Tech’s Brian Gregory: Not a hot guy, but he’ll bring the heat
There's work to be done. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
We’re human. We all do it. We watch the NCAA tournament and we’re smitten by the Hot Young Coach of Cinderella U. And — let’s be honest — it would have been more fun if the man behind the microphone Monday had been Shaka Smart, tapped to bring his VCU brand of giant-felling “havoc” to downtrodden Georgia Tech.
But the glow of March eventually fades, and even the hottest hottie has to go back to work. And sometimes hotness isn’t transferable. In 2007 Todd Lickliter left Butler after two Sweet 16 runs for the lure of Iowa’s bigger money and wider stage. He lasted three seasons. In 1999 Dan Monson exited Gonzaga after an appearance in the Elite Eight. He resigned from Minnesota in 2007, having never lifted the Gophers to the Big Dance.
Brian Gregory is neither hot nor all that young. (He’s 44.) He arrives at Tech having done good work at Dayton. Had he done great work there, he’d have been at a bigger job and therefore beyond the Jackets’ reach. Bear that in mind. Having to pay its former coach $7 million to leave, Tech couldn’t throw bags of money at his successor. It wasn’t shopping along Rodeo Drive. That said …
Tech didn’t need a hot coach. It needed a competent one. It found him.
Gregory wore the requisite pinstriped suit and gold tie at his introductory briefing, but at heart he’s no fashion plate. He’s a Chicago guy — “I eat Chicago hot dogs and Chicago pizza,” he said — who apprenticed in the toughest-minded program there is. At Michigan State he worked first for Jud Heathcote, who won an NCAA title with an oversize point guard from Lansing bearing the nickname Magic, and then for Tom Izzo, who took his championship with a bunch of guys from Flint.
Who’s hot? Who’s not? These aren’t questions the new Tech man ponders. He gets up and goes to work. He’ll hold individual instruction sessions Tuesday with players whose names he doesn’t yet know. “And they really will be individual instruction,” he said. “It’ll be me and whoever’s in the gym with me.”
For reasons unknown and perhaps unknowable, Tech basketball had lost its way. In this smallish man from Chicago, it has a guide. In his interview Thursday, Gregory sounded every note this search committee wanted to hear. Said Dan Radakovich, the athletic director: “He hit on all those things, and it wasn’t pre-scripted — the [need to embrace] former players, the academics, the responsibilities of our current players.”
Someone asked Gregory if Georgia Tech can make the Final Four. “They already have,” he said, not batting an eye. “That’s the first thing you have to ask: ‘Has it been done before? ‘ ”
Gregory sees Tech basketball not as some niche sport in the busy big city but in holistic terms — it’s a program with a past and a future, and it’s a vital part of the Institute and Atlanta. Even his critics in Dayton concede he was a pillar of both university and community, and that’s something this program had lost. People here stopped talking about Tech hoops, and not only because Tech stopped winning.
About winning: Is it fair to think Gregory will fare better in the ACC than he did in the Atlantic 10, where he didn’t win as big as Dayton fans thought he should? Certainly he’ll have access to better players here — even in its weakened state, Tech doesn’t carry the tag of “mid-major” — and if he fails it won’t be for lack of effort. “Nobody’s going to work harder than I will,” he said.
Work: It’s not a concept that connotes hotness. Heck, it sounds downright old-fashioned. But a program of such inherent resources doesn’t require a savior as much as a steward.
What’s the stock in trade of an Izzo team? The Princeton offense? Full-court pressure? No and no. Year upon year, the best thing Michigan State does is rebound, and rebounding is nine-tenths effort. Sometimes Izzo would break out shoulder pads and helmets to teach them ferocity. “Those days are long gone,” said Gregory, meaning the need for football gear. “But we emphasize rebounding. We get after it good.”
There are Tech fans who are disappointed by this hire. They shouldn’t be. After they watch this coach and his team play a couple of times, they won’t be. Gregory’s guys are going to get after it good.
By Mark Bradley
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181 comments Add your comment
NCJacket
March 28th, 2011
10:22 pm
I remember last year when we lost to DAYTON and we had 2 top NBA Draft choices. He seems to know what he is doing. He also has winning records in his conference which is something we rarely see.
Veteran Fan
March 28th, 2011
10:28 pm
Good coach, good program, good hire! Hewitt Fan is not a graduate like I am and all my friends. Yes, all we want is a team that rebounds, works hard, and is competitive every night! That is why Coach Hewitt was let go, because they never played a full game on the road and you never knew which team would show up at home! Dayton fans admit that Coach Gregory’s teams play hard and get after you every night! We and all our friends are buying season tickets and will be there next season every game and we call on all Tech basketball fans to be there with us! It will be exciting watch Coach Gregory win with the same players Coach Hewitt kept making excuses about! Don’t forget Dayton beat us last year with Favors and Lawal!
