Speaker 1: Hey what, I'm welcome and I'm Doug Gottlieb and this
Speaker 1: is all ball. I think you're gonna love this one
Speaker 1: because as we get ready for the Final four, we're
Speaker 1: gonna be pupping these out a little bit more often
Speaker 1: as we've done. And uh, we we have great feedback
Speaker 1: on it. Chris Garlison is the new head coach of
Speaker 1: the San Francisco Don's new head coach. But um, we'll
Speaker 1: wait to hear about his first job where he was
Speaker 1: a grad assistant and he was working in a liquor
Speaker 1: store at night. All right, that's upcoming that that's a
Speaker 1: tease in the business. Reminded. The Doug Gotlib Show is
Speaker 1: daily three to six Eastern, twelve to three Pacific on
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app on Fox Sports Radio dot com.
Speaker 1: All right, let me get to this. The final four
Speaker 1: is set, and I want to make sure that that
Speaker 1: what's pointed out is, Yes, players are important. Okay, no
Speaker 1: one's ever done it without players. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: there's a reason that these four coaches have been so
Speaker 1: incredibly successful. Bill selfs won like twenty Big twelve titles
Speaker 1: in a national championship. You know. Um, in the New
Speaker 1: Big East Jay Wright has been the Kansas of the
Speaker 1: New Big East, plus he's won two national championships. Hubert
Speaker 1: Davis is only his first year, but people laughed at
Speaker 1: me when I said he would be the next head coach.
Speaker 1: I I didn't know what what happens with Hubert is
Speaker 1: He's such a nice, genuine, thoughtful human being that there
Speaker 1: is this thought like man that guy can't recruit like
Speaker 1: to recruit you gotta be kind of you kind of
Speaker 1: gotta have a little diabolical used car salesman side to it.
Speaker 1: But I don't know. I think people are seeing what
Speaker 1: a wonderful human being he is now, thoughtful and generous
Speaker 1: he is with his commentary, Like I don't know, he's
Speaker 1: a good dude. It's still Carolina. Why wouldn't you go
Speaker 1: that that aside? Then you got Duke and what ever
Speaker 1: you want to say about Duke and people's love for
Speaker 1: them or hate for them. You know, the guys won't
Speaker 1: this many titles and me into that many final fours
Speaker 1: and one over basketball games because they have good players
Speaker 1: and he's a really really good coach, and they played
Speaker 1: really really hard. So I do want to point this
Speaker 1: out made in look Nova and their culture is remarkable.
Speaker 1: I thought what Bill self did and changing the matchups
Speaker 1: at halftime felt like he used the first half to
Speaker 1: kind of feel things out, and you put your point
Speaker 1: guard on Kim mcgusty, and that kind of ends that.
Speaker 1: Due kind of ended that like he only played uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he only played his big guy what five
Speaker 1: minutes of the second half, but they got of the ball, right,
Speaker 1: that's the difference, Like we're gonna go get Dave McCormick
Speaker 1: the basketball while he's in the game, and then he
Speaker 1: kind of took over and dominated. Um So I thought
Speaker 1: that that was the best adjustment. I thought the cold
Speaker 1: true Villa Manova. I mean, even when Justin Moore gets hurt,
Speaker 1: how they're not celebrating there with him for a long
Speaker 1: like that. That team, that group, that program is special.
Speaker 1: Like I don't know how many people get to see
Speaker 1: a closed villainval practice like I did. Really this year
Speaker 1: I talked about in a pod be where they played
Speaker 1: U cil A. But you just you feel like this
Speaker 1: is what it's supposed to be, Like, you know, players executing,
Speaker 1: motivating each other, and there's nothing. I mean, look, they
Speaker 1: do invert they their guards can post their bigges can
Speaker 1: shoot their incredibly tough minded defensively, that's not a great
Speaker 1: that's not a talented team as their national championship teams,
Speaker 1: but it's still a hell of a team in um.
Speaker 1: And then you have what Duke did against Texas Tech,
Speaker 1: where they didn't miss a shot from the field over
Speaker 1: the last eight fifty to go. It just feels like
Speaker 1: kind of meant to beat, didn't it. And then the
Speaker 1: improvement in North Carolina, the drubbing of St. Peter's, to me,
Speaker 1: was signified that Hubert had them ready to play, and
Speaker 1: that because they they had beaten Kentucky, they had beaten Purdue,
Speaker 1: you had the respect of North Carolina. And then once
Speaker 1: you that's how that's how they would win games. You
Speaker 1: didn't respect him. They stretch you out, they hit some shots,
Speaker 1: you get behind, you get tight, and they beat you.
Speaker 1: And they played with toughness and great pois. But they
Speaker 1: just weren't good enough to be North Carolina. That's it anyway,
Speaker 1: all right, Let's get to your first job as a
Speaker 1: head coach. How did you get it? How about on
Speaker 1: an hour and a half plane ride during which the
Speaker 1: current head coach told the athletic director he was leaving
Speaker 1: and then in a speed dating sort of way, you
Speaker 1: get hired. Here's why I sit down with the new
Speaker 1: head coach at the San Francisco Dons, Chris Girlson. Um, okay,
Speaker 1: let's let's start. Your dad was a coach. What was
Speaker 1: what was life like in your household growing up? Um,
Speaker 1: that's a great question. I was kind of indoctrinated into
Speaker 1: the into the game from before I even remember, you know,
Speaker 1: I was rolling around the floor in diapers, and um,
Speaker 1: I really had no choice, you know. Um, it was
Speaker 1: just something that from as long as I can remember,
Speaker 1: I've been in the gym, and um, it was just
Speaker 1: kind of in my blood. And uh, I never expected
Speaker 1: or had any desire to do anything else but be
Speaker 1: involved with basketball and the coach. Um. And I'm super
Speaker 1: thankful for for kind of what my childhood looked like, um,
Speaker 1: and for having the experience just to be around the
Speaker 1: game at such an early age. What what was he like?
