0:07

Hey, what welcome in on Doug Godlie, this is

0:09

all ball. Well, welcome in. And

0:12

if you listen to part one of Chris Crushfield,

0:15

you're like, man, that guy is a great guy. What

0:17

an interesting story and interesting journey. Part

0:19

two, well it gets even more interesting.

0:22

Why leave being

0:25

an assistant coach and at highly paid one

0:27

at Arkansas to

0:29

take a Division two head coaching job

0:32

somewhere in Oklahoma? Oh yeah,

0:34

and then how do you get the I guess dream job

0:36

of being the head coach is on? Maaa, all

0:39

that's in here. Let's get to part two with Chris Crutchfield.

0:41

You're a noble.

0:44

So you go to TCU. Was what was Neil like?

0:47

Oh he came from Roy Williams. I mean they

0:50

won a lot of games at Kansas when

0:52

he was there, so he was sharp.

0:55

He was smart. Played

0:58

for coach k at West Point, so I mean

1:00

you can only know what what that characteristic

1:04

was like. So he was real detail oriented

1:07

and uh and I learned. I

1:09

learned, you know, Kansas basketball.

1:12

I learned the North Carolina transition

1:15

break. I learned a lot of things about basketball

1:17

that I thought I knew, but I learned even more

1:19

just been around him. Those two years.

1:22

When you're at New Mexico State, you guys won a lot,

1:25

right, Well, yeah, what about it at

1:27

TCU? I think you guys struggle, right, that was in the Mountain

1:29

West, I think right, correct, that's correct,

1:34

And that was before they did all the facilities.

1:36

That was before they threw a bunch of money into the program.

1:38

Exactly right. Not easy,

1:41

hard job.

1:43

Yes, TCU is a very

1:45

very which funny because now TCU is not an

1:47

easy job.

1:47

But now it's the place, it's kind of that's kind

1:49

of a hot place. Right.

1:51

Well, they changed. When you change facility and

1:53

you got resources, it's

1:55

amazing what you can do.

1:57

Yeah, yes, completely.

2:03

And then okay, so now you're moving

2:05

around. You guys

2:07

get let go at the end of your second year.

2:10

Actually I left to go to or Roberts

2:14

and they stayed around for another

2:16

year. They kept Neil for another year.

2:19

So now you go

2:21

work for Scott correct? What

2:24

was that like?

2:25

I was shocked that the

2:29

or Roberts job was

2:31

better than the TCU job at that time,

2:34

I believe it or not. When I tell people

2:36

that, they're like, no, no way, oh yes,

2:38

way, yes, way from

2:41

salaries all the way up into

2:43

all of it, just what the program was.

2:45

Scott had done an unbelievable job

2:47

there. I replaced Corey Williams

2:50

and went in there and we

2:52

won the conference championship the first

2:54

year. I mean just ran through

2:57

it. And I ended up going to any state tournament

2:59

and if I'm mistaken,

3:01

we end up going to two more and say tournaments

3:04

and another postseason play while I was there.

3:06

But I was there for four years with Scott. Scott was

3:08

great to work for, and

3:10

we had some really good players and

3:14

I had a lot of fun. I really

3:17

enjoyed living in Tulsa. Then

3:21

I know, I got blessed and had the opportunity

3:23

to go to home after that.

3:26

Uh at or

3:28

Roberts.

3:28

At the time, though as much as it's a

3:30

better job in terms of resources support,

3:34

you're working for a good dude.

3:35

It's not a yeller, screamer, curshort,

3:37

you know whatever.

3:38

Right, But like did

3:42

kids still I had to wear a tie to go to class, right, you

3:44

still have you know, you still have an honor

3:46

code. There's still you know, there was a time

3:48

there where we recruit kids with tattoos.

3:50

Like that's not easy, No,

3:53

that's not easy.

3:54

No, what you didn't have to wear ties back then

3:56

they just released that. But you had to wear

3:58

a collar shirt. So a polo

4:01

A polo did work, and

4:04

you have to wear pants, you couldn't wear shorts.

4:07

Uh, and you had to go to chapel twice

4:09

a week. So I

4:11

was able to put a spin on that, Doug. I mean,

4:13

anytime you're going to do a home visit and you're

4:16

talking to a mom, sure,

4:19

there's nothing wrong with going to church, yes.

4:23

And yeah, So it's it's yeah,

4:25

it's all. It's all about the players

4:27

in their hands.

4:28

It's like that's.

4:31

Theer is like no, no, no,

4:33

no no. And mom was like, I want

4:35

you to go to Old Robbins because you're gonna go to church

4:37

three times, two times a week. That's pretty good.

4:43

How did you How did you uh

4:46

get out with coach crude? That? How

4:48

that all go down?

4:49

Actually? Uh, my good friend Lou

4:51

Hill Uh.

4:54

Lou Hill uh and i've been friends

4:56

since my time that Tyler Junior college and

4:59

we've always kept a relationship. And

5:02

it's funny I tell people this story, Dug.

5:04

Every time I was at or Roberts, we

5:07

would play Southern Utah. So

5:09

you're flying in Vegas and we

5:11

would stay in Vegas and then drive up for the game

5:13

and come back. For four straight years,

5:15

I would always go and see Lou

5:18

and see Coach. And at

5:20

the time I didn't know Coach, but Lou introduced me

5:22

to him and we go to lunch. When

5:25

it's suitable, we go to dinner. I stopped by the office

5:27

and just talk for four straight years.

