The Six Best Quotes From Our Doug Gottlieb Interview

If you haven’t listened to our podcast with Doug Gottlieb on why he should be the next head coach at Oklahoma State, you should. He says a lot of fascinating things about why he would be great for the position. We asked him why he would be better than guys with experience and what his plans are for success.

These stuck out to me as six of the best things he said.

Interest level

“What is the highest possible level of interest someone can have? If it goes to 10, then this one goes to 11. My interest goes to 11.”[1. Spinal Tap reference]

On why he would be better than other candidates

“Everybody who’s won at OSU has been an OSU guy. Because I lived it as a player. I know what it’s like to unpack your bags in Stillwater, America and be in kind of a foreign place. I know what it takes to fill up that arena. I know how you have to recruit there. I know what it takes to be a student athlete there.”

“In order to sell a place, to really sell it, it has to come from an honest place. It has to come from your gut. I think Stillwater is special that way. That’s why I think I’m a better fit. Because I truly love my university. My wife loves her university. Our kids truly love Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. That is our family. That is our home.”

“You can’t sell something you don’t really, really know and you don’t really, really love. I can sell it from day one better than anybody else.”

On leading

“You’re either a born leader or you’re not. You’re either an alpha or you’re not. I’d like to believe that most people who know me think like, ‘yeah, he can lead.’ In terms of running an organization … I’m not going to sit here and say ‘yeah, that’s easy, that’s a snap.’ But that’s why you hire really good people. You bring in a really good staff. I need to mobilize all these different people and allow them to do their job. It’s about holding yourself to the standard of ‘hey I’m going to be accountable if they fail because I hired them.'”

What he would be best at

“No one would be able to coach confidence better than me. You have to read people. You have to know who’s up and who’s down. You have to figure out how to get this kid to play at a level above his talent and not a level below it. Reading kids, reading people, reading players — that I can do.”

On Recruiting

“My biggest weakness would be focusing on which recruits you can get and which recruits you can’t. I’m a more, more, more guy. I am indefatigable. I get a job, I want to go kill it. I want to get every big name kid. Give me a kid, give me his parents, give me his AAU coach. Let’s get him.”

On his intentions

“I am in it for the right reasons. I’m not in this for personal glory. There’s a lot more personal glory if you’re on TV on Selection Sunday and the Final Four. It’s a lot easier gig. I understand failure is a possibility. If you fail at your alma mater, it makes it really hard to go home again. I would also be giving away unbelievable space in both radio and on TV. I’m sacrificing things. Why? I’m in it for the right reasons. I’m in it because I love my school and I love basketball.

My dad died about a year and a half ago. I took some stock. What have I done? What do I want to do? Who do I want to be? My dad changed people’s lives. My dad was somebody who tried to facilitate their personal growth by getting kids college scholarships. By trying to put them in a position to succeed in life.”

“That’s what I want to do. The only people I’ve ever helped are my family. I’ve been able to make a healthy living and create a very good life for myself. I can continue to do that. But am I helping anybody? Am I making anybody’s life better? Am I taking a boy and spitting out a man like the college process does? That’s what I want. I want people to experience the pure elation and buzz you get from walking into and walking out of a game at Gallagher-Iba Arena. I want that for my school.”