Speaker 1: What's his like? You know? My dad was, Uh, he
Speaker 1: was a little bit of an older soul, right even
Speaker 1: though he's born in nineteen forty, Like, he listened to
Speaker 1: big band music and then you know, as a basketball coach,
Speaker 1: he was me he literally played. He was a JV
Speaker 1: player when Bob Knight was a varsity player, and grew
Speaker 1: up going as a coach, going to his clinics and
Speaker 1: taking notes, and I think it's a I mean, that
Speaker 1: was the that was the guy who was emulated. What
Speaker 1: was your dad like? Yeah, no, I mean, first off,
Speaker 1: before I answer that, I have some great memories of
Speaker 1: your dad, Um, from when even when I was an
Speaker 1: assistant at the University of Hartford. Um, your dad was
Speaker 1: amazing to me in terms of just he was relentless
Speaker 1: in terms of calling and next thing, you know, you're
Speaker 1: on the phone with three or four recruits and let
Speaker 1: me put you on. Let me put you on the
Speaker 1: phone with something. Hold on, Hold on one second, hold on,
Speaker 1: what's the next thing? I know? I'm talking to a
Speaker 1: kid and his parents, And Um, those are some great
Speaker 1: memories though. Your dad he was he was an unbelievable guy,
Speaker 1: and I know he helped so many kids. So I
Speaker 1: want to just say that, and then, UM, my dad
Speaker 1: was probably a little bit of the same, you know,
Speaker 1: I think, Um, you know, it was a different time
Speaker 1: in terms of how you developed as a coach. Um,
Speaker 1: I remember going to clinics and Um, you know, driving
Speaker 1: with my dad and my mom at the time, you know,
Speaker 1: across country to five Star. Um, we're going to Notre
Speaker 1: Dame camp where Digger Phelps was, Um, you know running camp.
Speaker 1: My dad would take high school kids when he was
Speaker 1: a high school coach, and just those are the kind
Speaker 1: of things that I remember, and UM, I think it,
Speaker 1: you know, just put with the value of just working
Speaker 1: and kind of grinding it out, you know, to go.
Speaker 1: My dad started as a high school coach and and
Speaker 1: and all the way up to a Division one head coach.
Speaker 1: So I've kind of seen it from all angles. Um,
Speaker 1: and I think it's kind of made me in terms
Speaker 1: of what I am now. I don't think there's any doubt. Um. Okay,
Speaker 1: So why did you go to Randolph Making. I went
Speaker 1: to Randolph Making. Um for a couple of different reasons.
Speaker 1: First one being, you know, I knew that I wanted
Speaker 1: to coach, and I wanted to be around a guy
Speaker 1: who you know, have won a lot of games and
Speaker 1: was respected and could maybe help me, you know, break
Speaker 1: into that that realm Um. You know, when I was
Speaker 1: done playing and and you know I had a chance
Speaker 1: to play for a guy named how nunnally. Who Um,
Speaker 1: when you talk about old school and and um doing
Speaker 1: things a certain way. Um, he was certainly cut out
Speaker 1: of that mode. And UM, you know, I think there's
Speaker 1: no no kind of um Joe in terms of why
Speaker 1: so many people from from his program that had a
Speaker 1: chance to play for him went on and or successful coaches. Um,
Speaker 1: we have a really good kind of network of guys
Speaker 1: who have gone on to to coach at the Division
Speaker 1: one level. And UM, you know, I think it's because
Speaker 1: of the kind of the stuff that that he instilled
Speaker 1: and how he ran in his program. So it was that.
Speaker 1: And then you know, there were just some some guys
Speaker 1: from the Philadelphia area that I knew that I had
Speaker 1: played against, um, you know in high school, that were
Speaker 1: down at the school and they kind of recruited me,
Speaker 1: and I just felt comfortable, you know, and and you know,
Speaker 1: I knew I wanted to coach and I want to
Speaker 1: be around the right type of people people to do that. Um. Okay,
Speaker 1: So what was your playing career like? Um, I probably
Speaker 1: was a lot better in my mind than I was
Speaker 1: as as a player. Uh. Um, But no, I think
Speaker 1: I had a chance to be you know, on some
Speaker 1: some pretty Dawn good Division three teams that you know
Speaker 1: made the the Division three tournament a few times, and um,
Speaker 1: I was I was, you know, probably similar to you.
Speaker 1: Extremely and I still am to this day, like ultraly competitive.
Speaker 1: And I think that allowed me to probably be and
Speaker 1: perform um, you know, better than what my actual skill
Speaker 1: level was or what my talent was. I was just
Speaker 1: super super competitive. Uh. And I think I was a
Speaker 1: you know, a great teammate. I was a point guard, um.