5:30

Then when they get

5:32

the job at Oklahoma, when he called me and asked

5:34

me, he said, Crutch, it is Oklahoma a good job.

5:37

I said, why you asked? He's like, I think

5:39

coach. They offered coaches

5:42

job, but he turned them down. I

5:44

said, well, it's probably one of the better

5:47

jobs in the state. I mean they've had success.

5:49

Now they got some problems because you know what's

5:51

going on there now, but Coach

5:55

is good at that. He specialized in turning

5:57

things around. And don't

5:59

see another worry about it. Two weeks

6:01

later he gets the job

6:05

and and then he called he said, would you have

6:07

any interest? Coach wants someone

6:09

that knows Texas and knows Oklahoma recruiting.

6:12

I said, well, I have out of interest. Yeah, I'm on

6:14

my way. You tell me I can get the job.

6:16

I go interview and it

6:19

goes well, he called Scott

6:22

and I'm waiting by the phone.

6:24

Man One day he said, he

6:26

called Scott and tell Scott he's gonna offer me the

6:28

job. Right, and this

6:31

is about nine o'clock in the morning. He

6:33

said, he's gonna call you on your school on your

6:35

on your desk phone by

6:38

about noon. I

6:40

said, okay, I'll be here. We used to go to lunch every

6:42

day with our staff at the or Robertson that

6:44

day, I didn't go to lunch. I'm waiting

6:46

at my desk by the

6:49

desk phone back then there, you know, you had

6:51

desk phones back then. End

6:54

Up, he called about twelve forty five and

6:57

offered me the job.

7:00

It's interesting about that is my

7:04

dad.

7:04

Actually, you know, got a chance to coach coach

7:07

Kruger in college on the freshman

7:09

team, and then he was assistant on the varsity

7:11

at k State.

7:12

I didn't know that fun.

7:13

Yeah, no way with

7:16

Jack Hartman, uh huh, oh

7:19

my goodness.

7:21

And then I nearly went to play for him

7:24

at Florida. Oh

7:26

and Miles Simon is my best friend,

7:28

right, So

7:31

Miles was the class before me, and

7:38

they recruit us hard Man.

7:41

Why am I forgetting Oh? Man oh.

7:43

He had an assistant who actually, like Lou

7:46

passed away last year, Ron

7:48

Stewart yep so. Ron

7:51

basically lived out in Orange County

7:53

trying to recruit the two of us. So

7:56

Miles went on a visit the year before and

7:58

loved it and then got on a plane

8:01

to come home and he was like, it's too

8:03

far.

8:03

I can't do it. I

8:07

love Florida.

8:07

They went to the Final four in ninety four and

8:10

I was like, all in. And

8:13

but they had been on me for so long. I

8:15

think they were just they were just like worn down with the fact

8:17

that, like I want to take my visits, and

8:20

I started to get interested interests from

8:22

other people and anyway,

8:26

but you fast forward to when coach

8:28

took that job.

8:29

I'll never forget.

8:30

I was in Connecticut and Josie

8:34

actually I reached out to Joe Cie

8:36

to see where he was with the coaching

8:38

search, and he said, what do you think? Because

8:41

I had done my brother was at Santuli State

8:43

and I had done a bunch of unov games,

8:46

he said, what do you think about coach Krueger?

8:48

I said, you can't find a better guy to turn

8:50

a running program.

8:51

You know, And and as you know, for

8:54

what, for what that place

8:56

needed where to let people in, you

8:58

know, to be kind of a man people. Plus you know,

9:00

they love golf and he loves golf and all

9:03

that stuff. So when

9:05

he didn't get him the first time, you

9:08

know, he was kind of going through his list with me.

9:11

He didn't use a committee, he didn't use

9:14

a search firm or whatever. He was just doing his own thing.

9:16

So he's kind of I was like, I said, why

9:18

did Krueger turn you down? He said, you

9:20

know, I don't know, well how

9:22

much. It's like, why doesn't she just offer more money?

9:26

And he did?

9:27

And you know, coach Kruger to this day would

9:29

say, you know, you know, he was in bad financial shape.

9:31

He knew they couldn't match, and

9:34

and and Vegas says, you know, never been

9:36

the same, Like obviously now Kevin's

9:39

trying to save it, right, but it literally never

9:42

been the same. And okay,

9:45

so what is it about

9:47

Lon Kruger, Like, what's the what's the magic,

9:50

what's the secret?

9:50

Sauce? There? I

9:53

just at the at the horn of it all, he's

9:56

a good man. He's

9:58

a good man, that carabob key. And

10:01

he's smart. He's really

10:03

really smart and

10:05

I think when you got those things going

10:08

for you, you're going to be successful

10:11

no matter what you do. And

10:15

he treats people right. He treats everyone

10:18

right, from a billionaire

10:21

donor to the manager.

10:23

He's going to treat you the same. And

10:27

I enjoy that a guy with his statue,

10:30

just watching how he maneuver through the office.

