Amidst a 19-game losing streak and owning the worst record in all of college basketball, Wisconsin-Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb left his team to go to New Orleans to participate in Super Bowl media events.
Gottlieb, who had previously made his living solely as a sports pundit and a radio host, was hired by Green Bay last summer to take over their struggling basketball program.
In a bizarre situation, UWGB athletic director Josh Moon allowed Gottlieb to keep his daily radio show/podcast while he was coaching – letting him have both jobs at the same time.
Under his watch, the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix have won just two games this season and lost 22 – including an embarrassing defeat to a Division II school. They have yet to win a game in conference play.
Despite this, as reported by WFRV’s Kyle Malzhan, Gottlieb is in New Orleans on Radio Row and will be missing a practice.
Fox Sports Radio tweets from Wednesday afternoon showed Gottlieb speaking to Buccaneers running back Rachaad White and former Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera.
Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb has left his struggling team to go to New Orleans
Gottlieb (center) was spotted at Radio Row in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl this week
Gottlieb (R) was seen speaking to Tampa Bay RB Rachaad White (L) among other NFL stars
Green Bay is on academic probation and is required to have two days off each week. Gottlieb and Moon planned to allow the coach to take Monday and Tuesday off to go to the Super Bowl.
But he’ll also be missing a team practice that is set for Thursday. Instead, he will ‘watch practice via technology, meet with staff after, and head back to Green Bay for Friday’s activities/road trip’, per Malzhan.
Fans of the sport were outraged at Gottlieb’s decision to leave his team in the midst of their struggles.
‘It is clear his priority is his radio gig and coaching is just a side hustle. That Moon allowed this is unacceptable. What message does that send the players? The team deserves a full time coach,’ one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter.
One fan posted, ‘Embarrassing for UWGB’, while another remarked, ‘Not really sure why he wanted to coach at all tbh.’
‘This is actually crazy. At this point it’s on Josh Moon for agreeing to this type of behavior. If your employer lets you do whatever you want then people have no right to criticize,’ another fan said.
One fan remarked, ‘That 19 game losing streak doesn’t seem to be bothering Doug too much! Lol!’ Another said, ‘Good to see him focusing on what matters..’
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander posted on BlueSky, ‘Obviously this is ridiculous and a total mockery of the profession … but it’s not like the team is going to be any worse?’
Fans of the sport expressed their anger at the coach essentially leaving his team behind
Despite taking the coaching gig, Gottlieb has been able to continue hosting his radio show
Green Bay has one of the worst records in college basketball, having not won since November
Gottlieb’s tenure so far has been a disaster. His only two wins this season have come against Western Illinois and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. The last win came back on November 19.
Since then, the team has not won a single game – including going 0-13 in Horizon League play.
Back in December, Gottlieb was mocked after he referred to D-II Michigan Tech as ‘Nobody U’ – only to then lose to them.
That came on the heels of a spat with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who also mocked Gottlieb after the coach questioned his reporting. Schefter advised Gottlieb to spend, ‘less time on social media and more time in the gym.’
In college, Gottlieb played basketball on a scholarship at the University of Notre Dame – before he lost the free ride to school after he stole a classmate’s credit card and used it for fraudulent purchases.
He then played at Golden West College and then Oklahoma State before turning pro with brief stints overseas.
According to college basketball analytics site KenPom, Green Bay is 344th in the country out of 364 teams.
The Phoenix next play Purdue-Fort Wayne, a team they lost to by 16 earlier in the season, on Saturday.