Speaker 1: And and just loved like being in the fight with
Speaker 1: with my team and winning, you know, and whatever it
Speaker 1: took to win, That's what I was willing to do. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I just love being around the game. What what
Speaker 1: what is that like that that's legit school as well,
Speaker 1: right like and there's no scholarships, Like what what what
Speaker 1: is that experience like in comparison to now, you know,
Speaker 1: you're a head coach at a high level Division one
Speaker 1: school coming up an n c A tournament. What what's
Speaker 1: that Division three like of going to the n c
Speaker 1: A tournament. I Mean, I think that people who are
Speaker 1: involved with basketball at that level are involved with it
Speaker 1: for all the right reasons. You know, you play it
Speaker 1: or you coach it. Because you love it. Um. And
Speaker 1: as you said, there there is no scholarships, there is
Speaker 1: no um you know, n I l deals, there's no
Speaker 1: there's no you know, you know, hanging a carrot over
Speaker 1: anyone's head. Um in that sense, and I think it's
Speaker 1: the truest sense of the game because you're you're doing it,
Speaker 1: as I said, because you love it and you just
Speaker 1: you love being around the game. And UM. So in
Speaker 1: that sense, I think I could take a lot, um,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot out of my experiences there, and
Speaker 1: it really teaches you to appreciate and value, um all
Speaker 1: the things is you kind of move up the ladder
Speaker 1: so you get done playing and you know, um, well,
Speaker 1: you had other guys at that level who have said, hey,
Speaker 1: I had a job on Wall Street, I had this
Speaker 1: job and that job you decided to go into like
Speaker 1: a no paying coaching job, right, yep, yeah, I I
Speaker 1: mean my first job paid. It wasn't no paying, but
Speaker 1: it certainly felt like that. I made fifteen hundred dollars
Speaker 1: I think my first year. UM. And it was at
Speaker 1: another Division three school called Washington Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland,
Speaker 1: which is like in the middle of nowhere. UM. And
Speaker 1: I absolutely loved it. I like lived above an old
Speaker 1: antique store in this like nasty old house. I worked
Speaker 1: in a liquor store at night to try to, you know,
Speaker 1: just so I could survive. Um. And I probably ran
Speaker 1: up a lot of credit card debt that first year. Um,
Speaker 1: but if you worked, you worked, you you worked in
Speaker 1: a liquor store. I did. I did at night. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, luckily, you know, the summer before I started
Speaker 1: Washington College, I kind of worked basketball camps and I
Speaker 1: worked in the liquor store at night. Just I was
Speaker 1: trying to just you know, make as much money as
Speaker 1: I could, um, so I could just survive, you know,
Speaker 1: once I got down there, and um, you know, I
Speaker 1: probably ate not not the best that first year, but
Speaker 1: I was just so happy and so grateful to be
Speaker 1: able to say that I was a college basketball coach,
Speaker 1: you know, as a I was a g a. But um,
Speaker 1: I really just kind of jumped head first in and
Speaker 1: got a chance to really experience what it was like.
Speaker 1: And I thought I knew a lot and I knew nothing. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, so I'm just I'm I'm super thoughtful and
Speaker 1: super grateful just for all the stops that I've had
Speaker 1: because I think it's really kind of just again allowed
Speaker 1: me to progress and do it the right way and
Speaker 1: learn not skip steps. So so what who was the
Speaker 1: head coach there? His name was Tom Finnegan. Okay, so
Speaker 1: what did you learn from thinking? What? What was you
Speaker 1: said that you you thought you new stuff? We all do? Right?
Speaker 1: You get done playing? Like my dad was a coach,
Speaker 1: I played, I know all this ship, right, What would
Speaker 1: you learn? I think just you know how much actually
Speaker 1: goes into and this has kind of been at all
Speaker 1: my stuffs, but just what the details of everything look
Speaker 1: like in terms of running a program, you know, from
Speaker 1: top to bottom. Um. You know, probably as a player,
Speaker 1: you you think that you know, you just show up
Speaker 1: and you go into gym coaches there for practice and um,
Speaker 1: you know they prepare you for the games. But there
Speaker 1: there's so much more that goes into running a program.
Speaker 1: And you know, I learned, you know, probably in that
Speaker 1: first year. You know what it meant to kind of
Speaker 1: just get out on the road and recruit, uh and
Speaker 1: just try to turn over as many names as you could,
Speaker 1: and what it meant to to build relationships with with
Speaker 1: recruits and players in your own program. Um, and again
Speaker 1: I can kind of remember it like it's yesterday. But um,
Speaker 1: you know again, all these experiences, I'm just super you know,
Speaker 1: thankful for having you know, gone through. It wasn't easy,
Speaker 1: but it was it was it was fun. At the
Speaker 1: same time, Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
Speaker 1: lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Speaker 1: Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app search f s R to listen live. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you do that for a year and then what uh?
Speaker 1: And then a guy who had been an assistant coach
Speaker 1: Randolph Making while he was there, had gotten a head
Speaker 1: coaching job at Southwestern University, which is in Georgetown, Texas.
Speaker 1: And he kind of called me out of the blue
Speaker 1: and said, Hey, I just got a head coaching job.
Speaker 1: I know you've only been into a year, but I'd
Speaker 1: love for you to come out here and be my assistant. Um,
Speaker 1: and I'm not lying. I had never stepped foot in
Speaker 1: the state of Texas, being the East Coast guy, and
Speaker 1: I loaded up a U haul drove however many hours
Speaker 1: that was twenty hours um or more. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: the Austin Texas And I was there for two years
Speaker 1: in a state that to this day has you know,
Speaker 1: provided a lot of good players to me no matter
Speaker 1: where I've been. Um. So just again, it was like
Speaker 1: one of those experiences that you don't know what it's
Speaker 1: gonna lead to, but it was. It was great for
Speaker 1: me to kind of get out of my comfort zone. Um, okay,
Speaker 1: what was what was that experience like coaching there? Um,
Speaker 1: it was great. I mean I think I you know, again,
Speaker 1: when you're an assistant coach at a Division three school
Speaker 1: and it's just you and the head coach, You're you're
Speaker 1: indoctrinated into everything. Um that goes into kind of trying
Speaker 1: to make a program successful, you know, from a recruiting
Speaker 1: standpoint to a game prep to just managing the guys
Speaker 1: on the team. Um, you know, washing uniforms, sweeping floor,
Speaker 1: I mean you're doing everything. Uh. So again I think
Speaker 1: it just kind of taught me and showed me exactly,
Speaker 1: um that there's no job too small number one, and
Speaker 1: in uh just kind of what it meant, um, you know,
Speaker 1: to be in the fight and have a chance to
Speaker 1: do a little bit of everything. So um, I thought
Speaker 1: also for for being in the state of Texas, it
Speaker 1: established some recruiting ties at you and that I've taken
Speaker 1: with me no matter where I've been, and it's a
Speaker 1: it's a hell of a state to recruit, uh, with
Speaker 1: so much talent um up and down. So again, it
Speaker 1: was just a really good experience for me. Um, okay,
Speaker 1: so now we you know you've been at that Southwestern
Speaker 1: and then he went to the Citadel, which is um
Speaker 1: military school. Was Ed Conroy there when you're there? Ed
Speaker 1: Conroy actually came right after I left. But I'm actually,
Speaker 1: you know, closer Ed Conroy and have all the respect
Speaker 1: in the world for him. He did a heck of
Speaker 1: a job while he was there, but he was there
Speaker 1: after me. What was what? What's what's the experience like
Speaker 1: a recruiting to a military school? Yeah, I know you're
Speaker 1: g a. I know it was really early on, but
Speaker 1: you're still you're putting together? What what is that like? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You know. So funny thing is, you know I went
Speaker 1: there with with really no expectation other than um, you know,
Speaker 1: I was trying to break into Division one. UM. I
Speaker 1: had a chance to work for a guy named Pat Dennis,
Speaker 1: who had been an assistant under Dick Tarrant at Richmond
Speaker 1: when they had made a run in the n C
Speaker 1: double A tournament upset. I think they upset Syracuse, Syracuse, Yes,
Speaker 1: you know. Um. And so he was a guy who
Speaker 1: came from like a really good coaching tree, um, and
Speaker 1: he had he had one. You know, it's hard to
Speaker 1: win at a military school, and he had done relatively
Speaker 1: well there. So I just wanted to break into Division one.