10:33

When strangers came in the office, he

10:35

would row off the red carpet for him like he

10:37

knew him for twenty years. And he

10:40

was just treating everyone so

10:42

sincere, so genuine about the

10:45

way he went about things, very

10:48

professional with the staff, and

10:51

he was demanding for the players, but

10:53

he was fair and he was firm.

10:56

But he was a good coach. I mean, he knew he

10:58

was. I tell people this today. He's

11:02

one of the best basketball offensive

11:04

minds in the game of basketball. And

11:09

the time he put in watching film, the way

11:11

he could dissect a defense

11:14

to squee squeeze out the extra six to eight

11:16

points a game, he was

11:18

really good at that.

11:21

Yeah, I know, he just he had great, great

11:23

basketball mind the

11:27

building of that Final four team and obviously

11:30

didn't end great in the Final four. But that's

11:32

kind of a mood point, right, the

11:35

building blocks of it. Talk

11:37

to me about how you guys and recruiting put that

11:39

together.

11:41

Well, it started off. We knew we needed

11:43

better guards in that twenty twelve

11:45

class right and where

11:47

we were we really couldn't get involved

11:50

with any high major guys. So

11:53

so luckily I had a relationship

11:55

with Buddy Hill for my time at Oor Roberts

11:58

from you know, in Bahamas.

12:01

We kind of helped put him at sun Rise at that time.

12:03

At that time, we had no idea he was going to be what

12:05

he's going to be. We

12:08

got lucky with Buddy. Lou

12:11

picked up Isaiah Cousins from Mount Vernon

12:13

High School in Mount Vernon, New York, who

12:17

was getting some A ten fields, but no one

12:19

really pulled the trigger. Only

12:22

only reason Lou took him because he kind of reminded

12:24

Lou of himself and he

12:27

was from Mount Vernon. And

12:30

then we end up getting a kid, Jelan

12:33

horn Hornbeck from Dallas. He

12:35

was a highly recruited kid, maybe rise out of the top

12:37

one hundred. We was able

12:39

to convince Ryan Spangler to

12:41

come back home from Gonzaga,

12:45

who was a really good high school player in Oklahoma,

12:47

and we took a kid by the name of DJ Bennett

12:50

was a junior college kids from Indian Hills Junior

12:52

College by way of Chicago, And that

12:55

was our first recruiting class,

12:58

and we thought we had all the right guards.

13:01

We thought we had a big time piece

13:03

in Ryan Spangler, and

13:05

we just thought DJ was a good enough athlete

13:07

to play in the Big Big twelve. He

13:09

was a backup in the Big twelve. What he was. And

13:14

the whole thing was, if we keep this group

13:16

together and can

13:18

plug in a couple of pieces along the

13:20

way, we would have a

13:22

chance to be really, really good. We didn't think we would

13:24

be, you know, Final four good.

13:27

We didn't think that. But but as

13:29

luck have it, everything fell

13:31

into place, Everything fell

13:33

into place. Those guys got bigger, stronger.

13:36

But he turned himself into a great shooter.

13:40

Isaiah turned itself into a playmaking

13:42

guard at six y four. And

13:45

of course Ryan Spangle did all the dirty work. He

13:48

was the best rebounder, he was the best

13:50

position defender, and

13:54

he just did all the things that brought everything

13:56

together. He was the perfect blue guy on that

13:58

on that Final fourteen. But it

14:02

is amazing the

14:04

competitive uh spirit

14:07

that Buddy had, that Isaea had,

14:10

and that was the core of the whole

14:12

thing, man, because we built around

14:14

those two guys.

14:19

Yeah, the Buddy, the buddy heeled

14:21

effect, right, It is

14:23

infectious personality.

14:25

Yep.

14:27

What's that like to be around on a daily day.

14:29

It was fun. It was fun because

14:31

I remember him as a freshman telling

14:34

all the older guys that we had and heard it in

14:36

our program that they were soft

14:38

and they went tough and

14:40

you know, I can't wait till you guys leave.

14:43

You know, he was like that, and

14:46

uh I knew then. I was like, this guy is crazy.

14:49

He's crazy or he's serious, Like

14:51

like he's telling these upperclassmen that they're soft

14:54

and they know they're not competitive. And

14:57

this is freshman year in college. And he didn't

14:59

have a great freshman year, of course, but he was a like

15:01

I told you, he was a every day he brought it. He

15:04

played hard, and he had this competitive

15:06

spirit about him that that was so contagious,

15:09

and eventually it just bled

15:11

into those older guys. We ended up being

15:13

a ten seed in the tournament

15:16

its first year, end up getting beat by San Diego

15:18

State, But we

15:21

had jumped in year

15:23

two from

15:26

not making the tournament in year one to

15:28

year two with that twenty twelve class

15:31

of being a ten seed, and

15:33

we felt like we had jumped a year in

15:36

our rebuilding. So

15:40

you go to it's funny that you go into

15:42

the next year, which is year three. We

15:47

luckily we're a five seed. I

15:49

don't know how that happened. We ended up

15:51

getting beat first round by North Dakota State

15:53

and spoke in and

15:55

that was kind of the.

15:58

I was there.

15:58

I called the game all the game, you're

16:03

up, like, yeah, you're

16:05

up with like a minute

16:07

minute thirty to go.

16:10

Yep. When ended up going

16:12

overtime yep, miss

16:15

free throws.

16:16

Yeah, misstreet throws. I think DJ

16:19

fouled out. Somebody filed out to something.

