Fox Sports radio host Doug Gottlieb is the new head men’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, and he will keep his job hosting the national radio show. As Gottlieb gives further details on the setup in new interviews this week, he explained that keeping the radio show could actually improve his success as a coach.
Gottlieb explained that his radio show gives the basketball program a larger platform and more extra money spent while, personally, he maintains flexibility and gets to fulfill a dream.
“I think they actually mutually promote themselves,” Gottlieb told Fox Sports’ John Fanta in a Q&A. “This gives Green Bay something different. It’s going to help our program with NIL money and recruiting. And the other thing is it allows me to take less money and pay my assistant coaches more.
“But it gives Josh (Moon) and the entire UW-Green Bay athletic department a new kind of publicity. With my connections in the basketball world and in the media, I believe the show is a great way for us to only promote the program.”
Gottlieb added in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday that his ability to set the practice schedule and focus on radio and coaching rather than an assortment of media jobs he juggled will allow him to dedicate himself to both.
“The great thing about our Chancellor Michael Alexander allowing me to do both is it allowed me to take less money financially and not take a huge hit and then hire a staff that already knows what I don’t know,” Gottlieb said. “You name it, I’ve done it. So now I only have two jobs.”
Certainly, a mid-major school has a limited budget, so Gottlieb treating coaching as a part-time job from a pay perspective should help. As for NIL and sponsorships, it will be fascinating to see how brands—including Fox Sports—feel about that arrangement.
However, Gottlieb acknowledged to Patrick that he would refrain from discussing any athletes he recruits but didn’t expect that to interfere with delivering a great national radio show. After all, the recruits Gottlieb will pursue won’t likely be national news.
Gottlieb is back in Wisconsin, where he was born, coaching the program that was his father’s archrival when Bob Gottlieb coached UW-Milwaukee in the 1970s. Gottlieb considered other coaching opportunities in recent years but pulled the trigger on this one because he wanted to prove himself.
“I want to prove that all the talking into a headset, all the AAU or … coaching AAU, coaching overseas, this is legit, it works in college,” Gottlieb told Patrick.
He knows there’s no way he can quiet the noise around taking the job and the unusual dual role he will hold.
“There’s nothing I can say back to them that will make them feel differently,” Gottlieb told Fanta. “The only thing I can do is build a team, and when we start playing in November, people will see. People will see what we’re about and how hard we play.”
Gottlieb will be judged on his success in the Horizon League, but his mentality seems genuine as he takes the job.