Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb says he plans to take a break from radio show to focus on coaching

Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb on Wednesday became emotional after his team's 67-64 win over UC Santa Barbara as he revealed his plans to "take a break" from producing his daily radio show, the Doug Gottlieb show, to focus all his energies on coaching. The show, in its present form, has been produced daily with Fox Sports since 2017.

Gottlieb's Phoenix beat the visiting Gauchos despite being 6.5-point home underdogs Wednesday -- their fifth win in the last seven outings -- but even with the momentum, he said he felt as if his players deserved more of him and fewer distractions.

"I've been doing this for a long time," Gottlieb said. "But these kids [deserve] a fully dedicated coach."

During my visit to Green Bay in the spring to profile Gottlieb and the unique agreement with the school that allowed him to host a daily radio show full-time while coaching, nearly every player told me privately that his radio obligations did not bother them. However, the situation was impossible to ignore in part because he occasionally produced shows from his on-campus office. His live show also ran daily from 3-6 p.m. ET, which meant frequently bending the team's schedule around radio.

"You only get one shot at this thing," Gottlieb said Wednesday. "And, if, if there's any ounce of lack of preparation, or any ounce of fatigue, or ... I mean, this, this is gonna sound crazy, but last week we go down to Indy, and because of the timing of my show, the bus had to leave without me and I flew. And I just don't think that's what I wanna do as a coach."

Gottlieb said he'll continue to produce podcasts from his home studio located in his basement, but there will be a transition to a "different version of it" even while producing the "same stuff." The difference, he says: "I'll do it out of office hours and at home, and I can take days off and have a life."

When I followed Gottlieb around in the spring, his days began around 5 a.m. -- starting with yoga or some form of exercise and a cup of coffee -- and ran past midnight, wrapping with radio prep or film review or both. The bags under his eyes looked done in Sharpie. Most of his days consisted of orchestrating the program in various forms -- practice, film review, coaching meetings, recruiting -- but it was clear the juggling act was taking its toll.

"It's just, I gotta have a life," Gottlieb added Wednesday. "I gotta be here for those kids, and I gotta really dig in because we're building something cool here."

As I left Green Bay the day after Valentine's Day, the Phoenix were 2-24, riding a 21-game losing streak before finishing 4-28 on the season. The outlook was bleak. The team stunk. Morale was low. But a lot has changed in less than a year. In Year Two, Gottlieb has the team 6-7 with a chance to reach .500 before league play begins on January 1. 

"This is a special place," concluded Gottlieb. "I wanna be the coach that rises it from the ashes, and I'm fully dedicated to Green Bay basketball. I was always fully dedicated. It doesn't really change much. But that's what's gonna happen."