16:23

It was myster throws, a couple of dumb plays and foul

16:25

out whatever.

16:26

You know, Like, yeah,

16:28

I tell you what happened is your cousins found

16:30

the kid on a three point shot.

16:31

That's what it was.

16:33

Yeah, did

16:35

he found out? Yeah?

16:38

Exactly right. So so that

16:41

that game, that game though, kind of

16:43

was the uh,

16:46

the gas for for

16:48

for the program, the competitive

16:50

spirit even more because those guys

16:52

were so upset that they lost,

16:56

uh the way they lost it, because they knew they gave

16:58

the game away and and those

17:00

guys all played a big part. Buddy,

17:02

Isaiah,

17:04

Julyan, they all played a big part in that game,

17:07

Ryan Spangler. So

17:10

they worked up but off that off season and

17:12

I knew. I knew that. I told Coach Lou,

17:15

and Lou always say like like that

17:18

loss was good for us. We

17:20

had made the tournament. Everybody was happy,

17:23

but that loss was good for us because

17:26

now we had to grow up and be serious about

17:28

the game of basketball. And that

17:31

off season, I think

17:34

I think we added a couple more pieces. We added

17:37

a shooter kid by the name

17:39

of Frank Booker came

17:41

in and uh, because we needed

17:43

more shooting to space the floor. And

17:46

that junior year was the year we ended up going to

17:48

Sweet sixteen, you know, getting beat on

17:50

the last second shot by Michigan State on the offensive

17:52

rebound. And we really

17:54

felt like that was a year that

17:57

we that we we grew

17:59

up to the point where we knew we

18:01

had something here and we kept

18:03

them all together. Man, that was the key to the whole

18:05

thing. Those guys that played one hundred and nine

18:08

games together, Riy

18:10

Spangler, Buddy Hill, Isaac's cousin,

18:12

and Jordan Wood. Those guys play one

18:14

hundred and nine games together and

18:18

that was that was the team that ended

18:20

up going to the Final four, just

18:23

because we had chemistry, we had a connection,

18:26

and we were talented, of course, but

18:28

when you keep a group together that long in

18:31

this day and age, you're probably gonna win.

18:34

Fox Sports Radio has the best sports

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talk lineup in the nation. Catch all

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of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot

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com and within the iHeartRadio

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app search FSR to listen

18:45

live.

18:46

What do you remember? Let's

18:48

say the good memories, So what do you remember? You

18:50

know, Hopkinsville, Kentucky to Junior

18:53

College, to U n O, to

18:55

Utsa to junior college. In

18:57

my show, what do you remember about walking

19:00

out seventy five thousand

19:02

people are in Houston to

19:05

watch your game?

19:07

It was unbelieved experience. I get deals

19:09

right now just thinking about that, because and

19:11

the good part about it, they would take my boys with

19:13

me on the floor and they was

19:15

probably probably

19:22

fifteen thirteen, fourteen

19:25

fifteen, and you know it just when you're

19:27

that age, you know, everything is big,

19:30

and had a chance to get them on the floor

19:32

and hang out for the practices

19:35

and they're on the bus, you know, and

19:38

you know what kind of escorts you get

19:40

when you're in the final four. So it was

19:42

an unbelievable experience man for them to

19:44

be able to be a part of that and see

19:46

that and experience that, because as

19:48

a coach, that is the ultimate goal.

19:50

Man.

19:51

So many years we go to the coaching convention and

19:54

you always dream of being in the final four as a coach,

19:57

like you go, you

20:00

go to the practices, you go to the games, but the

20:02

ultimate goal is I want to be on that floor one day. You

20:05

see see what that's like, and you

20:07

know, we have the opportunity to do that. And

20:09

one of those memories that last forever.

20:13

The other side too, was jeanov

20:15

was amazing that right? Uh and

20:18

you had beaten them earlier in the year.

20:19

Yeah, I

20:22

I.

20:23

You know, But

20:26

how do you how do you?

20:28

How do you in the moment, you know, not

20:31

lose your mind because you did make the final

20:33

four, right like you get beat by forty four.

20:36

But on the other hand, there's so much

20:38

good. What's like the juxtaposition of

20:40

emotions, what's that?

20:41

Well, what's that like?

20:43

I think no one could have handled that better than

20:45

coach Krueger and the way

20:47

he came into the locker room

20:49

after the game even at halftime. It was he

20:52

was down twenty at halftime, and

20:55

no one thought the game was over because we came back

20:57

out we cut it to nine and thought had some But

21:01

it's one of those nights, man. We just didn't

21:03

make a shot, the shots that we had been making

21:05

a week before in Anaheim. We

21:08

couldn't get those shots. Then, of course Villanora

21:10

made everything, and on top

21:12

of it, we beat them pretty

21:14

convincingly in December in

21:17

Hawaii, and we beat them pretty bad.

21:20

I mean, we was up twenty eight at one

21:22

time on them, and I think that helped

21:24

them a little bit, get a little more focused. And

21:28

it was a tough one. It was a tough one

21:30

to sit down there and watch that thing transpiring

21:32

in front of all those people. But in

21:35

hindsight, you made it to the biggest stage and

21:37

a lot of teams would love to trade places

21:40

with you. And I

21:42

hated for those guys to have to go out that way,

21:44

but they had a fantastic career at Oklahoma.

