2009 College Basketball Coaches on the Hot Seat

The second semester has begun, but conference play for most leagues in 3-5 games in. There is another month and a half before the wheat really separates from the chaff; it’s early in the college basketball year, still. But for some teams the wins aren’t coming. The team looks lost. The recruiting looks lackluster. The fans are restless. The expectations aren’t being met. The seats are emptying.

And the hot seats get hotter for college basketball coaches.

People love talking about who is going to get fired? Who sucks? Who needs to go? The conversation often veers into an indictment of decision-makers’ intelligence, the coach’s ability to do anything right, the players’ general ineptitude, and how the program’s facilities are unlike some other tangentially similar school.

And none of that is really true; Division I basketball coaches are more knowledegable about basketball than the yahoo who keeps saying "why can’t they shoot free throws!!" And "play [favorite bench player]!!". Many coaches get fired and live to successfully coach another school, such as Gary Waters at Cleveland State. And some schools find that a firing doesn’t immediately generate wins…

But that’s the nature of Division I sports. The understanding that someone has to lose, that someone has to stay home while other teams go March Madness Dancing, that understanding isn’t there. Teams have to be competitive. They have to have a chance. They have to seem like they are on the edge of a dynasty.

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A few coaches whose names come up when people talk about coaches who may no longer be at their coaching job in a few months follow in this list. It’s not exhaustive, so if there’s someone you think I missed, hit me off in the comments:

Mark Gottfried, ALABAMA, the longtime coach for the Crimson Tide has brought up a tide of hate for a team that seems to fall short of expectations especially in light of past success. The comments to anything involving basketball coaching are negative;

Norm Roberts, ST. JOHN’S, where none other than Dickie V said coach does not fulfill the personality characteristics to coach in NY (I think his criteria is wrong, but he’s a loud voice). Roberts inhereted a bit of a mess 5 years ago, but so did Baylor’s Dave Bliss, and he coaches at a perennial underdog;

Jerry Wainwright, DEPAUL, where the message boards are like a gigantic head hitting the desk after each game, especially after a loss to the likes of South Florida. Wainwright is a class guy, but his team looks haphazard and like they have a chance to go winless in the Big East while highlighting two talents and perhaps 1-2 other guys who should be in the conference;

from the Peach State, where turd-tacular basketball has become the norm, we have:

Dennis Felton, GEORGIA, whose improbable win in the SEC tournament saved his job but the team might have hit a wall at 9 wins this season. A 2 win SEC season makes things uncomfortable without another miracle SEC run, even if the lack of talent has to do with holding the players to high academic standards;

Paul Hewitt, GEORGIA TECH, whose nearly unbelievable recruiting prowess does not cover up ugly basketball execution in an ACC that might leave him winless for the rest of the year;

Ernie Kent, OREGON, where recruiting REALLY doesn’t cover up a 6-9 record, when the school has ample facilities, the team has scads of talent, and the hot seat was warm years ago. The young talent means the aims are modest, but the team has underachieved. Losing to Oakland does not help;

Karl Hobbs, GEORGE WASHINGTON, who has inspired a Fire Karl Hobbs site and is now using the us-against them "I don’t care what the fans say" statement to pretend he doesn’t, well, care.

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And some dark horses:

Mick Cronin, Cincinnati – I don’t think there’s enough to fire him, but the Cincy fans have higher expectations for their basketball.

Sidney Lowe, NC State – the natives are restless but I don’t personally think they’re terrible, and that would be a little hasty of a firing.

Bobby Gonzalez, Seton Hall – good behavior and incoming transfer talent will save him if they don’t go winless in conference.

Fred Hill, Rutgers – the recruiting will save him if they don’t go winless in conference.

Ed DeChellis, Penn State – they might get to the NIT this year!

Bill Carmody, Northwestern – not bad this year, and bizarrely, they’re playing defense.