CBS Sports Radio host and Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb has found himself at the center of controversy in recent days on a number of different fronts. On Thursday, Gottlieb not only defended himself but also took aim at his many critics, including ESPN.
On Monday, Gottlieb responded to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter about Michael Vick’s interest in the vacant Sacramento State head coaching job. Particularly, Gottlieb took issue with Schefter’s claim that Sacramento State had $50 million in NIL collective funding, a number that was far too big in his eyes.
In response, Schefter took a shot at Gottlieb’s struggles in his first year at Green Bay, telling him to “spend less time on social media and more time in the gym” with his team.
Gottlieb later addressed that, and took some responsibility for how that feud played out. But things got even worse for him when his Green Bay team lost on Wednesday afternoon to Michigan Tech, a Division II program, to extend their losing streak to eight games.
Prior to the game, an account by the name of Mike Ashley posted a clip of Gottlieb saying in a past press conference that he “didn’t want to play Nobody U.” Ashley framed his post, which ended up going viral with over 2.5 million views on X, as Gottlieb calling Michigan Tech “Nobody U.” That naturally resulted in Gottlieb getting criticized heavily on social media.
Doug Gottlieb has no idea what he’s talking about. He refers to D2 Michigan Tech as “Nonody U” and implies they’ll win by 20. His shitty 2-10 UWGB team might be in for a rude awakening today at 11 AM when they see the way Tech plays ball the right way. pic.twitter.com/nzrgKdxxEL
— Mike Ashley (@MikeAshley40) December 18, 2024
Gottlieb cleared the air on Thursday’s edition of The Doug Gottlieb Show, detailing how the press conference in question was actually from the team’s loss last week to Milwaukee when asked about the team’s tough scheduling this season. This would mean that Gottlieb never referred to Michigan Tech as “Nobody U”.
“There are teams, Division II, Division III, where you can show up and it’s like a rec league team. My thing has always been, to go to a game in Green Bay, Wisconsin, I’ve got to give you a reason to go. Like the opponent is good. And Michigan Tech is a good one. And they have a lot of local kids. I was speaking in a place a week ago Wednesday where I was discussing how difficult our schedule has been. And how everyone we played was either better than us or capable of beating us.”
Gottlieb then played the full clip of his past press conference before taking aim at those, including ESPN in his eyes, who ran with Ashley’s narrative that he had called Michigan Tech “Nobody U”.
“I don’t really understand kicking us while we’re down in year one,” said Gottlieb. “Whoever this guy is. If there really is a guy named Mike Ashley, feel free to call the show. Using a quote out of context. And then reputable news organizations picked it up and ran with it. I’ll tell you where it doesn’t feel good. I worked at ESPN for nine years. I’m still very close with a lot of my ESPN brethren. Many of them aren’t there now.
“The first part that they ran with for a long time that I called Michigan Tech Nobody U is embarrassing. Because having worked there, if you didn’t follow the codes of basic journalism, then you wouldn’t work there. What is the point?
“Here’s the thing, ESPN, you are allowed to track every loss and put it on my name. That’s fine. I’d like you to do the same thing for every win. We’ll keep the receipts.
“If it’s ESPN protecting Adam Schefter, Adam Schefter doesn’t need protection. And by the way, there has been no accountability. It’s not like anybody has been like ‘Hey, we think your tone was off. But so was Adam’s and his tweet was actually wrong.’ Nope, nobody said that. Piling on when you just lose a basketball game… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I don’t understand kicking us while we’re down in year one…Using a quote out of context, and then reputable news organizations picking it up and running with it??”
🎙️ Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) breaks down the FULL context of the “Nobody U” comments pic.twitter.com/XaWsthxDAb
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) December 19, 2024
It’s understandable for Gottlieb to be upset about being misquoted. And that’s maybe especially true considering how much hate he has gotten on social media in the aftermath of their Michigan Tech loss.
Considering Gottlieb does have a lengthy background in broadcasting, he understands the importance of researching before spreading misinformation. Unfortunately, ESPN and plenty of other outlets didn’t seem to value accuracy in this instance.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.