25th, 2010
7:10 pm
Sure wish the AJC would consult with Tech and get their software revised to reject any comment which contains “first”.
BravesFan79
March 25th, 2010
7:10 pm
Bradley you forgot the main thing that would make a good recruiter successful at GT…. .HIRE a ex head coach with a great offensive mind… as head assistant!!
Of course i have said this for 3 years now with Hewitt hiring nothing but guys that looked like they just graduated college and are more clueless than he is on how to run a offense.
Hewitt Fan
March 25th, 2010
7:10 pm
St. Johns is a better job with better fans ,hell better everything… but i see where Hewitt is going with this, he should stay and if these people on this blog and within the program want him out so bad how about writing a check….
The Cremins era
I can remember when GT would have 5 NBA players in they lineup and would lose 11 or twelve games or how about the southern 1st round lost..Best,Barry,Geiger,Mackey, should have been Forest also but Cremins gave him some bad advice….how about the 6 man rotaions and making players transfer if he decided he didnt like they game?
Technophobia
March 25th, 2010
7:11 pm
Sheesh, I just checked scout.com and Carolina has three 5 star players already signed. Talk about reloading, they’ve already got 5 McD’s all Americans and I don’t think they’re losing much from this year’s team.
COLLEGE of CHARLESTON
March 25th, 2010
7:11 pm
Enter your comments here
English speaker
March 25th, 2010
7:11 pm
Mark – will you be at the 9:30 presser tonight? I’m curious as to the spin that Hewitt puts on this and who he blames.
Technophobia
March 25th, 2010
7:12 pm
Hewitt fan, Cremins took us to the NCAA’a 9 years in a row. Give the man his props.
Nancy Pelosi
March 25th, 2010
7:12 pm
Why work for a living,when you do not have too,Paul you could be the “face”of our party
no one better than Mark Price
March 25th, 2010
7:12 pm
changing the subject for a different comment…………………….I ran into Mark Price and Craig Neal at the Pittsburgh airport. The Cavaliers were in town to play an exhibition game and I recognized both having just graduated from GT and huge GT bb fan. I do not watch NBA but knew it was them along with Coach Lenny Wilkins. Craig Neal had just joined the team leaving Miami Heat. Pretty impressive seeing that he was the 6th man off the bench. Both players were extremely nice and left me tickets for the game. The lethal weapon 3 group was outstanding but I would have to vote for Price, Salley, Hammond, Dalrymple as the absolute best of the best.
Go Jackets
March 25th, 2010
7:13 pm
Got to pull for Syracuse in this tourney, anybody that has a coach as old as me and has a 5 year old son—he’s still got the spice.
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
7:13 pm
OK enuff, now I’d pay to see the pig that allowed itself to be boinked by Mark Richt, though he (the pig) might be insulted that you lumped him in the same category as Barbara Doo-me.
Paul in RDU
March 25th, 2010
7:15 pm
Hewitt Fan – Interesting how you came up with your list of former Duke players – talk about cherry picking. You do know that there are way more former Duke players currently playing in the NBA right now than GT players, right? You left a few Duke names off – like Corey Magette, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand. And if you are going back to Cherokee Parks to bring up busts, all throw in Grant Hill as a current one.
And some of your other busts are a reach – You do know why Bobby Hurley and Jason Williams were “busts” in the NBA, right?
AlabamaRamblinwreck
March 25th, 2010
7:15 pm
The most important thing that Hewitt needs to do is:
Expect more from his team, and force this expectation (through tough, hard nosed disciplinary tactics) into his players. I promise you that PJ is not easy on his guys. I don’t think he ever says “well, they are young, and I expect them to make mistakes” This may be true, but if you have this stance, you will not be able to force the players to expect more and to improve. Great coaches have a disciplinary system that punishes continued “brainfarts”. I don’t see that with Hewitt’s teams. They are still making the same mental mistakes at the end of the season that they make at the beginning of the season, and I don’t believe that Hewitt is recruiting mental midgets. These are smart guys who can learn with a little accountability.
Go Jackets
March 25th, 2010
7:15 pm
Got to pull for Syracuse in the tourney, anybody thats got a coach as old as me and has a 5 year old and a fine young wife like he’s got—mans still got the spice.