Speaker 1: I didn't care where it was. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: I had established a relationship with him, and and you know,
Speaker 1: he took a chance on me. Um. And so going
Speaker 1: to the Citadel it was. I wouldn't change anything about
Speaker 1: it in terms of what the experience was like because um,
Speaker 1: you know, I was a g a that first year,
Speaker 1: but I got thrust into a recruiting role I think
Speaker 1: in the spring after you know, going there in August,
Speaker 1: so it was relatively quick. Um. And and that's the
Speaker 1: place that I really learned what it meant to from
Speaker 1: a recruiting standpoint of just what it means is just
Speaker 1: turnover names and kind of be relentless, uh in your
Speaker 1: research and you're digging on kids because military school isn't
Speaker 1: it for everybody, you know? And and I think being
Speaker 1: there really made me understand what it meant to kind
Speaker 1: of established meaningful relationships with recruits. UM, because that's a
Speaker 1: place where if you do not have that, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a good chance that kids aren't gonna last. Um.
Speaker 1: You know. So I think from that standpoint, it really
Speaker 1: showed me what it meant, uh, from a recruiting standpoint,
Speaker 1: what you need to do to be successful. Why do
Speaker 1: you get to Hartford? I went to Hartford because, Um,
Speaker 1: Dan Liebovitz, who now the Assistant Commissioner of the SEC,
Speaker 1: had gotten the job. Um, and being a Philly guy,
Speaker 1: he was putting together his staff, and uh, John Gallagher,
Speaker 1: who I grew up with, played with, um, you know,
Speaker 1: since we've known each other since we were ten years old. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, he he called me and said, hey, look,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're interested, but um, you know,
Speaker 1: Dan just got the job here at Hartford. UM, we'd
Speaker 1: love for you to join the staff. And you know,
Speaker 1: I just looked at it as a chance to get
Speaker 1: back into the Northeast, um, you know, and be with
Speaker 1: people who were from Philadelphia and that I trusted in.
Speaker 1: And again it's just another good move that that really
Speaker 1: kind of helped formulate who I am. What was that like,
Speaker 1: you're there for a long time. And um, and you know,
Speaker 1: Dan got frustrated, I think with with some of the stuff,
Speaker 1: which is you know which Gallagh with with Gallagher obviously
Speaker 1: has seen come to a head even after the turn
Speaker 1: of an imperious last year. What was that experience like
Speaker 1: for you? Um, it was just great again being exposed
Speaker 1: to something a little bit different, you know. Um through Dan, UM,
Speaker 1: I got to kind of learn what what the John
Speaker 1: Cheney way was, you know, in terms of running a program.
Speaker 1: And um, Dan is one of the best humans in
Speaker 1: the world. Actually just had dinner with him the other
Speaker 1: night when he was here for for Arkansas's run um
Speaker 1: in San Francisco. But um, he's a guy who I
Speaker 1: learned a lot from just from a human element, you know,
Speaker 1: what it means to treat people the right way. UM.
Speaker 1: But also you know, I mean he should write a
Speaker 1: book on on and I think he is in the
Speaker 1: midst of doing that, just on John Cheney. And and
Speaker 1: you know, learning his one three one what he calls
Speaker 1: a Rover defense. Those are things that that you know,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to put a little spin on stuff here.
Speaker 1: There's some things from him that I'll take, um, So
Speaker 1: from from him, I learned a lot. And that was
Speaker 1: his first, you know, head coaching job, and I think
Speaker 1: looking back on it, he probably do a few things different.
Speaker 1: And he talks about that now, UM, but can't say
Speaker 1: enough about him as a as a person and what
Speaker 1: he means to me. UM. And then you know I
Speaker 1: stayed there when when Dan decided to leave, I stayed in. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, his associate head coach for for Gal and
Speaker 1: from Gal was kind of completely the opposite. Gal is
Speaker 1: is UM super offensive driven. UM. He has a unique
Speaker 1: way of looking at the game from an offensive standpoint.
Speaker 1: And UM, you know those are things that that I'm
Speaker 1: really grateful for because you know, having a chance to
Speaker 1: run the offense at San Diego, at Hawaii and now
Speaker 1: here at USF. UM. You know, Gal is a big reason. UM.