21:47

And to this day,

21:49

Buddy says he's never watched the.

21:51

Game shot

21:56

what was leaving Oklahoma like.

21:59

It was time? It was time. I

22:02

had been there eight years, and uh,

22:05

I interviewed probably seven times for head

22:07

coaching jobs in the last probably

22:09

two three years, and never

22:11

could get a shot. And I just felt like

22:13

it was time for me to leave.

22:16

It was time. I've done all I could do here and

22:18

coaches coach was great.

22:22

I just thought that it was time for me to

22:24

move on and do something different or be around

22:27

someone else to

22:29

learn something different about basketball.

22:33

So I made the jump to Arkansas

22:36

with Eric Musselming.

22:38

And I've had Eric on I've known Eric

22:40

a long time.

22:42

He is there are no two

22:44

more different people in terms

22:46

of energy like he make he can make coffee

22:48

nervous with his level of energy.

22:51

What what is that? What's that like for

22:53

you to go to.

22:53

Work where it's so different in

22:55

terms of your boss than the guy you worked for for eight

22:57

years?

22:58

You know what I tell people all the time that it

23:01

was fun. Because I

23:04

say this, I've been really blessed to

23:07

be around the people that I've worked for, from

23:10

lou Henson to Neil Doherty to Scott

23:12

Sudden to Lawn they all

23:14

had that same personality, you know. They was all

23:17

kind of laid back, mild mannered, not

23:19

yellow streamers, good

23:22

people. And then I go to work

23:25

for Eric, who is high energy, high

23:27

obtained. I mean he's impulsed,

23:33

and uh, it was just quite it was quite different.

23:35

It was quite different. But he's

23:38

he's he's unbelievable in his game

23:40

prep. He's unbelievable

23:43

in practices and the way he

23:45

run a practice. And

23:47

I still use some of the stuff that he I

23:49

learned under him today with my program

23:52

here at OMAH like like some of

23:54

I mean, it's unbelievable me. I've kept practice

23:56

schedules. I got him in my desk right here. Like

23:59

he's he's good. He's a good

24:01

coach, and I knew he was going to be successful when

24:03

we won twenty games that first year

24:05

with some

24:08

talent, but not a lot compared to what

24:10

people had in the SEC.

24:12

Sure, what was

24:14

the like what was coaching

24:16

in the STC Like it's very different for the Big

24:18

twelve, very different from you

24:21

know, when you're in the Pac twelve later.

24:22

Oh, I tell people all the time, like the

24:25

athletes they're bigger,

24:27

faster, jump higher, and

24:30

they're not as skilled as guys in the Big

24:32

twelve. But the athleticism

24:35

was off the charts. I mean everyone had

24:37

seven eight big time athletes and

24:40

that's what's the difference. And the teams that had the really

24:42

good guards though, those are teams that won,

24:45

you know that, Kentucky's, those

24:48

are teams that did well in

24:51

the tournament.

24:53

Then you made the decision, Hey, I'm gonna I want

24:55

to coach my own team, our own program.

24:58

And it was.

24:59

Back to do what was what's that?

25:01

Because there was a lot of people like, what are you What

25:03

are you doing?

25:04

Man? Oh yeah, what are you doing?

25:06

Oh yeah? Oh yeah. And that was one of those

25:08

coming to Jesus moments and

25:10

when you sat down with your with your wife

25:12

and say, hey, we

25:14

got a chance. And it's funny it was it was

25:16

after COVID. COVID was just coming

25:19

into play, right, right, I

25:22

had no idea what college basketball

25:24

was going to be like the next year, right because we shut

25:26

down in the conference tournament in Nashville,

25:29

Tennessee. We beat Vanderbilt. The next day, We're

25:31

getting ready to play South Carolina. Boom

25:33

shut down, and I

25:35

had no idea what was going to happen. Like, we

25:37

couldn't go on the road recruiting in the spring. In

25:39

the summer, so I

25:41

mean my boys

25:43

was home with me, uh they both one

25:46

was in junior college when one was at Stetson down

25:48

in Florida, and they was home with.

25:49

Us for the four months

25:52

playing for Corey.

25:53

Right, yeah, sure did. And

25:55

so I was like, no, I missed I

25:57

missed your kids being around because

26:00

they had been gone with empty nesters. And

26:02

I say, you know what, I

26:05

put all this time into other people's kids.

26:08

I need to coach my mom. And

26:11

we decided to take a huge pay cut and

26:13

moved to Ada, Oklahoma, and our

26:16

boys came down there with us and we coached them.

26:18

And that was the best year I'm telling

26:20

you, Doug, I had. I had so much

26:23

fun and

26:25

it was great to be aby take a back

26:27

seat to all the riff raff

26:30

of powerful basketball

26:33

and really really coach and

26:35

be involved with my guys. And

26:38

we still couldn't go recruiting back

26:40

then, so I was home every day,

26:43

I mean every Saturday, the kids would come

26:45

over, we would watch football,

26:49

we eat Sunday dinners together, and it

26:51

had been a long time since we'd done that. And

26:54

you know, you know how important that it is with family,

26:57

especially once they're gone then

27:00

they come back. You really missed that. I

27:02

thought that was a crucial time for me

27:05

in my basketball career just to be able to take that

27:07

time. It's kind of like a sabbatical almost

27:09

because it was all basketball. It was all

27:11

basketball and all family, and it

27:14

gave me a great work

27:16

life balance and I really

27:18

enjoyed that year.

