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The Curious Case of Doug Gottlieb and Rutgers

After Steve Masiello lost out on the Rutgers job, one expected Gottlieb to go after his lack of a degree. Instead, Gottlieb went after... Eddie Jordan. Again.

By Dave White

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Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

In case you missed it, Manhattan Head Coach Steve Masiello almost became head coach of the USF Bulls program, then didn't because he never graduated from the University of Kentucky.

Does this sound familiar?  It should, Rutgers fans, because Eddie Jordan didn't have his degree when hired at Rutgers last year. Jordan retained his job, as there is no NCAA rule requiring a coach to have a college degree to be the coach, though nearly all universities require one.  When this happened last year, one of the biggest critics of Rutgers allowing Jordan to keep his job was CBS analyst Doug Gottlieb.

(Check his Tweets here, here, and here)

Gottlieb's reasonable argument was that a head coach of college students should have a degree and offer guidance to the young men in his program.  Understandable.  Gottlieb harped on this on his Twitter account for some time last year, disregarding the facts (he has, at times, called Jordan a liar--which he wasn't, and repeatedly ignored the fact that Jordan had started taking classes again to finish his degree).  It didn't matter that this was a case of Rutgers not doing its due diligence, this was Eddie's fault.

So, when today's announcement about Masiello came through, I fully expected Gottlieb to trash the coach and Manhattan for hiring him ages ago.  Instead, what we got was a retweet of Brett McMurphy breaking the news and then this:


In the four hours since he posted that tweet, he's argued with Rutgers fans about Jordan's degree, posted the requirements of several coaching jobs, which show they require at least a Bachelor's, and casually laughed at a couple of people talking about Masiello.

That's right.

Never once has he gone after Masiello for not having a degree, nor has he gone after Manhattan for hiring him.  Maybe, just maybe Gottlieb (who's college history is shady) said something about it on his radio show.  Maybe, he's waiting to hear if Manhattan brings their coach back.

But it doesn't seem like it.

After repeated requests for Gottlieb to be just as harsh on Masiello as he was on Jordan, there has been no response. However, Manhattan didn't do their due diligence on the coach when he was hired.  Before that, when Masiello was an assistant with Rick Pitino, it appears Lousiville didn't either.

Plenty of people for Gottlieb (who loves to bash people) to go after.  But he hasn't.  Not yet.

I've made it quite clear in the past that I support the media, and their right to bash things.  And Gottlieb is free to bash Eddie Jordan all he wants.  But I ask one thing:  Be consistent.

Masiello, who apparently lied on his resume, is clearly in a worse situation than Jordan (who didn't lie).  But Masiello had a successful career with the Jaspers without a degree and misled two or more colleges.

So, the questions is, Doug, why Rutgers?  Why Eddie Jordan?

Is it because Jordan and Rutgers are low hanging fruit--a team coming off a scandal that hasn't been to the NCAAs in years?

Or is there something else?

One can only speculate.

UPDATE: Manhattan has placed Steve Masiello on leave while the situation is reviewed.  Here is Gottlieb's first tweet about the situation:

So.... almost bashing?

UPDATE 2: To my eye, Gottlieb dropped 4 tweets actually about Masiello.  Meanwhile, house later, Gottlieb throws this tweet out there... because he can't let it go:

And thus it continues.

Like mystery novels?  Read Dave White's crime novels on your e-Reader. When One Man Dies is available on Kindle, Nook and anywhere else e-books are sold. You can also find the Shamus Award nominated The Evil That Men Do and the best selling Witness to Death in the same places. All the books have at least a small tie to Rutgers, and they're very well reviewed.  Best of all?  Cheaper than Starbucks coffee!