Gail Goestenkors resigns as head coach at Texas-Austin

[Mike Corey]

Coach G has stepped down (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/womensbasketball/big12/story/2012-03-19/texas-gail-goestenkors-resigns/53655374/1) at Texas.

She was in the fifth year of her contract.

[dukelifer]

Coach G has stepped down (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/womensbasketball/big12/story/2012-03-19/texas-gail-goestenkors-resigns/53655374/1) at Texas.

She was in the fifth year of her contract.

Coaching is a tough profession. One day you are on top of the world and then a few years later- you are struggling to get your team to perform. It also takes a toll on one's personal life- as it did hers. She will likely land on her feet somewhere- maybe even television.

[hurleyfor3]

As usual, be careful what you wish for.

[subzero02]

She could've been a contender, instead of the...

[throatybeard]

Amazing.

I'd have sooner expected to see a story on ESPN about how Lebron is retiring to run a small chain of pizza restaurants. Seriously. Zuh?!?!?!

When Coach P leaves to coach Tennessee after Summitt's health problem gets worse, do we get Goestenkors back? I'm not trying to be funny. Alleva is gone...

Just what an odd, odd situation. I have a great affection for Goestenkors. I fully support McCallie, but I miss Goestenkors nonetheless.

[wsb3]

As usual, be careful what you wish for.

Doubt she would admit it but I bet she would like a do over on the decision to leave.

[A-Tex Devil]

Amazing.

I'd have sooner expected to see a story on ESPN about how Lebron is retiring to run a small chain of pizza restaurants. Seriously. Zuh?!?!?!

When Coach P leaves to coach Tennessee after Summitt's health problem gets worse, do we get Goestenkors back? I'm not trying to be funny. Alleva is gone...

Just what an odd, odd situation. I have a great affection for Goestenkors. I fully support McCallie, but I miss Goestenkors nonetheless.

I've been too busy at work today to find out what happened, but the general consensus of the talking heads in town just this morning was she'd get the last 2 years of her contract to try to get that extension. Perhaps she asked for some kind of vote of confidence, didn't get it, and resigned. I get that, because it's hard for her to recruit when she might not get brought back in two years. Texas Women's BB is a weird animal. It used to be on par with Tennessee and USC in the '80s, but got hit with some pretty nasty dirty recruiting in the early '90s, lost Sheryl Swoopes (not necessarily due to that) who became a legend, and has never really been the same for going on 20 years now.

Too bad it didn't work out for her here. She'll get back in the game and be successful I bet.

[Steven43]

Doubt she would admit it but I bet she would like a do over on the decision to leave.

I thought Coach G was going to go to Texas and absolutely dominate. With the history of that program and the resources available to her, I thought she'd have Texas on par with UConn and Tennessee within three or four years. I've been stunned at how ineffective Gail has been in Austin. I'd like to find out if there is more to the story than simply her failing to produce a winner.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'm a bit surprised since the day of the selection show the Texas AD verbally was giving her support. Considering though that many, many others were hollering about her making a million a year and leaving the NCAA's for the fourth straight year in the first round, it seems like the crowd became too overwhelming for her to drown out. I do hope she continues coaching somewhere...she knows how to do it, but could never pull in the recruits needed to be successful in the Big twelve. (Also surprising, since she was so good at recruiting at Duke.)

[MCFinARL]

Saw a clip of her announcement--she said, more or less, that she was tired, maybe too tired to do as good a job as the school/athletes deserved. But the gist was that she felt she had not met her own expectations for producing team success.

[miramar]

What a shame that things didn't work out for Coach G at Texas. I really thought that she would be successful, but UT was clearly not a good fit. Here's hoping she comes back stronger than ever, wherever that may be.

[miramar]

Coach G seems to have injected some new life to UT WBB at first, but the team quickly regressed and only managed to win one NCAA tournament game in five years.