27:19

But joined it for a year, all right, it was

27:21

it was it was literally a year sabbatical. Then

27:24

you go work for Dana. Ye who's

27:27

that's kind of back to the what you're used

27:29

to, right, He's

27:31

an all all time, all

27:34

time are great dude, and

27:36

all things kind of circling around.

27:38

Omaha, How the how did the Dana

27:40

job coming? Stubbs? I was sure, I'm

27:42

sure set you up there, right, no doubt.

27:44

Stubbs and Coach Kruger, you

27:46

know, they go back. Dana worked for Line A K

27:48

State and been connected

27:51

for years, and then then

27:54

Stubbs was with Dana for you know, eleven

27:56

years. So we've been all in the same

27:59

family, you know, since I've been with Coach Kruger forever.

28:01

Me and Stuffs played here together, so we've

28:03

been best friends since I

28:06

hosted him on his official visit, so that's

28:09

here. So we've been friends for a long

28:11

time. So when he called, I didn't

28:14

I said no. I

28:16

said no, And I was like, Dana, I

28:19

can't. I can't do that right now my kids

28:21

going into their senior year. I told him I was going to coach

28:23

him. And then Coach

28:25

Krueger called and said, Crutch, you've

28:28

been you've been busting your butt trying to be a Division

28:30

one head coach. You think you're going to get the Vision one job

28:33

from from East Central. He was

28:35

honest, and he was brutally honest with me, and

28:37

I said, you're right, coach, you got a point there. So

28:40

I thought about it for a couple of days and went home

28:43

and talked to the family and you know,

28:45

shed some tears and talked about it the morning the more

28:47

and end up, end up, it

28:49

worked out me

28:51

making the move to Oregon. Uh,

28:54

just because if I don't make that move, Doug,

28:58

I don't get this job here no more?

29:02

What what? What? What? What's your biggest takeaway

29:04

from working for Dan Alban?

29:10

It was different. It was different the way

29:13

he ran his practices. He

29:15

was the only one that had to practice sheep.

29:18

Yeah, he does all

29:20

that's his baby, right, yeah.

29:23

And it would be like on a little note

29:25

card like this running

29:28

back and

29:31

uh, okay, you get to see it. Every now and

29:33

then he'll show it to you and say, go

29:35

down, go down and take that group and go do this,

29:37

this and this and uh.

29:39

He would run the whole practices and it was

29:41

fun. It was energetic,

29:44

and he was He's smart and count remind

29:46

you a little bit of Coach Kruger a little bit. But

29:49

he was big on defense and

29:51

he would get down in the stands and do defensive

29:53

slides with the guys and

29:56

Uh. I really enjoyed it to

29:58

the point where, you know, like it was har art.

30:00

If it wasn't for a head coaching job, I'll probably

30:02

still be at organ right now.

30:06

The U n O job comes open.

30:10

You're a lum, you'd be looking

30:12

for head coaching job.

30:14

Yeah. Give share

30:16

with me the memories, if you will how

30:18

it came to be.

30:20

Do you remember where you were when you found out when they told

30:22

you it's coming open.

30:24

Yeah. I was in my office and they

30:26

walked in, and you know, he had had a

30:28

conversation with his former boss, Bruce

30:31

Ratbinson, and uh he said,

30:35

I think I think you and O is

30:37

gonna make a move. The new ad

30:40

came from creating worked for Bruce, and I

30:42

think they're gonna make a change here the next day

30:45

or so, but you have interest in the job

30:47

myself, of course I want the job. Well,

30:49

I didn't hesitate one minute. I said I want the job.

30:52

And I mean two days ago, by it, three days

30:54

ago, by nothing happens. Right, I'm like,

30:56

oh, maybe ain't gonna come open. I left it alone,

31:00

and that Sunday night

31:03

it came open and Dana

31:05

called and he said, well, I

31:07

don't know what's gonna happen, but you're

31:09

gonna be one of two or three guys that they're gonna talk

31:12

to. And when he said that, I didn't

31:14

think I had a change, because you

31:16

know, I knew there was a couple of guys at Creighton

31:18

that had ties to the A D that

31:21

probably had a better chance of

31:23

getting a job than me. Then,

31:25

to be honest with you, Dana went to work for me. I

31:28

mean he fled out, went to work. He called

31:30

some people here in omahall he's got some things

31:32

moving, and yeah,

31:35

we was in the conference tournament, and we

31:38

zoomed. We had a zoom interview

31:41

and uh two days later they

31:44

flew to uh Portland

31:46

to see me. And

31:48

that's how it happened.

31:50

Did the president give you two hours to go home and get

31:52

a student and take a job like he did at Tyler.

31:56

No. But after after

31:59

they left and we was on our way

32:01

to the n I T. And I didn't know

32:03

what was going to happen. So it's funny.

32:06

We take off to go to N I T. And we

32:08

go play at Utah State and we win. We go

32:10

play at text and M and

32:13

I'm on the road when Adrian

32:15

actually called and said, we

32:18

want you to be our next head coach, and

32:21

we're gonna do a press conference here this day.