Artie
March 28th, 2011
10:28 pm
I wouldn’t consider Gani Lawal a “top” draft choice…he was 46th!!!
kral
March 28th, 2011
10:29 pm
do not know the ins and outs of aau…BUT 5150..I KNOW THIS MEANS LITTLE…DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE SITUATION..BUT YOUR 8:56 blog..IS IMPRESSIVE, THAT WAS GREAT…no sarcasm…THANK YOU…not shouting but close
GT65
March 28th, 2011
10:33 pm
Coach Gregory’s pay is posted by Mark on another blog.i believe its a great hire and look forward to supporting BG in future.
Hewitt fan is just that.. Not a GT fan.
kral
March 28th, 2011
10:37 pm
thanks 5150 for the 8:56 blog
taxistan
March 28th, 2011
10:41 pm
Paul Hewitt was a sexy hire! I like meat and potatos myself!
GT Alum
March 28th, 2011
10:43 pm
I plan to support Coach Gregory and our team next year, if for no other reason than that Radakovich gave us fans what we were all asking for when she fired Hewitt.
However, I have a problem with all the sanctimonious creeps who are on here telling those of us that have reservations about this hire that we aren’t entitled to have these reservations or express them. Unless some of you have some great knowledge of college basketball, your opinions are no better informed or more valid than those of us who question this hire.
kral
March 28th, 2011
10:50 pm
hello
kral
March 28th, 2011
10:59 pm
funny how DO doesn’t block my blogs…sounds like a new era has begun..wonder what the test case for blocking freedom of speech on a blog would be like…I mean who knows could you prove it…would you do it …could you make it worth it…???? AJC will be receiving a personal phone call….then a certified letter…challenging the housewives of the AJC..markie@ shultzie..big deal…who knows…woman won a lotta money spilling MC- Donalds coffee on herself
kral
March 28th, 2011
11:09 pm
comments go to never-never land
St. Clarkston
March 28th, 2011
11:30 pm
Sometimes guys like Mark Fox and Brian Gregory are just what a program needs.
Hewitt Can't Coach
March 28th, 2011
11:31 pm
You guys already trashing Gregory need to give him more than ONE DAY to prove himself. Yeah, I said “WHO?” too….But he does have cred and it’s EARNED cred.
He’s got the smarts….He’s got the drive…..He’s got ATL and the ACC. Now it’s up to him to put those pieces together and make it work.
See what he says on his Sports Radio talks and then see what he does in recruiting. If we win 2+ ACC road games next year, it will have been a successful hire based on the Hewitt Standard…
Of course Hewitt was a 100 Petroleum Car Train Wreck….And he/it will still be burning on North Ave for the next 5 years.
GT65
March 28th, 2011
11:34 pm
GT Alum..she fired Hewitt? Who is she?
I support Coach Gregory and GT 100%…and your right to bitch but I don’t like the bitching
Coach BG sure has a beautiful wife..hope she’s at home games..
GT Dude
March 28th, 2011
11:35 pm
the fans a UD must be a little spoiled… their complaining about a 22-14 year,
give me a break we have just lived through the Hewitt era
I want to be spoiled, I can’t wait to complain that the TECH only won 22 games
kral
March 28th, 2011
11:39 pm
I have no clue why I can not post on your blog…get Dave O’Brien’s in a heartbeat..wondering..or you denying something…just putting it out there for the record..you know
GT
March 28th, 2011
11:42 pm
Mark Bradley knows the difference between sandlot ball and the people in the big dance. Tech somehow got into this social basketball the last few years, when their stage was so much more.
Delbert D.
March 28th, 2011
11:46 pm
I’m looking forward to next season. It will be a challenging year, assuming Shumpert leaves. The current roster would then be 9 Guards, 2 Centers and 1 Forward. 11 underclassmen returning.
Tokyo jacket
March 29th, 2011
12:17 am
I don’t know why anybody would be disappointed. This is a great hire. Other folks have come calling w/ big checkbooks. He chose us.
Amazing to see that in his OPENING PRESS CONFERENCE, the man was already talking about making players better – not scheme, not execution, but individual instruction. I’m sure CPH did that, but the fact that it’s such an emphasis is great. For the same reasons the CPJ hire was perfect, the CBG hire is equally good.
When does DRAD get his pay raise? He’s earned it.
Midnight Gambler
March 29th, 2011
12:29 am
@Hewitt Fan,
Take your bitterness somewhere else. I think many of us are just tired of hearing your whining. Hewitt’s gone so deal with it and grow a pair. If that doesn’t work then I hear they are looking for more fans in Athens for their basketball program. You should jump on that wagon while it still has wheels. Either way, good riddance for Hewitt and Hewitt Fan!