TEXAS, WITHOUT COACH G:

2003 29-6 NCAA Final Four

2004 30-5 NCAA Sweet 16

2005 22-9 NCAA 2nd round

2006 13-15 —

2007 18-14 —

Total 112-49 7-3

TEXAS, WITH COACH G:

2008 22-13 NCAA 2nd round

2009 21-12 NCAA 1st round

2010 22-10 NCAA 1st round

2011 19-14 NCAA 1st round

2012 18-14 NCAA 1st round

Total 102-63 NCAA record, 1-5

DUKE, WITH COACH G:

2003 35-2 NCAA Final Four

2004 30-4 NCAA Elite Eight

2005 31-5 NCAA Elite Eight

2006 31-4 NCAA runner-up

2007 32-2 NCAA Sweet 16

Total 159-17 NCAA record, 17-5

DUKE, WITHOUT COACH G:

2008 25-10 NCAA Sweet 16

2009 27-6 NCAA 2nd round

2010 30-6 NCAA Elite Eight

2011 32-4 NCAA Elite Eight

2012 25-5 NCAA: still playing

Total 139-31 NCAA record, 10-4 (Duke plays Vanderbilt on Tuesday in the second round)

[-bdbd]

Saw a clip of her announcement--she said, more or less, that she was tired, maybe too tired to do as good a job as the school/athletes deserved. But the gist was that she felt she had not met her own expectations for producing team success.

I saw the story discussed on the Women's Halftime show at intermission of the Stanford game. They played that same clip where she used the word "tired" about 6 times in a 20 second clip. They also quoted her from earlier in the year saying that "I won't HAVE to be fired (if I don't meet my expectations). If I don't meet them, then I'll fire myself." And, well, she did.

As a sidebar, I was anxious to see what the ESPN WBB talking heads would say, as one of them - I don't know her name, but she's kind of burly with a tough demeaner - was a former head coach (5-7 years back) who had a run-in with G when she was at Duke... I think it was G stealing a top recruit from her at the deadline and that then-coach coming out with some nasty words for G afterwards. She's never been complimentary of G (and Duke when G was here), on the air at ESPN, and sure enough she was pretty rough this time. Comments to the effect of, "Look, she just hasn't gotten it done at UT. ...they are 1-4 in the NCAA's the last 4 years and that just won't cut it there..."

Kinda sad for G, as she did great things for Duke (who took over a good, not great program and really ran with it) and I know many of us were very sad to see her go, though she did later say that it was NOT over money or lack of effort by Duke to keep her. My sense was that it was more "personal" reasons.

Anyway, we did pretty darned well in getting Coach P afterwards, and she's clearly got us going places these days too.

Go Duke!! Beat Vandy!!!

:cool:

[uh_no]

I saw the story discussed on the Women's Halftime show at intermission of the Stanford game. They played that same clip where she used the word "tired" about 6 times in a 20 second clip. They also quoted her from earlier in the year saying that "I won't HAVE to be fired (if I don't meet my expectations). If I don't meet them, then I'll fire myself." And, well, she did.

As a sidebar, I was anxious to see what the ESPN WBB talking heads would say, as one of them - I don't know her name, but she's kind of burly with a tough demeaner - was a former head coach (5-7 years back) who had a run-in with G when she was at Duke... I think it was G stealing a top recruit from her at the deadline and that then-coach coming out with some nasty words for G afterwards. She's never been complimentary of G (and Duke when G was here), on the air at ESPN, and sure enough she was pretty rough this time. Comments to the effect of, "Look, she just hasn't gotten it done at UT. ...they are 1-4 in the NCAA's the last 4 years and that just won't cut it there..."

Kinda sad for G, as she did great things for Duke (who took over a good, not great program and really ran with it) and I know many of us were very sad to see her go, though she did later say that it was NOT over money or lack of effort by Duke to keep her. My sense was that it was more "personal" reasons.