Speaker 1: And I've taken a lot, a lot from him in
Speaker 1: terms of what I've learned over the years. Okay, let's
Speaker 1: let's get to the Hawaii thing, because UM, you became
Speaker 1: head coach, went Iran took some time away right when
Speaker 1: he stepped away. What's that? What's what's that like? From
Speaker 1: a staff? What's that like? Um? Inside those coaches offices
Speaker 1: where it's one thing to be normally isolated as coaches.
Speaker 1: Now you're on an island, literally in Oahu, right on
Speaker 1: an island. Your head coach steps away to get kind
Speaker 1: of his health together. What was that like for you
Speaker 1: to to try and kind of figure out how to
Speaker 1: how to keep that that ship afloat? Yeah, I mean, um,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I had taken the job there
Speaker 1: in late August early September, and we got to the
Speaker 1: week before the first game, and I think it was
Speaker 1: three or four days before the first game, and he
Speaker 1: goes on medical leave kind of without uh, you know,
Speaker 1: with no no heads up or anything like that. We
Speaker 1: had had a few conversations. I didn't know it was
Speaker 1: gonna lead to that. Um, so I really had no
Speaker 1: time to like panic or worry. I just had to
Speaker 1: kind of dive in and get the team ready to
Speaker 1: play the first game. And um, you know, was unbelievable
Speaker 1: experience for just having basically a half of a season,
Speaker 1: you know, to learn what it really means to to
Speaker 1: run a program on a on a daily basis, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's from a planning standpoint, as you said, managing
Speaker 1: a staff, um, you know, dealing with players. Now as
Speaker 1: a head coach, um, and really just trying to make
Speaker 1: sure that the program, you know, ran smoothly while around
Speaker 1: was was on a medical leave and trying to just
Speaker 1: get healthy. What's that like though, to be a I
Speaker 1: mean for a period of time you were the head coach?
Speaker 1: What who would you play your first game? Uh? First
Speaker 1: game we played Florida A and m okay. So, UM,
Speaker 1: what do you remember about the whole process? I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: it's kind of a a blur in terms of the
Speaker 1: lead up. The thing I'll say is, you know, Hawaii
Speaker 1: is in a unique place because of and you know
Speaker 1: this um, just because of the media presence you know,
Speaker 1: and and um, you know, there is no pro sports
Speaker 1: on the island obviously, UM, so they treat their you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's basketball or football or or UM men's or
Speaker 1: women's volleyball at the university. I mean that is the
Speaker 1: pro sport. UM. So I'm forever like grateful in UM,
Speaker 1: what an unbelievable experience it was for me in terms
Speaker 1: of like dealing with the media, UM, you know, and
Speaker 1: I think that really kind of prepared me and made
Speaker 1: me feel at ease for this UM. But what I
Speaker 1: kind of remember to the lead up of the first
Speaker 1: game was just that kind of dealing with the media,
Speaker 1: learning how to you know, handle stuff on that end. UM.
Speaker 1: And then the first game, I'll be honest, I do
Speaker 1: not remember a whole lot about it. I know it was,
Speaker 1: you know, a little bit ugly in the first half.
Speaker 1: I think we wound up women by like eighteen or
Speaker 1: twenty UM and it was it was a three game
Speaker 1: tournament that we were in. I know we played them
Speaker 1: in the first night. One we played South Dakota who
Speaker 1: had uh A mood A who transferred to Arkansas in
Speaker 1: the in the second game, and then we played Pacific
Speaker 1: out of the w c C and one one a
Speaker 1: crazy game on on uh kind of a last second
Speaker 1: play against Damon Stottemeyer in the third game. That's crazy.
Speaker 1: UM show you come to stam Fancisco this year. What's
Speaker 1: Todd like in comparison? What was Todd liking comparison to
Speaker 1: everybody else you would work for? UM? Well, Number one, Todd,
Speaker 1: Todd and I had an amazing just connection and our
Speaker 1: relationship kind of grew from when I was in insisting
Speaker 1: at San Diego. UM. And you know, there's always one
Speaker 1: or two guys in the league that whether it's bouncing
Speaker 1: ideas off of or you know, talking about recruiting or scheduling.
Speaker 1: He was always one of those guys that, um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's just a natural kind of connection. And so we
Speaker 1: spoke a lot, you know, we we took a few
Speaker 1: trips to Europe at the same time to recruit UM.
Speaker 1: And when you're obviously in a in a foreign country,
Speaker 1: you you kind of grab on and gravitate to two
Speaker 1: guys who are from where you're from. UM, So we
Speaker 1: spent a lot of time in Europe, you know, just
Speaker 1: talking about the game, talking about philosophies, UM, and uh,
Speaker 1: just the bomb was kind of built there. So when
Speaker 1: we started to have conversation about coming here, it was really,
Speaker 1: um a no brainer for for me because I knew
Speaker 1: that the way that we viewed the game, I knew
Speaker 1: with him being super analytically driven, that was something that
Speaker 1: I was drawn to and and kind of felt the
Speaker 1: same way. And um again, and our our philosophies just
Speaker 1: kind of aligned, and we were at a strong friendship.
Speaker 1: So I just thought it was something where um, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe I could provide a different perspective, you know, coming
Speaker 1: here and and with a team that we thought could
Speaker 1: be an n c double A tournament team, and UM,
Speaker 1: he was just he He's amazing to work for. I
Speaker 1: can't say enough. How so, how so what what specifically
Speaker 1: makes um? You know, everybody's different and there's a million
Speaker 1: different ways to skin a cat, but UM, you know,
Speaker 1: Todd has a unique ability um to really just let people, um,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of shine in the role. You know.
Speaker 1: And and he's not a micromanager. UM. He's just somebody
Speaker 1: that really allows you to be yourself, um, and to
Speaker 1: bring what you bring to the table. And um, there's
Speaker 1: really no ego with him. UM. You know, I felt
Speaker 1: like I was coaching the team with him, um, and
Speaker 1: he was the boss obviously, but um, it just was
Speaker 1: an unbelievable working relationship. UM, something where I just enjoyed,
Speaker 1: you know, stepping foot in the office you know, every
Speaker 1: day and and just being in the fight with them.
