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Thursday, January 12, 2006
Hewitt’s future clouded by Braine’s exit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Regardless of what you think of Chan Gailey in general or his contract in particular, regardless of how you perceive the seemingly re-circulating disenchantment within the Georgia Tech fan base, there are at least two favorable things that can be said of athletics director Dave Braine: He hired Paul Hewitt and he has kept Paul Hewitt.
Now that Braine has announced what Hewitt has known for “a month, maybe two” — that the Tech athletics director is retiring because of health issues — it’s logical to wonder if the basketball coach will soon follow him out the door.
Understand something: The relationship between a coach and athletics director in today’s college atmosphere might be even more vital than a coach and his superiors in the professional ranks. Academic issues are forever evolving. A university’s priorities are forever changing. Presidents are taking an increasingly active role in athletics. The athletics director can’t just be a cushion and a fundraiser, particularly at a place like Tech. He needs to be fluent in politics — in two languages, academics and athletics.
And understand this: Paul Hewitt has two escape clauses in his current contract, which runs for another 5 1/2 seasons. One is fairly typical — he can leave for an NBA job without being subject to a buyout. One is fairly atypical — he can leave within two years of Braine’s exit. So start the clock.
Now, a coach can have an ironclad, no-escape contract signed in vampire blood and it wouldn’t make a difference. Contracts are broken every day, particularly by college coaches. They demand loyalty from recruits and boosters, then weasel out of rollover contracts and jump across the street for a raise. Go figure. Really, all escape clauses do is make it cheaper for a guy to leave.
But Hewitt’s clause is symbolic of something more than saving a few bucks. “I don’t care how good a coach you are,” he said. “If you don’t have the right administration behind you who understands what you’re dealing with — I mean, Dave gave me a contract extension [in 2003] and people were saying, ‘What, are you nuts?’ Then the next year we went to the Final Four.”
Let’s boil this down to its simplest form: Hewitt will tell you that he loves Tech, loves Atlanta, loves, loves, loves. But the man has options. He has proven himself at the college level. He could do the same on another campus or, more likely, try the NBA. Coaching the New York Knicks, Hewitt said, is, “My childhood dream.”
(Disclaimer: Hewitt was quick to add the timing is not right and he’s not campaigning for the job. Just as well. Larry Brown won’t be going anywhere for at least seven minutes.)
Just guessing here. The question is not whether Hewitt leaves Tech, but when. The timing depends largely on his next boss. A coach doesn’t just put a potential get-me-out-of-Dodge clause in his contract unless it’s a significant concern.
He said of the coach-athletics director relationship: “It’s getting more and more important every day because of the rules and regulations that are being handed down. And, quite frankly, while they’re well-intended, many of the rules are coming from people who don’t really have an understanding of what goes on from day to day in an athletic department. Faculty thinks one way, coaches tend to think another way.” The guy in the middle gets a headache.
At Georgia Tech, there are always issues, usually revolving around academics. Most recently, Yellow Jackets senior Theodis Tarver was declared ineligible by the school, even though he remained above the NCAA bar. Tarver’s mother died recently. But Tech faculty isn’t big on extenuating circumstances.
If you’re Hewitt, how much do you put up with?
He has worked on six campuses: C.W. Post, Southern California, Fordham, Villanova, Siena, Tech.
With that perspective, he says this: “I’m telling you, it takes two years to figure this place out. I don’t think you can afford to bring somebody in who needs two years to figure it out.”
Hewitt says he has confidence that the Tech president, Wayne Clough, will hire the right person. But Hewitt’s loyalty to Braine is understandable. And that clause was put there for a reason.
Permalink | Comments (60) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC
Watching Brady grow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
This is how stupid I am: I sat in the Superdome and watched Tom Brady win his first Super Bowl — and his first Super Bowl MVP — and thought he was no big deal. I thought he was a fill-in quarterback who’d done a nice job. I did not for one second entertain the thought that he might be the greatest quarterback of his era, if not all eras.
This is how stupid I am: During that Super Bowl week, I halfway expected Bill Belichick to go back to Drew Bledsoe as his Super Bowl starter. If you recall, Brady had stepped in for Bledsoe after the latter was hurt early in the 2001 season, but a healthy Bledsoe had spelled Brady, who’d been KO’ed, against Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. (Belichick stuck with Brady for that Super Bowl against the hugely favored Rams, which I guess is why he’s Bill Belichick, winner of multiple Super Bowls.)
This is how stupid I am: I watched Brady engineer that last drive against St. Louis, the one John Madden said on TV shouldn’t even have been attempted given how short the time was, and didn’t really think the quarterback did anything special except find open receivers on dinky little patterns. I thought the MVP of that Super Bowl should have been Adam Vinatieri, who made the winning kick, or Ty Law, whose interception and touchdown return showed the world — and maybe the Patriots themselves — that they really had a chance that day.
That’s how stupid I was. This is how stupid I am now: Even though the Patriots must play at Denver this week and surely at Indianapolis if they win, I half-expect them to reach the Super Bowl again. This Brady guy has grown on me.
Permalink | Comments (28) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
