For over a year, Doug Gottlieb has tried to simultaneously be a Division I men’s basketball coach with the Green Bay Phoenix and a sports talk radio host with Fox Sports.
But now those days are done.
After a home victory over UC Santa Barbara, an emotional Gottlieb took to the podium and announced that he would be stepping down from his daily radio show to focus on his coaching duties.
The Green Bay coach admitted that the toll of doing both jobs was finally catching up on him and his family, although he did say that he would still produce a podcast in his down time.
JUST IN: Doug Gottlieb is stepping away from his radio gig to focus on being a full-time division one head basketball coach for UW-Green Bay. He will still be doing the podcast.
Hear from an emotional Gottlieb on his decision to step away from the mic: pic.twitter.com/merWC7fL3X
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) December 18, 2025
“These kids owe a fully dedicated coach. I know I’m fully dedicated. Marcus is like, ‘dude it doesn’t matter.’ But you only get one shot at this thing. And if there is any ounce of lack of preparation or any ounce of fatigue, this is going to sound crazy, but last week we go down to Indy and because of the timing of my show the bus had to leave without me and I flew. And I don’t think that’s what I want to do as a coach,” Gottlieb said.
“I’ll still be doing podcasts and iHeart has been amazing about it. So we’ll transition to a different version of it. It’ll still be the same stuff but I’ll do it off office hours and at home and you can take days off and I can have a life. Thanksgiving I had all three of my kids in town and I had to work on a Friday because I want to bank those holiday days for when we travel or for game prep or for whatever. And I just, it’s really hard. It’s going to obviously be a bit of a financial hit and I’ll work through it. I’ve been blessed beyond all measure. But The Doug Gottlieb Show on radio in the afternoon as of now, we’re going to take a break from it. I’ve got to have a life. I’ve got to be here for those kids. And I’ve got to really dig in because we’re building something cool here,” he added.
Gottlieb’s decision to attempt both jobs was met with widespread skepticism and critics pounced as he struggled mightily in his first season. Not only that, but every bit of commentary and debatable takes that Gottlieb offered on his show became fodder to use against him in his coaching career.
But to Gottlieb’s credit, his Green Bay Phoenix are greatly improved this season. After going just 4-28 in his first season on the sidelines, the school has already surpassed last season’s win total this year with a record of 6-7. But it was evident that the stress may have been getting to him as he was caught throwing a chair after a loss earlier this month.
Now that Doug Gottlieb is fully focused on his coaching duties, it will be fascinating to see if his team continues to show an upward trajectory moving forward.
About Matt Yoder