Speaker 1: He's he's as down to earth human as you're gonna find, um,
Speaker 1: you know in this profession. Um, what's that like preparing
Speaker 1: for the n c A tournament and knowing that there's
Speaker 1: all these job rumors out there. Yeah, that was that
Speaker 1: was Uh, it was it was interesting, you know, and
Speaker 1: and um, it was a lot to juggle, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of that stuff, some in speculations, some
Speaker 1: as rumors, some is some of the things that we
Speaker 1: were hearing obviously turned out to be truth. Um. And
Speaker 1: I think he did a really good job of trying
Speaker 1: to kind of kill the noise and and to stay
Speaker 1: focused on on what we were trying to do. Um.
Speaker 1: But he had a he had a long week, you know,
Speaker 1: leading up to that to that Murray State game. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, just for the amount of phone calls he had,
Speaker 1: not only from the media, but with with the job
Speaker 1: inquiries and and the things that he was doing on
Speaker 1: that front. So, um, it was a lot. Um. But
Speaker 1: it obviously that's why you coach, you know, to put
Speaker 1: yourself in those positions. And I thought, um, you know,
Speaker 1: he handled it as well as you can handle it
Speaker 1: being in that situation. So he gets the Florida job.
Speaker 1: What was the process for you, like getting this the
Speaker 1: USF job? Yeah, I mean this is a crazy story,
Speaker 1: probably one that would be a chapter in a book. Um,
Speaker 1: But I knew, I knew he was gonna accept the job,
Speaker 1: had a feeling he was going to accept the job
Speaker 1: before we played the game. So um, after did he
Speaker 1: tell you, like, did he tell you hate Florida. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we had some conversations and which kind of led me
Speaker 1: to believe that that was gonna happen. UM. And you know,
Speaker 1: obviously those kind of things stay you know between us, um,
Speaker 1: between him and I at the time. But UM, so
Speaker 1: the next morning, you know, we lose a game, in
Speaker 1: a unbelievable back and forth game, heartbreaking game to lose
Speaker 1: the way that we did them re state UM. And
Speaker 1: we get on the charter early in the morning and
Speaker 1: it's it's us and our our president, our vice president,
Speaker 1: our athletic director and some donors and our team. UM.
Speaker 1: And we're on the plane and Todd comes back and
Speaker 1: he sits next to me and he says, Hey, I'm
Speaker 1: just giving your heads up. I'm I'm about to go
Speaker 1: sit with the A D and and let her know
Speaker 1: that I've been offered and accepted the job at Florida. UM.
Speaker 1: And it was an emotional conversation because of how much
Speaker 1: I care for him and vice versa, but was extremely
Speaker 1: happy for him. So this started this musical chairs thing
Speaker 1: that went on on the plane for about the next
Speaker 1: al and a half. So he told the a D.
Speaker 1: Next thing, you know, I'm going up to sit with
Speaker 1: the a D. The a D lets me know that
Speaker 1: she feels really good about trying to keep things in
Speaker 1: the house and wants to, um, you know, offer me
Speaker 1: the job to be the next head coach. She then
Speaker 1: on the plane, so then she we we do. So
Speaker 1: the rumors and the speculation are already going at this point.
Speaker 1: So there, how did how did first? How did how
Speaker 1: did Todd handle with the players? Um? He one by
Speaker 1: one made his way back through the plane, and he
Speaker 1: he didn't plan to do it that way. Um. This
Speaker 1: literally was the first starter that we had been on
Speaker 1: all year that had WiFi on the charter. So UM,
Speaker 1: it made it for a unique experience for sure. I
Speaker 1: think we thought that we would just touched down and
Speaker 1: get back to San Francisco and then everything would be
Speaker 1: out there. UM. But you know, it's kind of unique
Speaker 1: that it wasn't. Some of the players were first to
Speaker 1: see it, then some of the donors, and so it
Speaker 1: just kind of you know, you know how it does
Speaker 1: on a plane. It just it was like whisper down
Speaker 1: the lane. Um. So it was super surreal and unique experience. UM.
Speaker 1: And then fast forward our our a d made her
Speaker 1: way to the front of the plane, spoke to the
Speaker 1: Vice president and the president, and within ten minutes, fifteen minutes,
Speaker 1: she's coming back telling me to go get up to
Speaker 1: the front of the plane. So I sat in the
Speaker 1: middle of the president and the Vice president for about
Speaker 1: thirty minutes and we had a really good, really good
Speaker 1: conversation about just the vision of the program going forward. UM.
Speaker 1: And you know, they had basically let me know that
Speaker 1: they had faith and trust in me. And Uh, make
Speaker 1: my way to back to the plane and I've got
Speaker 1: my better half who she's crying now, Todd Golden's wife
Speaker 1: is crying. I didn't know if we're going to a
Speaker 1: funeral or a celebration. It was like the most unique
Speaker 1: claim ride UM that I've ever been on. UM. But
Speaker 1: by the time we had touchdown back in San Francisco, UM,
Speaker 1: it was known that I was going to be the
Speaker 1: next head coach. So what do you do? What's what's
Speaker 1: your first of course of action? I think, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of moving parts obviously with with
Speaker 1: Todd taking the job of you know, who's gonna stay
Speaker 1: on staff, who's gonna who's gonna go with him. Um.
