What Did Iowa State Fans Think of Hiring Fred Hoiberg?

The Doug Gottlieb-Fred Hoiberg parallels have rolled in. I have thought and written about them a lot. Others have as well. And not just Oklahoma State fans who read this blog.

Creative move for AD Holder to interview @GottliebShow for Ok St. vacancy. Knows his hoops, strengths/weaknesses. Hoiberg Part II? Possibly.

— Brad Evans (@YahooNoise) March 22, 2017

Anyway, I know that Gottlieb is divisive and that the very mention of him on social media invokes credit card jokes and ire from fans across the nation. That’s OK. OSU’s head football coach has a mullet and hunts rattlesnakes. We’re past caring what people think.

But I did want to get some Hoiberg perspective so I reached to friend of the blog Chris Williams who runs the terrific Cyclone Fanatic site. We traded emails before the Big 12 Tournament, and he’s a great dude and smart writer. He shed some light on how ISU view Hoiberg’s hire back in 2010 (Hoiberg went on to go 115-56 in six years at the helm including two Big 12 Tournament titles). Here is that convo.

Kyle Porter: OK Chris, we have a problem. As you know, Brad Underwood just ejected so hard from the state of Oklahoma that Ed Hightower didn’t even have time to T him up twice on the way out. The Cowboy fan base is fractured. Some are trying to roll the red carpet out for Doug Gottlieb.

Others wouldn’t take him if he paid the school $5 million a year to do the job. You guys have a history with taking a guy who has never coached before. What was the feeling like when Fred Hoiberg took over after coaching exactly zero college games in his career? Were you terrified, excited?

Chris Williams: So on the day that the news broke that Fred was getting the job, I was filling in as the host on Des Moines’ sports radio station. The news hit and the phone lines lit up. Not all – but most fans were as you put it – “terrified.”

It’s scary. Zero coaching experience at any level. How was this guy supposed to turn around a program that hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2005?

Let me tell you what I learned in covering Hoiberg throughout his entire tenure in Ames. I now believe that fit and culture are more important than x’s and o’s. If a guy like Gottlieb can rally the troops and get people believing again, I think it is worth a serious look.

The thing I also learned about this type of guy is that they usually are very aware of their own weaknesses. Fred Hoiberg constantly – to this day – references what he learned from Johnny Orr and Tim Floyd. He quotes Flip Saunders and Kevin McHale. The day Fred got the job, he began seeking a former head coach (ended up being Bobby Lutz) to show him the ropes.

I THINK that Doug would do the same thing.

Doug should be able to recruit to Stillwater better than anybody. He loves that place more than anybody.

It’s a very intriguing hire to me and again, I just don’t believe that the old school way of making hires is nearly as important as it was 15 years ago. Hoiberg kind of paved the way for that. Just ask Chris Mullin.

KP: What was Hoiberg’s biggest struggle and how did he fill that void? Or I guess, how did he overcome that lack of experience?

CW: This is where I think things could get a little bit tricky for Doug.

Fred’s biggest struggle was simple: Talent.

He went the transfer route and signed Royce White, Chris Babb and Anthony Booker within the first two months of getting the job. That well is dry these days. When Fred took over in 2010, the transfer market was a fairly taboo way of doing things. He was kind of a pioneer in that sense. Iowa State would NEVER be able to rack up that sort of talent via the transfer route in 2017.

He was able to do that so because the fans were unequivocally behind him. Fred had so much goodwill built up that he could have brought anybody in at that point.

Let me ask you this, because I think it is my biggest question about Doug.

Is he a selfless man? The reason I ask is because that was Fred’s best quality. He knew his strengths and weaknesses and surrounded himself with an initial staff that was perfect.

The biggest compliment I can give Fred Hoiberg — and I know him well — is that he is a man with an incredibly small ego. Would Doug be able to swallow some pride and let others do their thing?

KP: That’s a great question that I don’t know the answer to. I know Doug professionally but not personally. He has always treated me respectfully, but I can’t speak to his selflessness. I do think there’s something to the fact that he’s already “made it.” He’s made a ton of money already in his career. He’s gotten buckets.

Let’s be honest, coaching Big 12 hoops, glamorous as it may be, is not as easy of a job as hanging out in L.A. and doing a radio/TV show. Not that doing radio and TV is easy, but you’re not grinding on the road chasing recruits for slightly more pay (if that). I think Doug chasing the job to begin with implies at least a minimal desire to help.

I think what you said about outsiders being acutely aware of their flaws is important here. It’s so much easier to see and to recognize, and I think Doug is smart enough (and hopefully self-aware enough) to see what areas he needs to hire to.

One last question for you: What would you say to OSU fans or even basketball fans nationally who think this is just the stupidest idea of all time?

CW: I would say that sometimes, a desperate situation calls for a desperate decision. Iowa State basketball was in a desperate spot before it hired Hoiberg. A few years earlier, Larry Eustachy had gotten fired for partying with coeds, Wayne Morgan was never going to work and Greg McDermott was a complete bust. Jamie Pollard threw a Hail Mary and thank God, Iowa State had a guy standing in the end zone to make the catch.

If Oklahoma State wants to pay $3 million a year to go out and get a proven head coach then by all means, go for it. However, I’d ask, “Why didn’t you just pay Underwood then?”

I’m sure there is more to the situation that I don’t know, but it doesn’t look like that’s the route you all are going to go so then again — as an outsider — I would highly encourage you to give Gottlieb a chance. Fit and culture is so dang important — often times more so than x’s and o’s.

Handing a guy with no coaching experience the keys to the car is a scary, scary thing. But like Hoiberg, Doug knows the sport of basketball. If he can put others around him who will be more than just “yes men,” I really do think that this can work.

I’m a Big 12 basketball fan, and I hope that it does.