Notes from Doug Gottlieb’s Appearance on the Sports Animal on Thursday

Following his interview with Mike Holder and Co. in Stillwater, Doug Gottlieb went on the air with the The Dominant Duo on Oklahoma City’s WWLS The Sports Animal on Thursday afternoon. He talked about why he would be a good fit at OSU, his expectations for the program and how his interview went.

Here are some tidbits but you can listen to the entire interview here.

On one thing or one area that he would need help in or would be most nervous about as a first-time head coach.

“Oh yeah. There’s several areas of it… In terms of recruiting and scheduling — when do you call? Who do you call?… My brother’s been a recruiting coordinator for ten years. You have to delegate but you have to have smart people. I agree. Scheduling is an issue. When do we go? How hard do we go?”

On hiring the right staff and surrounding himself with the right people.

“I would hire an assistant to the head coach. I have several people in mind but one in mind who was a prominent coach. Coached in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Coached at two big-time programs. He’s currently scouting in the NBA. And I would make him the assistant to the head coach. Basically, he would be coaching me. And a lot of people have these ‘Yoda’s’ and gurus and he’s somebody that would I trust but he’s not somebody that comes from the same coaching background as me and he would help me with those little details.

“So, the things that I don’t know, you surround yourself with people who do know. And I become the energy and the driving force and the leader of the basketball program.”

On why OSU’s administration and its fans can put their trust in him.

“Everything Brad said, I actually mean. This is the place that I want to coach. This is the place that makes sense. I’m the actually tie to Coach Sutton. My dad having coached with him, I having played for him. My dad actually coached with Coach Hartman, as well.”

“We’re not [looking for] a short term solution. [We’re looking for] a long term solution. You have to build a program, not a team. Travis had really good teams, at times. Not a program. Last year, look at what Brad did. They were a good team. They became an incredible offensive team. But that’s not a program. I want to build a program because it’s important to me. I want to invest in Stillwater, invest in Oklahoma State because they invested in me. And I want to build it for long-term sustainable success.

On his experience as an analyst would translate to the sideline.

“You prepare for both teams. It’s almost as if you’re scouting and you scout both teams… I always try in my head to figure out ‘Who’s plan is going to work and why do I think it will work?’ I evaluate how everybody subs. That’s how most coaches watch the game.”

He also went on about what it takes to be successful at OSU. With him it starts with continuing (and building on) the excitement that Underwood had started to build last season.

“You gotta make that place a snake pit. I want to make it a rock concert. I want to make so that students look forward to it cause it’s like a rave every time we play. That’s where I would want to play and that’s where I would want my team to play. Come out and between the lights and the sound and the music, I want it hopping.”

On how his interview at OSU went.

“I felt like it went well. It was a full enough room with men who are all successful in their own chosen fields and I tried to relate to them on that level that this is not just a dude who’s on TV. What I tried to relay to them was ‘I’m actually a basketball guy that learned how to become a broadcaster’. And it’s much more natural for me to be in a gym than it is in a microphone. I know that place. That place feels like home. I can drive around with my eyes closed. I’m not telling somebody else’s story. I’m telling my story and recruiting my story to the fans. My story to the boosters.

“I felt like it went well and I’m really glad that I got a shot at it.”