Speaker 1: You know that was kind of the first thing that
Speaker 1: that popped into my mind was just trying to you know,
Speaker 1: get that situation. Um. You know, handled as as quickly
Speaker 1: and as smoothly as we could. Um. But my my
Speaker 1: first thing was just the players in the program. You know,
Speaker 1: there there's no one more important. I don't care whether
Speaker 1: it's a potential staff member or a potential recruit. To me,
Speaker 1: the most important people are the people who are with
Speaker 1: you in the fight in your program. So um, you know,
Speaker 1: the first thing I did was just spend a lot
Speaker 1: of time with the guys in the program, um, and
Speaker 1: just make sure that that they were on solid footing,
Speaker 1: that they understood kind of what the plan was for
Speaker 1: them moving forward. Um, and just how much I believed
Speaker 1: in them. And and you know, one of the have
Speaker 1: a chance to coach him. How do you get it
Speaker 1: to maintain this level? Because this is unique? Right You
Speaker 1: had Mussalski who did not play in the n c
Speaker 1: A tourmain that that's that was a game changer for
Speaker 1: me when you guys played Murray, he had such a
Speaker 1: good year and he's become such a good player. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Jamari Boullier. Obviously everybody respects him, but you
Speaker 1: know you have guys like that. Um, you lose a
Speaker 1: bunch from this team. And you know, I mean, Jamar,
Speaker 1: you've been there five years, Like you lose every you know,
Speaker 1: so much of the culture and the scoring. How do
Speaker 1: you maintain it at this level? That's a great question. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, I think the first order of business, and
Speaker 1: to be as transparent as I can be is is
Speaker 1: you know, trying to get Khalil Shabaz here for another year. UM.
Speaker 1: And I feel really good about where that's moving. Um.
Speaker 1: He's a guy who I think has a chance to
Speaker 1: be a face of the program, you know, moving for word. UM.
Speaker 1: And I still think there's a lot of room left
Speaker 1: for him to grow as a player. UM. But he
Speaker 1: he's kind of where I start. UM. There's nobody who
Speaker 1: I would want to go into battle with more than him. UM.
Speaker 1: For being five ft nothing, um in a hundred and
Speaker 1: you know, seventy five pounds or whatever he is, he
Speaker 1: has the biggest heart of anyone I've been around, uh
Speaker 1: in college basketball. So UM, I think with guys like him,
Speaker 1: guys like Julian Rishwaine who played a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of minutes, um, and other guys in the program
Speaker 1: who are gonna return. I think we have a solid nucleus.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a matter of, as you said, addressing
Speaker 1: the needs upfront. Obviously, Missofsky turned into a beast. And
Speaker 1: it's kind of what I saw when I recruited him
Speaker 1: at San Diego, you know, was that he could develop
Speaker 1: into something like that. And he had a hell of
Speaker 1: a year. Uh. And pat Tepe was kind of sneaky.
Speaker 1: You know. People forget about him in terms of what
Speaker 1: he brought from, especially you from a defensive standpoint. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, so we're gonna we're living in the portal obviously,
Speaker 1: drawing on all our you know, ties and and our
Speaker 1: our relationships that we have to try to stay old
Speaker 1: and stay experienced. Um. And then got to add, you know,
Speaker 1: an experienced guy in the backcourt as well. UM, because
Speaker 1: Jamari where he started and where he got to is remarkable.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, that's that. That's the thing. I saw
Speaker 1: some NBA players commenting on how how good, how much
Speaker 1: they liked him, like, yeah, you didn't see him three
Speaker 1: years ago. He was a little different, you know. But
Speaker 1: I think that I think that speaks to in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, everybody does want the quick fix. Unfortunately here, Um,
Speaker 1: the college basketball landscape has changed, and UM, I want
Speaker 1: to be super you know, calculated in terms of how
Speaker 1: we build our team. And I think, you know, peppering
Speaker 1: in and adding guys like Jamari who uh we're relative
Speaker 1: the unknown guys, you know, but they had a chance
Speaker 1: to really grow and prosper in the program over time. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I'd be stupid not to try
Speaker 1: to mix a guy or two like that in where
Speaker 1: you can really cultivate and try to grow their game
Speaker 1: over the course of their Career's your dad, Sola? He is?
Speaker 1: What do you say? Um? I mean he's just super
Speaker 1: you know, excited for me and um, you know, happy
Speaker 1: that I have a chance to kind of leave my
Speaker 1: own program. You know, it's been four years of of
Speaker 1: I mean the path that I took is kind of crazy,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think about how how it all
Speaker 1: got to this point. But again, everybody kind of gets
Speaker 1: to to their endpoint at a different time, and I
Speaker 1: wouldn't change anything about it. It's funny, like all these
Speaker 1: Philly guys, you always think you'll coach around Philly and
Speaker 1: then here you end up at at San Francisco. UM.
Speaker 1: Todd told us about how uh living with so you know,
Speaker 1: they the living because it's so expensive there. It's always tricky.
Speaker 1: It's it's trickier obviously with assistance in his head coaches.
Speaker 1: But you were assistant. Now you're a head coach. Do
Speaker 1: you move? Does your wife at Jeff to move yet? Um,
Speaker 1: We're we're in the process of figuring that out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's definitely a unique city to live in.
Speaker 1: And and you know, growing up in Philadelphia, I appreciate
Speaker 1: and love everything about being in a metropolitan area. I
Speaker 1: think San Francisco is one of the best cities in
Speaker 1: the world. Um. But the obviously the costs of living
Speaker 1: is high. UM. And so we're in the process of
Speaker 1: figuring out what we're gonna do. UM University has some
Speaker 1: really nice homes that they owe that they own here,
Speaker 1: you know, a block or two from campus, and and
Speaker 1: that's an option. So we're kind of exploring all of
Speaker 1: it at this point. That's not bad, no, no, no
Speaker 1: house payment sounds really really tasty, really really really really easy. UM.
