Coaching Carousel 7 - When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye

Pointer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,801
Hewitt went to D-Rad and told him that he was going to St. Johns, thus getting GT out of any buy-out scenario. But the unprepared D-Rad begged Hewitt to stay, only to fire him a year later with GT shouldering their full buy-out liability. The damage to GT in the wake of that gaff was colossal.
Is this true? How have I not heard this before. Man if so, that's almost as bad as the original contract Hewitt was given.
 

slugboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,727
Is this true? How have I not heard this before. Man if so, that's almost as bad as the original contract Hewitt was given.
I wasn’t in the room, but the tale has been told for many years.
There is much complaining that Hewitt signed a contract offered to him after a title game. Then blaming him for taking a payout after he offered us an out after we didn’t adequately replace the assistants he lost.
It’s not as bad as the CPJ situation, but Hewitt could have been better supported, and a smart AD would have shored up his weaknesses.
 

Pointer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,801
I wasn’t in the room, but the tale has been told for many years.
There is much complaining that Hewitt signed a contract offered to him after a title game. Then blaming him for taking a payout after he offered us an out after we didn’t adequately replace the assistants he lost.
It’s not as bad as the CPJ situation, but Hewitt could have been better supported, and a smart AD would have shored up his weaknesses.
I've also often thought about one of Hewitts downfalls was moving away from a larger net recruiting wise. He focused primarily on Georgia talent, which I think was to his detriment.
 

slugboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,727
I've also often thought about one of Hewitts downfalls was moving away from a larger net recruiting wise. He focused primarily on Georgia talent, which I think was to his detriment.
He kept getting great NBA bigs but missed on some point guards. Others can give better info. I’m on a phone typing with thumbs.
I don’t know that he “moved away” from anything; his earlier assistants got head coaching jobs. They were an integral part of recruiting and coaching. The offense went from well-oiled to clogged.
 

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
Featured Member
Messages
15,372
Location
Atlanta
I wasn’t in the room, but the tale has been told for many years.
There is much complaining that Hewitt signed a contract offered to him after a title game. Then blaming him for taking a payout after he offered us an out after we didn’t adequately replace the assistants he lost.
It’s not as bad as the CPJ situation, but Hewitt could have been better supported, and a smart AD would have shored up his weaknesses.

Plenty of folks have been saying this for years, but most here parrot the same ol', lame ol' "Bwah, Hewitt were bad!" narrative. He's the scapegoat for DRad's ineptness as an AD.
 

dtm1997

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
15,724
Plenty of folks have been saying this for years, but most here parrot the same ol', lame ol' "Bwah, Hewitt were bad!" narrative. He's the scapegoat for DRad's ineptness as an AD.
While true, the end of this post is both pandering & a set-up to continue a false burner account narrative.
 

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
Featured Member
Messages
15,372
Location
Atlanta
While true, the end of this post is both pandering & a set-up to continue a false burner account narrative.

That whole post was a perfectly-thrown alley oop to a certain DRad-hater who never misses an opportunity to wail on the former AD.

It's not our fault that said DRad-hater fumbled the lob off his head and landed face-first into the basket stanchion.
 

dtm1997

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
15,724
That whole post was a perfectly-thrown alley oop to a certain DRad-hater who never misses an opportunity to wail on the former AD.

It's not our fault that said DRad-hater fumbled the lob off his head and landed face-first into the basket stanchion.
My comments on LazyAD are very well documented.
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
19,627
Is this true? How have I not heard this before. Man if so, that's almost as bad as the original contract Hewitt was given.
I wasn’t in the room, but the tale has been told for many years.
There is much complaining that Hewitt signed a contract offered to him after a title game. Then blaming him for taking a payout after he offered us an out after we didn’t adequately replace the assistants he lost.
It’s not as bad as the CPJ situation, but Hewitt could have been better supported, and a smart AD would have shored up his weaknesses.
It's not a tale. I was as close to "in the room" as possible without being physically present. This version of "what happened" was shared with me directly by one of the two participants who would have been involved in a conversation between Hewitt and DRad.


The part @MtnWasp left out is the cherry on top. The ask from DRad to Hewitt to stay included "you're our guy". Then, one year later, it's see ya later and GT is left holding the $$$ bag.
 

Pointer

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,801
It's not a tale. I was as close to "in the room" as possible without being physically present. This version of "what happened" was shared with me directly by one of the two participants who would have been involved in a conversation between Hewitt and DRad.


The part @MtnWasp left out is the cherry on top. The ask from DRad to Hewitt to stay included "you're our guy". Then, one year later, it's see ya later and GT is left holding the $$$ bag.
Wow thanks for digging that up!

My initial reaction reading this was dang I feel bad for Paul. And it also brought back some memories of these rumors at the time.

But then I envisioned Paul laughing all the way to the bank, plus he still got to coach again, so I'd say he made out alright.

But Drad... makes even more sense why he rocketed to Clemson shortly after, what a bafoon move.

Then GT as a whole goes and tops this by hiring MBOB... And don't get me started on the state of the football program right now lol.

We surely must have built up a mega store of good luck at this point.
 

slugboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,727
Wow thanks for digging that up!

My initial reaction reading this was dang I feel bad for Paul. And it also brought back some memories of these rumors at the time.

But then I envisioned Paul laughing all the way to the bank, plus he still got to coach again, so I'd say he made out alright.



We surely must have built up a mega store of good luck at this point.
While Hewitt made a hefty retirement fund from us, I think his career would have been more enjoyable if he’d taken the St Johns gig.
Or if we’d gotten an assistant to help with guards and offense here.

As for the mega store of good luck, I’d instead say it’s just one of many areas where we dug an increasingly big hole. Instead of regression to the mean where luck balances out misfortune, we’ve seen bad decisions lead to more bad decisions. I think we need a bailout and then some structural reform.
 

iopjacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
812
This is news to me also. I thought Hewitt's wife wanted to stay in Atlanta was the reason he didn't go to St Johns. This news releases a lot of unwarrented bad feelings I held for Paul Hewitt taking us to the cleaners. Hewitt was letting us out of the Dave Brainless contract, but a bigger fool kept him in it. My hate for Hewitt just found a new home with Dan Radakovich.

We shoulding be blasting our athletic directors for our poor performance instead of our coaches except maybe one football coach. :devil:
 
Top