32:23

This day, I'm like, oh, man, I don't have any

32:25

I don't have a suit with me. I don't

32:27

have anything with me to do the press conference. And

32:29

I'm on the road right I'm recruiting. Then

32:31

I'm going to College Station for the

32:33

game. So

32:35

I had to call my wife and you know, can

32:38

you put a suit in the mail? Can you

32:40

ship this stuff to me? And

32:42

I go directly from College

32:44

Station to Omar

32:48

and the rest is history.

32:50

So what's the place

32:52

like now comparison

32:55

what it was like then?

32:57

Oh, it's totally change. It's totally changed. It's

32:59

a whole new city. And

33:01

I left her in ninety six ninety

33:03

six, and we've been back

33:05

because her family, my wife is from

33:07

Omaha. Her family is still here and

33:10

we've been back and forth to visit and stuff like that,

33:12

but we haven't lived here since then. And

33:15

like downtown has changed, the city

33:17

has grown out west economically,

33:23

it's a whole different city. Brookshire

33:27

Had the Way has has

33:29

boomed in this city and they call

33:31

them the Brookshire I Had the Way babies. There's

33:34

so many companies here, it's so much, so

33:38

many resources here. The city has

33:40

changed, This university has changed. I mean we've

33:42

grown to two campses

33:44

now instead of one campus.

33:46

Yeah, we've

33:48

got an unbelievable facility that we play in

33:52

where our guys live and it's a

33:54

major entertainment area of Obsarvant and there's

33:56

hotels, restaurants, bars, you

33:59

name it right there where live and it is

34:01

walking distant from the arena and

34:05

we're we're we're really close, Doug

34:07

from this thing being a really really big

34:09

time job. We're

34:12

practice facility away from this thing

34:14

being a really really special place.

34:17

Okay, So at your level, at

34:19

your level, facilities still really important

34:21

because you know, at the power five level,

34:23

they're like it's just the nil.

34:26

Just get us the nil, right right?

34:29

What is what is recruiting like in

34:31

the summer League.

34:33

Well, I think I think it's really

34:35

good. It's not an nil deal. I mean our

34:38

our our nil will

34:40

come down to retention more

34:42

so than recruiting, because

34:45

you're always going to have power fives trying to take

34:47

your best player away. Right, So

34:49

it's gonna come down.

34:50

To how do you manage

34:52

that?

34:53

You can't. You can't. If you

34:55

have success and you have a player

34:57

that's average fifteen plus points a game, it's

35:01

likely that he's going to move. He's

35:03

going to go somewhere and

35:05

uh, and that's okay. You got planned

35:07

for it. You plan for it. You recruit

35:10

like like it's going to happen, and

35:12

uh, because you know it's going to happen.

35:16

So you're recruiting out

35:18

of the portal Huko High

35:21

School? What's your focus?

35:23

First? The first year, we went

35:25

after high school kids and we took

35:28

four junior college kids that had three years

35:30

of Eli's ability left. And that was

35:32

on purpose because we want I wanted guys

35:35

that that wanted to be here.

35:37

I wanted guys that that

35:39

that I could build a culture around,

35:42

and build a culture with that wasn't

35:44

going to leave. And

35:47

uh, we've been really good because we flipped

35:49

the roster. We only got one

35:51

player that was on the roster when I took the job.

35:54

But we've been able to keep a nucleus of guys.

35:57

Eight guys from last year team,

36:00

that's what are still and we plugged in one

36:02

transfer to high school kids

36:04

and a junior college kid, and

36:07

that's that's our team outside

36:09

of our walk on. So so that eight

36:12

nucleus guys that we're bringing back, that's

36:14

the core of our team. And they all

36:17

played quality minutes forts last year. Even though

36:19

he wasn't very good, they grew a lot

36:21

of experience, and we

36:24

wanted to take guys that

36:27

that wasn't going to be looking down their nose at

36:29

Omaha or un O. We

36:32

wanted guys that was going to be proud of

36:34

coming to a place like this to build something

36:36

special. And that's why we didn't

36:38

go to the transfer portal. We turned down. We

36:40

turned down. I'm telling you right now, we probably

36:42

turned down five Power five

36:45

guys the first

36:47

year because I didn't think you

36:49

could really build a program

36:52

at this level with transfers right

36:54

away.

36:56

Who are you most like when you're on the sideline,

36:58

Like, of all the guys you work for, played

37:00

for, who do you saying this.

37:02

Is who I'm most like?

37:05

Probably line in one way,

37:08

well, because I'm constantly thinking what's

37:12

next. I mean, he's always been a guy that's

37:14

always been two or three plays ahead

37:16

of what's happening. And

37:19

uh, And I tried to kind of emulate

37:21

that a little bit, because you can't. It's

37:24

an emotional game, but you have to have You've

37:26

got to be in control of emotions all

37:28

the time. If not, you can't

37:31

think. And there's a lot

37:33

of things going on around you. If

37:35

you get caught up in the emotions of the game or what's

37:37

going on, you'll lose track and

37:40

then then you lose, and you'll lose four

37:42

possessions and

37:44

I won't even know it. So I

37:47

try to stay mild. I try to stay real, real

37:50

low key. I don't get too high, don't

37:52

get too low. And I'm always

37:54

thinking about what's next. You

37:57

know, what's next offensive, what next defense,

37:59

what's next? Substance? Us Like, I'm

38:01

always two minutes ahead of what the clock says.