Speaker 1: When people see your teams play, what do you want
Speaker 1: them to walk away saying or thinking, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: hopefully it's a lot of the same things that they
Speaker 1: walked away saying about this group that we had this year. Um,
Speaker 1: you know that we're ultra connected, UM, that we're tough,
Speaker 1: and that we play extremely extremely hard UM. And I
Speaker 1: would hope that they say that we look like we're
Speaker 1: well coached too. You know. The preparation and being detailed
Speaker 1: is something that you know, I've learned, you know, over
Speaker 1: the course of these on four years, and it's something
Speaker 1: that's super important to me, is just making sure that
Speaker 1: you know, when we step on the floor that we're prepared,
Speaker 1: you know. And if you're prepared, I think that kind
Speaker 1: of allows uh, your natural instincts and your ability to
Speaker 1: kind of take over. Um. And so that that's what
Speaker 1: I hope they'll say, UM. And that's gonna be something
Speaker 1: that that we kind of attack on a on a
Speaker 1: daily basis, just in terms of how we go about
Speaker 1: our business. We to be super competitive and ultra connected.
Speaker 1: Last thing, Um, if you look at these teams that
Speaker 1: are still playing, obviously Duke has gotten better defensively in
Speaker 1: the tournament. The rest of them are just outstanding. You know.
Speaker 1: Caroline has improved as well. Nova is great defensively, super physical. Obviously,
Speaker 1: what Kansas did changing some of the matchups unbelievable. The
Speaker 1: second half you outscore up. Jim lay egote fifth team
Speaker 1: was crazy and their defense was the catalyst. I asked
Speaker 1: you this because my day coach under text Winner at
Speaker 1: Long Beach State, and he used to tell me. I
Speaker 1: remember he always telling a story that text would leave
Speaker 1: after the offense, that they do, go through all the
Speaker 1: warm ups, all fundamentals, then they do offense. He was
Speaker 1: completely running the show. He ran the triple post, which
Speaker 1: is the triangle they wrote defensive drills. He'd leave the building,
Speaker 1: leave the building. He was done, not what he wanted
Speaker 1: to do. You guys handle it. How do you as
Speaker 1: the guy who the offensive guru, the guy with the
Speaker 1: white board in his hands drawing up the a t
Speaker 1: O setting up the offense. How do you go from
Speaker 1: offensive quarter to head coach? How? What? What? How do
Speaker 1: you handle that challenge of being so focused on one
Speaker 1: end of the floor. That's a that's a really good question. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, although I was obviously the offensive coordinator at
Speaker 1: the last three schools that I've been at, I think
Speaker 1: I've been fortunate enough to be be around a lot
Speaker 1: of good defensive minds, you know, whether it's Dan Leeviovitz
Speaker 1: at at Hartford, whether it's Lamont Smith who was incredible
Speaker 1: defensive coach um at the University of San Diego, and
Speaker 1: now being around Todd Um So as a coach, I
Speaker 1: think I've kind of put all that into a pot,
Speaker 1: you know, and kind of come up with the things
Speaker 1: that are important to me and um, the competitive nature
Speaker 1: and myself. Um, you know, I was actually a way
Speaker 1: better defensive player than I wasn't an offensive player, and
Speaker 1: it was out of the ball that I was drawn
Speaker 1: to more than even the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: So UM, I'm not super worried about that. I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, part of that too is hiring the right staff,
Speaker 1: you know, guys who compliment you. Um, you know, but
Speaker 1: believe me, we'll we'll be locked in and dialed in
Speaker 1: just the same, you know, from a defensive standpoint as
Speaker 1: we are from a offensive standpoint. Uh, this is gonna
Speaker 1: drop tomorrow. So and I don't know if you're going
Speaker 1: to the Final four, but I'm sure you're gonna be
Speaker 1: hit up how many just for somebody who'll understands you
Speaker 1: get your first head coaching job. How many texts, emails,
Speaker 1: phone messages in terms of guys wanting a job o. Um,
Speaker 1: text messages within the first probably forty eight hours was
Speaker 1: well over a thousand. Um. And then from a phone
Speaker 1: call standpoint, you know, I'm having you know, people come
Speaker 1: out the woodwork that I didn't even know we're still around.
Speaker 1: You know, it's kind of it's kind of amazing, UM
Speaker 1: who you hear from them when you have a job
Speaker 1: or when you get a job. Um. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm being probably overly anal in terms of trying
Speaker 1: to get back to everyone, sure, because I know how
Speaker 1: that felt as an assistant too. You know, when when
Speaker 1: you you wanted to get involved with something and um
Speaker 1: all you really wanted At times, you're just there to
Speaker 1: be some feedback, whether it's positive or negative. UM. So
Speaker 1: I'm doing my best to to make sure that I,
Speaker 1: you know, circle back and touch base with everyone, because
Speaker 1: I do know what it's like to be in those
Speaker 1: spots and you know, just to want opportunity. So I'm
Speaker 1: super thankful for everyone who's reached out, and UM, I
Speaker 1: am doing my best, but it is certainly um overwhelming
Speaker 1: in terms of just you know, the amount of people
Speaker 1: who have hit me up. I'm living above a liquor
Speaker 1: store to try to get back to over a thousand
Speaker 1: text messages. Uh, it's it's it's it's quite the journey.
Speaker 1: I can't wait. You can't wait to catch up more.
Speaker 1: I know you gotta get back in the portal and
Speaker 1: get back to work and putting together, putting the whole
Speaker 1: thing together. No, I appreciate I do too. I like
Speaker 1: I love watching your team's play. It's one of the
Speaker 1: reasons that I was drawn to San Francisco's I Sometimes
Speaker 1: I don't like how they play. Love how you guys play.
Speaker 1: Cannot wait to cover you guys in the w CC
Speaker 1: next year. Thanks so much for joining me. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you having me anytime. I would love to come back on. Ye, well,
Speaker 1: that interesting, I thought so. All right, more pods to
Speaker 1: come this week? Where it final four week? Remember listen
Speaker 1: to the Doug gli Show daily three to six Eastern
Speaker 1: called through Pacific. I'm Doug gotlie Been. This is all
Speaker 1: ball