5150 UOAD
March 29th, 2011
12:33 am
Tokyo
Good Morning. Have that cup o coffee and head off to work I guess. have a good day
mike
March 29th, 2011
12:38 am
I think he will do well but Shaka Smart would of been the smarter choice and u could get him for 1.7 million or less a year right now in 2 years he will be a 2 million plus coach maybe a elite job.. I think he will stay at VCU because theres not a great school left maybe NC State but idk..
GTstingers
March 29th, 2011
12:49 am
look real tech fans…lighten up. this guy is who we NEED… see this for what his Dayton players think of him……http://youtu.be/gk8yNQDcZ7U
5150 UOAD
March 29th, 2011
12:59 am
MIKE
1.7 mil for SHAKA? HAHHAHA
You could get SHAKA for 800k
the guy is base 400k now. 1.7 mil you must be in love with OBAMA’s Spending then too.
In 2 years (that would be Shaka’s 4th yr as a HC) you can get him for 1 mil. Less if he isn’t making it to the NCAA or NIT.
ACCJacket
March 29th, 2011
1:14 am
Gregory is a great hire. Can’t wait to see them play next November.
ACCJacket
March 29th, 2011
1:20 am
Shaka is arabic for “redundancy-induced vomit.” He has had TWO good WEEKS. The IDIOTS, and I do not use the word lightly, the IDIOTS who keep insisting he is the second coming, or even a superior hire to Gregory or most of the other prospects, are absolutely delusional. They know nothing about basketball and even less about leadership and personnel. Shaka Smart MAY be the best coach there ever was (he certainly has K’s rat-nose) but nobody is going to know that for years to come. Mark just catalogued what happened to several of the more recent “hot” properties. Gambling on Shaka Smart, like playing the lottery, is for desperate fools with too much money, and IDIOTS. Thank goodness, DRAD is neither.
FullMetalJacket
March 29th, 2011
1:23 am
It might not take years to determine Shaka Smart’s true coaching ability, but it will take more than 3 weeks of inspired play after a very uninspired season. No evidence he can even run a program yet, after only two years with Grant’s players.
FullMetalJacket
March 29th, 2011
1:24 am
At first I thought Gregory was a good hire. After reading more about him and hearing him speak, I’d say he’s a great hire. Looking forward to seeing how the team plays next year.
Not A Hewitt Fan
March 29th, 2011
2:09 am
Hewitt Fan…japna need some cleanup crew around these smoe stack things…u in?…heard the money os good.
Not A Hewitt Fan
March 29th, 2011
2:10 am
shaka…obama….flash in the pan….discuss.
Buzz me
March 29th, 2011
4:39 am
Does the father of Julian Royal approve enough to let him stay at Tech?
bob
March 29th, 2011
5:45 am
Rad has had a couple of years to do this search, hopefully he got it right.
Greg
March 29th, 2011
6:08 am
Gregory seems to be walking into a situation where expectations about what he’s going to accomplish are low. This is rather unusual right after a new hire. But I suspect he’s personally probably very pleased about it.
Larry
March 29th, 2011
6:11 am
Mr. Bradley,
When you wake up this morning hit your knees, thank the Good Lord, and be grateful you are not married (I hope) to any of these whiners, doubters, and prejudger’s! Good grief! Yuck!
Like the hire of Mike Smith of the Falcons (out of nowhere but turned out pretty darn good) or now Freddi Gonzalez of the Braves, no one knows how this will turn out. Take a few deep breaths and breath in “peace” through your nostrils…hold it….hold it…..hold it……and the exhale “hate” out of your mouths. Now, go about your day and let’s all at least give this man and his family a chance to do his job. It’s college basketball, folks…not the removal of a large, cancerous tumor from the brain!
Sports are unpredictable year after year. Who had Mooney and or Smart on their radar LAST season? Who’s to say that Gregory’s Dayton team wouldn’t have been the Richmond or Smart team team making a run this upcoming season? For goodness sakes, who on earth had the North Carolina Tar Heels going just 5-11 in the ACC just last season, missing the NCAA Tournament, and then losing in the NIT Championship game to…….the Dayton Flyers, coached by one Brian Gregory?
Nice article Mark, and good luck to the new coach of the Ga Tech Yellow Jackets, Brian Gregory! We welcome you and your family to the city of Atlanta and the great, great State of Georgia!
Larry…a Dawg fan
Georgia is Florida's Bitch
March 29th, 2011
6:43 am
after Hewitt, I would have been happy with the Goat Man
Corny Hull
March 29th, 2011
6:58 am
Frankly, Royal can go where he wants. I’d take his team mate Nolte, who is a Junior at Milton High in a New York second over Royal.