BigDaddy
March 25th, 2010
7:16 pm
East Cobb Jacket – Wanna talk about “sugar jobs!” Bobby Cox has the best job in Atlanta. Only won one World Series in how many years? And the media is always signing his praises! If we’re gonna run underperforming coaches out of town, let’s start with Bobby! The father of excuses! What a joke!
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
7:16 pm
Price, Salley, Hammond, and Dalrymple were all formidable. Solid stuff. And even Yvonne Joseph, the first Haitian I ever really talked to, was a real contributor.
Technophobia
March 25th, 2010
7:16 pm
Hewitt fan, it’s not really fair to call Hurley a bust in the NBA. He had just started and showed promise when he was seriously injured in a automobile accident and suffered life threatening injuries. It was a shame. The kid had a lot of guts.
GT man
March 25th, 2010
7:17 pm
Got to pull for Syracuse in the tourney. Any team that has a coach as old as me and has a five year old son and a fine looking young woman as Boeheim—win it all !!!!
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
7:17 pm
Bobby Cox does make excuses for his players sometimes, but never for himself. Since he is retiring this year it is a little late to be running him out of town, BigDoody.
Technophobia
March 25th, 2010
7:18 pm
THE HAITIAN SENSATION! We had better nicknames back then, lol.
To Ballboy
March 25th, 2010
7:18 pm
I can agree with the ACs sucking except for LaBarrie. Look for changes in at least two spots. LaBarrie stays. He is doing a good job.
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
7:18 pm
I don’t agree with much of what you say Technophobe, but amen on Hurley. Go Jackets
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
7:19 pm
I hated it when we played Hurley, but he was one tough kid.
NoCoach Blewitt
March 25th, 2010
7:19 pm
Blewey must have, http://failblog.org/2010/03/24/wheel-of-fortune-fail-2/ , thinking he can come back and receive any kind of REAL support.
GT
March 25th, 2010
7:20 pm
Cremins had poodlehead and Perry Clark, George Felton…. The point is he had a lot of help on his bench, not to mention some of the best point guards college basketball has ever seen. There is a way a veteran coach and staff sets up a game. The way they handle the refs, keep their players loose, figure out what the other team is doing quickly before the whole team fouls out and make adjustments. You remember Bobby only played five or six so foul trouble like we saw in the OSU game or the Duke away game could not be allowed. Remember how he would get Sampson’s goat with Goza. He owned Lefty even that first year when Steppe was the only real player he had on the floor. ACC coaches floor plan their games like riverboat gamblers, their personalities lend to that sort of action. Of course Hewitt can’t coach fundamentals which quickly catch your eye, but what is worse he is too stiff during a game. The opposition like Seth Greenberg or Roy Williams smell this tightness and take full advantage of it. Full court presses and handling the refs even in Tech’s home court is left to the visitors in this void. I think Bobby was not afraid he was totally enjoying this whole thing, Hewitt needs a little of that in his makeup, how he gets it or if he gets it is beyond me.
Paul in RDU
March 25th, 2010
7:21 pm
Technophobia – You’ve got it right about UNC next year. Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock are going to be studs. UNC will lose Davis, Ginyard and Thompson but they will be much better overall. As Dean once said, the best thing about freshmen is they grow up to be sophomores.
Ole Roy will start the year with Henson playing at PF instead of SF where he played him for most of this year. They still need a good PG to run the fast paced style Williams likes since Drew definitely was not the answer this year.
Kay
March 25th, 2010
7:21 pm
All Tech fans should read DRad’s article on the Tech home page. We need to unite and now support Hewitt and Tech with all our energy and resources.
Put all the negative thinking behind us!
NoCoach Blewitt
March 25th, 2010
7:22 pm
I wonder if Hewitt will be wearing a dress on the sideline next year since obviously he no longer wears the pants in his house …. sure he will still be a sharp dresser
Wilson Dunkitt
March 25th, 2010
7:22 pm
I think I’ll take a cue from Mark and disappear from here for awhile. There’s a lot of flying knives in this room, and I’ve put some of ‘em in motion myself, but self-preservation says go. Plus, supper’s ready.
Blewitt Must Go
March 25th, 2010
7:23 pm
If he stayed at GT just because of his contract and is indeed as miserable as the fans, then it will eventually have a very negative effect on his health. Money can’t buy health or happiness and he will learn this lesson the hard way.