Anyway, we did pretty darned well in getting Coach P afterwards, and she's clearly got us going places these days too.

Go Duke!! Beat Vandy!!!

:cool:

Fun fact: until today Duke had the all time record for consecutive 30 win seasons at 7 from 2001-2007 (uconn tied it today)....she did great things here.

[duke79]

Coach G has stepped down (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/womensbasketball/big12/story/2012-03-19/texas-gail-goestenkors-resigns/53655374/1) at Texas.

She was in the fifth year of her contract.

I was somewhat surprised to see this but not shocked given her mediocre record at UT. Who knows if she voluntarily resigned or was pushed (or not given the support she desired)? I guess it is irrelevant.

But it does raise the question in my mind (which has been discussed before on this board) of how important the school is to a coach's success. Because recruiting is such an important aspect of success at the highest levels of men's or women's athletics (especially basketball and football), being the coach at certain schools is a huge advantage, IMHO. Not that UT is a slouch in athletics or academics, but I'm not sure that it offers the same allure that a Duke would to a prospective recruit. And this is reflected in the differences between her coaching success at Duke and UT.

[JG Nothing]

I was somewhat surprised to see this but not shocked given her mediocre record at UT. Who knows if she voluntarily resigned or was pushed (or not given the support she desired)? I guess it is irrelevant.

But it does raise the question in my mind (which has been discussed before on this board) of how important the school is to a coach's success. Because recruiting is such an important aspect of success at the highest levels of men's or women's athletics (especially basketball and football), being the coach at certain schools is a huge advantage, IMHO. Not that UT is a slouch in athletics or academics, but I'm not sure that it offers the same allure that a Duke would to a prospective recruit. And this is reflected in the differences between her coaching success at Duke and UT.

According to news reports, Goestenkors problem was that she had a hard time adjusting to the AAU and high school girls basketball communities in Texas (which are much different than elsewhere). She also failed to hire assistants with experience recruiting in Texas. UT is a strong brand for women's basketball, but Goestenkors was not able to take advantage of it. Moreover, there was increased competition from Baylor and Texas A&M. Duke certainly has allure for womens basketball but the allure also has its limits and coaches still have to close the deals. Look at McCallie's lack of recruiting success in her first few years at Duke. She obviously learned a lesson that the Duke name does not recruit for itself and made excellent adjustments.

[Kfanarmy]

I thought Coach G was going to go to Texas and absolutely dominate. With the history of that program and the resources available to her, I thought she'd have Texas on par with UConn and Tennessee within three or four years. I've been stunned at how ineffective Gail has been in Austin. I'd like to find out if there is more to the story than simply her failing to produce a winner. WBB at the collegiate level is so much more about recruiting the 5-10% of players that can make a team competitive for a run in the NCAAs...her run at UT coincided with the rise of Baylor and lately Ms Griner. It is very, very difficult apparently to break through to elite talent if you aren't already winning league championships...I'm not surprised given the start point.

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

I saw the story discussed on the Women's Halftime show at intermission of the Stanford game. They played that same clip where she used the word "tired" about 6 times in a 20 second clip. They also quoted her from earlier in the year saying that "I won't HAVE to be fired (if I don't meet my expectations). If I don't meet them, then I'll fire myself." And, well, she did.

As a sidebar, I was anxious to see what the ESPN WBB talking heads would say, as one of them - I don't know her name, but she's kind of burly with a tough demeaner - was a former head coach (5-7 years back) who had a run-in with G when she was at Duke... I think it was G stealing a top recruit from her at the deadline and that then-coach coming out with some nasty words for G afterwards. She's never been complimentary of G (and Duke when G was here), on the air at ESPN, and sure enough she was pretty rough this time. Comments to the effect of, "Look, she just hasn't gotten it done at UT. ...they are 1-4 in the NCAA's the last 4 years and that just won't cut it there..."

