UWGB men's basketball coach Doug Gottlieb to step away from radio show

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb has been part of the media for more than two decades as a radio talk show host.

He should know not to bury the lede.

It was about 8 minutes into his 20-minute press conference after UWGB’s 67-64 win over UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 17 that he dropped a bombshell.

He has decided to step down from his gig as host of "The Doug Gottlieb Show.”

“I am no longer going to do live radio,” said Gottlieb, who was emotional while making the announcement. “I’m still going to be doing my podcast. I’ve been doing it for 23 years. Radio is a relationship.

“There is a lawyer who helped us bridge the gap with the Oneida tribe. His name is William. I’ll never forget when I met him, he asked about my twins (daughters Harper and Grace). He said he was listening the day I called in (in 2006) because my twins were born prematurely. I’ve been doing it for a long time, but these kids (deserve) a fully dedicated coach. I know I’m fully dedicated, but you only get one shot at this thing.”

Gottlieb brought up an example from last week, when the team traveled to play at IU Indy. His radio show commitment kept him from riding the bus and instead forced him to fly to the game by himself.

That type of conflict has occurred at times since he was hired by UWGB in May 2024. He made headlines in February when he traveled to New Orleans before the Super Bowl to take part in Radio Row.

He did his show there on that Wednesday – UWGB didn’t have practice that day – and wasn’t able to watch the team practice live the following day as the team prepared for a weekend game at Purdue Fort Wayne.

The same type of situation could have occurred again this season, but not anymore.

“I’ll still be doing podcasts, and iHeart has been amazing about it,” Gottlieb said. “We will transition to a different version of it. It will still be the same stuff, but I’ll do it off office hours and at home. You can take days off, and I can have a life.

“Thanksgiving, I had all three of my kids in town. I had to work on a Friday because I wanted to bank those holiday days for when we travel or for game prep or whatever. It’s really hard. It’s going to be, obviously, a bit of a financial hit. I’ll work through it. I have been blessed beyond all measures. But 'The Doug Gottlieb Show' on radio, in the afternoon, as of now, we are going to take a break from it. I have got to have a life, I have got to be here for those kids, and I have really got to dig in, because we are building something cool here.”

Indeed, Gottlieb does appear to be building something.

After winning just four games in his debut as a Division I coach last season, the team improved to 6-7 with its win over a UC Santa Barbara team that entered having won eight of its first 11 games.

The Phoenix is even showing improvement from game to game.

After it recently blew a late lead in a loss to Robert Morris, UWGB was up by nine points with 4 minutes, 26 seconds remaining against Santa Barbara.

When the Gauchos cut the lead to just a single point with 53 seconds left, UWGB found a way to win and close out the game with a pair of free throws from senior guard Preston Ruedinger.

Gottlieb’s decision might seem curious considering how adamant he had been about doing both jobs.

Although exact figures aren’t known, it’s a good bet he makes more from his radio job than the $250,000 base salary he is making with the Phoenix this season. He does get raises at UWGB each year, including $305,000 for the fifth and final year of his contract.

Part of that five-year contract included a provision that he could be asked by UWGB to end involvement in outside activity should any of the conflicts be deemed to not be in the best interest of the school.

That did not play a part in Gottlieb’s decision to step away from radio.

Neither athletic director Josh Moon nor UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander approached Gottlieb with any concerns or requests.

“No, this is Doug,” Moon said. “No part. We’ve talked about it since he has been hired, and we wouldn’t have hired him if it was an issue. This was in Doug’s court.”

Moon said Gottlieb did speak to him about his decision earlier this week and that it was only a matter of when he was going to announce it.

Although many questioned having a coach with multiple jobs, the exposure Gottlieb was able to give UWGB was unique.

“Those connections aren’t going to go away that Doug is going to have, that Doug has built for 20 years,” Moon said. “But, yeah, will it be good to have more time? I think Doug said that in his postgame. For his personal growth and just being able to balance and have a little bit more time to do a lot of things. But spend more time with players, etc., for sure.”

As for those players?

“I think (Tuesday) he told me, and asked me what I really thought about it,” junior forward Marcus Hall said. “I’m like, ‘It doesn’t really change anything for us.’ Some people might see it as not fully dedicated, but you could ask any player on our team, any coach, and I feel like he works just as hard if not harder than anyone else on the team.

“It’s cool that he will say that and he’s fully dedicated, but he was before that.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB men's basketball coach Doug Gottlieb to step away from radio show