38:05

Who's the guy in your league that

38:08

you're like, you know what this guy's really

38:11

good, and I wish more people knew how good he

38:13

was. I don't take my players,

38:15

but he's really really good in

38:18

our league.

38:19

Yeah, it's been some good ones.

38:21

Now.

38:21

I thought Paul Mills is pretty good. He's gone.

38:24

Yea.

38:25

Eric Henderson is really good. That's South Dakota

38:27

State. Uh,

38:30

got a lot of respect for David Richmond and

38:32

North Dakota State. All

38:35

those guys do a really good job in

38:37

their locations. Oh,

38:40

that's probably it is there.

38:42

Any way, you guys can get the tournament out of

38:44

the out of the Dakotas, right, Everybody

38:47

at least.

38:47

Like many like we got to go up and win a tournament

38:49

in Dakota's.

38:51

I'm glad you said that. A

38:53

lot of a lot of people talking about that in the last

38:55

couple of couple of months. And

38:57

h it's funny. Uh, twenty

39:00

twenty six, it is open. We'll

39:03

be it, so we'll

39:05

see what happens yet to know.

39:07

Ma, all right, last thing, who's

39:10

the Chris cutch Field out there, the longtime

39:13

assistant that man, This

39:15

dude needs a shot right

39:18

right. This may not be your ultimate shot,

39:20

but it's your first division one head coaching job.

39:22

Who's the guy who you've been out in the road with, you

39:25

know, is really good. Great dude, But

39:27

man, this guy's got to get a head coach.

39:32

That's a good one. That's a really

39:34

good question right there. I'll

39:39

give you probably two or three names.

39:42

Okay, give me a wye for

39:44

each of the Okay, one

39:48

will be Yah Fat King. Who's

39:51

that Tulsa right now. He's

39:55

been at the low mid major levels,

39:58

mid plus experience,

40:01

living in some major cities, got some recruiting

40:03

contacts, worked for some really

40:05

good guys, Tim Jenkovich,

40:07

people like that. Uh, he's

40:11

one Power five job away from from

40:13

being a Division one head coach. James

40:16

One Okay, Emanual

40:19

Dildy, who I had

40:21

an opportunity to coach at New Mexico State,

40:24

and he's been the same. He's bounced

40:26

around from place to place, Eastern Illinois,

40:29

Northwestern, spent some time in Oklahoma,

40:31

and now he's at Duke. H he's

40:36

going to get the head coaching job here in two or three years.

40:38

Okay, got ties in Chica.

40:41

Great recruited, great personality experience.

40:46

The last one I would say this Chris

40:49

Carwell at Duke. You

40:51

remember Chris as a player, sure, of course. Uh,

40:54

he's got experience.

40:58

I think he's been around, but spend some time in

41:01

Marquette. Now he's that duke. Uh,

41:03

experienced, well

41:06

minded guy, understands basketball,

41:08

gat recruiton ties all across the country.

41:11

Uh and he's a duke guy. Uh

41:13

so he's he's another guy that's that I think is

41:15

ready.

41:16

Those dookies, I don't think they're gonna need help.

41:19

They need the help, dookies, they don't.

41:21

They don't.

41:21

They're all on TV in

41:23

the n b A doing doing

41:26

what I want you that Duke family, You're you're in a

41:28

really good place.

41:29

Your favorite part about the job as well.

41:34

Me here or just coaching?

41:35

Yeah no, right here? Well

41:39

either well.

41:41

I think in a place like this, Doug, when you

41:43

when you this is your school, the

41:45

amount of pride and the

41:47

amount of ownership that you have as

41:50

a head coach to try to build

41:52

something because because when you build

41:54

it and you go to the NSA Tournament, it's

41:56

going to be the first. And

41:59

that's what I'm excited

42:01

about every morning I wake up. I'm excited

42:03

about that process, Like we're going

42:06

to build something special that everybody's going to remember

42:09

that day on all name is called on

42:11

selection Sunday, and that's the ultimate

42:13

goal and that's what excited is all.

42:17

Hey, man, it's great to catch up.

42:18

I know you're super busy, but your

42:21

story is an awesome one and you're somebody

42:23

who everybody who brubs shoulders with you

42:25

just feels better because of it. So I

42:27

always need it to catch up and

42:29

I appreciate you joining me.

42:31

Thank you for having me. Man, it's been fun. Hanging

42:33

out with you for a couple of hours. Seemed like a

42:36

right.

42:36

We'll talk soon, all right, buddy,

42:41

that's it for all ball.

42:42

Remember to check out The Doug Gottlieb Show. It's a

42:44

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42:46

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42:49

or wherever you download podcasts on

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42:53

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42:55

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42:57

Or the Iheartio app daily

43:00

three to five Eastern time. And we also have a daily

43:02

pod called in the Bonus. There's lots of different stuff

43:04

that I can annoy you with. My overall sports

43:06

takes. My thanks to Chris scrutching up for

43:09

all of this time. Thanks to you for listening,

43:11

downloading, and reviewing.

43:12

Rating. I'm Doug Gottlie, this is all

43:15

ball.