Kinda sad for G, as she did great things for Duke (who took over a good, not great program and really ran with it) and I know many of us were very sad to see her go, though she did later say that it was NOT over money or lack of effort by Duke to keep her. My sense was that it was more "personal" reasons.

Anyway, we did pretty darned well in getting Coach P afterwards, and she's clearly got us going places these days too.

Go Duke!! Beat Vandy!!!

:cool:

I think you are talking about Olympic gold medalist Kara Lawson (the one of the two that can put coherent sentences together without stumbling). Duke recruited her hard and she came on a visit to Duke thinking she was the best thing since slice bread. They had Grant Hill sitting with her at a men's game (both are from NOVA), the Crazies were chanting her name, and she wasn't impressed at all. Apparently, she was down to Duke and Tennessee, and the Duke players chose for her. After her visit, they told the coaches they didn't like her and her attitude. She went to Tennessee, became a multiple All-American and eventual Olympic gold medalist. I think Kara is great for ESPN. She's sharp and doesn't sugarcoat stuff. I'm desperately hoping Carolyn Peck gets one of these coaching jobs just so she can get far away from ESPN...

[CameronBornAndBred]

I think you are talking about Olympic gold medalist Kara Lawson (the one of the two that can put coherent sentences together without stumbling). Duke recruited her hard and she came on a visit to Duke thinking she was the best thing since slice bread. They had Grant Hill sitting with her at a men's game (both are from NOVA), the Crazies were chanting her name, and she wasn't impressed at all. Apparently, she was down to Duke and Tennessee, and the Duke players chose for her. After her visit, they told the coaches they didn't like her and her attitude. She went to Tennessee, became a multiple All-American and eventual Olympic gold medalist. I think Kara is great for ESPN. She's sharp and doesn't sugarcoat stuff. I'm desperately hoping Carolyn Peck gets one of these coaching jobs just so she can get far away from ESPN...
Yup...Lawson forever turned me off from her with her halftime comment last year during the UCONN-Duke game when she said "I wish I could have the last 20 minutes of my life back", one of the most unprofessional things I've ever heard an analyst say. As far as Carolyn Peck..I do like her, and yes she did have a bit of a run-in with G. She beat her in the championship game when she coached Purdue in 1999.
As far as the run-in you are referencing..that's one I don't know about..but nothing would surprise me in the cutthroat world of recruiting. It seems to be especially harsh in women's basketball because the talent pool is so shallow.

[DukeBlueNikeShox]

Gail had many problems. For starters, she had no recruiting ties in Texas, and she let some big names get away: Nneka & Chiney Ogumike, Brittney Griner, Alexis Jones, Moriah Jefferson, Brianna & Stefanie Gilbreath, Destinee Hughes, Krystal Forthan, etc. (Now you can't really fault a kid for going to Stanford, Duke, or UConn). Compound that by the fact that initially, she had no staff members with ties to Texas, failing to offer a coaching job to Texas legend Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil. Gail also underestimated how far behind she would be to Baylor, Texas A&M (both within 2 hours of Austin), even LSU and Oklahoma. I guess she figured her name plus the allure of playing for Texas would be enough to draw the recruits, as that strategy worked in her favor at Duke. In regards to fans and the attitude of the program, she is polar opposite to legend Jody Conradt. Jody was welcomed everybody with open arms, loved engaging with fans, alumni, media, etc. Her program was an open book; any and everybody was welcomed to come to practices, showcases, meet & greets, etc. However, Texas fans thought Gail to be very distant, aloof, and not friendly (by Texas standards at least).

[Duvall]

Yup...Lawson forever turned me off from her with her halftime comment last year during the UCONN-Duke game when she said "I wish I could have the last 20 minutes of my life back", one of the most unprofessional things I've ever heard an analyst say.

"I think this is the kind of offensive effort we've been waiting to see from Duke."

Really?

[OldPhiKap]

Good luck Gail, hope to see you back on your feet soon.