Major College Basketball Coach Pulls Bold Move As Program Burns Down

UW-Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb's midweek Super Bowl trip is offering up some very tough optics.

Gottlieb is in his first season as the head basketball coach of the Phoenix…..and it's been a disaster. Despite being a major name and a former college star, he simply hasn't translated to the coaching game.

Not even a little bit.

How bad is it? The Phoenix are 2-22 with just seven games left in the season. The team's two wins are against Western Illinois and SIUE. The team's second win of the season came all the way back on November 19th. It's been nothing but losses since.

Doug Gottlieb's first season coaching the UW-Green Bay Phoenix has been a disaster. The team is 2-22 through 24 games. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Doug Gottlieb going to Super Bowl media events as the Phoenix implode is a tough look.

Gottlieb has continued doing his radio show after taking the UW-GB job, and that brought him to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.

He was in attendance at activities Wednesday and would also miss the team's Thursday practice, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Hopping down to New Orleans for press activities with two wins on the season is certainly a bold choice, but Gottlieb isn't sweating it.

"It’s not like we are down here and I’m off on Bourbon Street," Gottlieb said. "It’s not like I’m drinking a hurricane on Bourbon Street.

"If people want to think I’m not doing my job because I’m in New Orleans doing a radio job, which had been preplanned, again, there is nothing I’m really going to be able to say. Other than, my players like playing for me, and we are going to compete," the Phoenix head coach explained, according to the same report.

Doug Gottlieb attended Super Bowl media events as the Green Bay Phoenix are 2-22. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Obviously, Gottlieb is free to do whatever he wants. He's a grown man, and as long as the UW-GB AD doesn't care, then I'm sure he doesn't either.

However, the optics are horrible. In fact, it's hard to imagine the optics could be worse, seeing as how the Phoenix have a game this upcoming Saturday against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. The Mastodons are second in the Horizon League as of publication.

Seems like a pretty big game that should have Gottlieb's full and undivided attention.

I will also say this from personal experience that you might find interesting. I used to work in college basketball for a D1 program. My brain can't comprehend the head coach taking a mid-week trip for any reason. I legitimately can't imagine such a situation ever unfolding, but I guess times have changed. That was nearly 15 years ago for me, and it's now 2025.

Different strokes for different folks.

Green Bay Phoenix head coach Doug Gottlieb is struggling in his first year with the program. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Are you a UW-GB basketball fan? Let me know your thoughts on the situation at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.