Jacket Man
March 29th, 2011
7:00 am
Mark; Great article. I’m surprised that you forgot to mention that Brian’s teams have been graduating 100% of his players over the past several years as well, meaning he is extremely cognizant of the need to recruit players who aren’t looking at just playing collegiate basketball for one year, or aren’t considering themselves “student” athletes. He truly wants to make sure his kids succeed in the classroom as well as the basketball court. Because Brian has continuity with his team, team chemistry and team concept will be highlighted like Jacket fans haven’t seen in years.
I believe the fans, players, and recruits will be very happy make up of Brian’s coaching staff as well. While it won’t be completed until after the Final Four, preliminary discussions with individuals indicate he what it will take to recruit in the area as well as help coach the team. These are two attributes of a successful head coach.
Larry
March 29th, 2011
7:20 am
Jacket Man,
If Gregory graduates Tech players and turns boys into real, responsible me–and is competitive in the ACC to boot–he is a championship caliber coach/man with or without a NCAA basketball title. Would you rather have someone like this to send your impressionable teenager or a Jim Harrick, Bruce Pearl or Lane Kiffin?
Go Dawgs!
IndyGT
March 29th, 2011
7:57 am
This is definitely a “safe” choice. I’m not saying anything, because I don’t want to end up like that idiot Auburn fan caught on video yelling at the Auburn AD about hiring Chizik. I’m willing to give him a chance.. As for Coach Shaka Smart – how many other coaches can claim to beat two top 10 teams by double digits this year, beat one of the best defensive teams in the country, and win 3 games in less than a week? You can pretty much say the same about Coach Stevens at Butler. You don’t win games in the tournament by luck. Coach Smart ends up somewhere else real soon, CBS stays at Butler.
Dave from GT
March 29th, 2011
7:59 am
That looks like Hewitt’s old suit……. give him a chance, after all way back when, we had Whack Hyder!
Always a Jacket
March 29th, 2011
8:05 am
Welcome Coach Gregory. I have already ordered season tickets.
Snake Doc
March 29th, 2011
8:16 am
Remember Techhies – This coming from the man who proclaims the CEO is the New Genius who would finally stick it to FL and the evil genius. Bradley is a moon bat who has no business writing any article proclaiming any coach a genius or great or capable of lighting any fires!
Shug
March 29th, 2011
8:22 am
Mr. Bradley, it seems you’ve softened your tone on this new guy since yesterday. What changed?
Also, isn’t it a bit of a stretch to tie this guy to Magic Johnson and Michigan State’s 2000 title team just because at one time he worked for the head coaches of those teams. He was nowhere near MSU’s program in 2000 and was barely a teenager when Magic played.
Hewitt Fan
March 29th, 2011
8:23 am
@Veteran Fan You are correct, but my WIFE has a degree from GT, as well as my niece FALLON STOKES, remember her?.It’s GT stuff all over my house…Regardless, hiring Gregory was a bad hire..All of you have to be very dissapointed..Mark Bradley played you all like a dummy..none of the possible replacements he had on his list would even look at the GT job..His offense is terrible..I hated how Hewitt,Gani, and Derrick were treated, but i still wanted Gt to hire a decent coach, Gregory was a bad hire, i said No coach with any resume will come to GT..i was right..Hopefully he can win over the kids in our program staring with Kevin Ware, and try to get some Celtics or some kids from the Dream, if not Gregory will be gone in 3 years, because X and O’s is not his strong point, he will need one and done type players….
UGA=YAWN
March 29th, 2011
8:23 am
Everything he says is top notch. He seems to be determined to work hard to bring our school back up to the position in the ACC it deserves. How anyone on here can say anything negative is beyond me. Like you really have a clue. Is your life that awful that you have to spew negativity on here. Grow up! I have been waiting for change in the GT bball program for 4 years! I say ‘Hell Yeah’! Welcome and we are 100% behind you.
Dave from GT is a Moron
March 29th, 2011
8:24 am
Whack Hyder was a good coach and a Georgia Tech legend.
Mark Bradley
March 29th, 2011
8:26 am
Gregory was an assistant coach at Michigan State in 2000.
george p burdell
March 29th, 2011
8:27 am
Bminus hire from a B minus conference. Does not compare to Mark Price. Look for season tickets to really take a tumble
mowreck
March 29th, 2011
8:30 am
I love the hire. I’m just waiting to see what assistants he hires.
reddawg
March 29th, 2011
8:33 am
Well at least Tech didn;t get tennessee’s coach.But i can tell you he’s not Mark Fox.