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Doherty acknowledges miscues By
DAVID DROSCHAK
Associated Press Sports Writer
CHAPEL HILL (AP) � Matt Doherty wanted to leave his mark on
North Carolina basketball.
This is not what he intended.
Doherty believes he made major mistakes by changing
everything from assistant coaches, to office computer equipment, to the
lobby entrance when he took over the storied program three years ago.
In the end, those changes contributed to Doherty losing his
job, as several factions � including some of his players � turned on him in
the final moments before his resignation Tuesday.
``It's a very political job, and that I was naive toward �
not that it was political � but to the degree that it was,'' Doherty said in
a 30-minute telephone interview with The Associated Press. ``In a way,
that's a compliment to Coach (Dean) Smith and Coach (Bill) Guthridge because
they've built this place up to be the best program in the country.
``But I feel I led my staff into a very difficult position
that I foolishly underestimated.''
Michael Jordan's former teammate at UNC got off to a rough
start when he was hired in July 2000, disappointing Smith and Guthridge by
replacing the coaching staff with his assistants from Notre Dame.
Included in the ouster was longtime Smith favorite Phil
Ford.
``I did say up front, `Is it OK if I bring my staff with
me?' I was told yes, but it really wasn't OK,'' Doherty said. ``That was the
decision of the administration. In retrospect, that set a tone of drastic
change in the Carolina basketball program that really politically hurt me
and my staff.''
While Smith helped Doherty with recruiting and was available
to talk strategy before and after games, it was clear damage was done when
Doherty brought Doug Wojcik, Fred Quartlebaum, Bob MacKinnon and David Cason
to Chapel Hill.
``Coach Doherty showed a great deal of loyalty to his staff
and that should be commended,'' said Steve Kirschner, UNC's director of
communications. ``But looking back we all understand the difficult position
it put everybody in from day one.
``You had former players who were disappointed, you had
players on Matt's first team that were disappointed, then you had the four
staff members who always had to overcome that. It was a barrier.''
Doherty knows now he moved too quickly to try to put his
stamp on the prestigious program, saying some of his changes were a ``shock
to the system.''
``People don't like change and I understand that � better
now than ever,'' he said. ``I always compare this basketball job to the
Notre Dame football job. The difference here is there was a staff in place,
a regime in place for 30-something years. At Notre Dame, there was no coach
that lasted longer than 10 years.''
Doherty did have one ally who was loyal to the end � Ford,
who apparently called athletic director Dick Baddour hours before Doherty
stepped down to see if Doherty could salvage his job.
Doherty has also heard twice from Kansas coach Roy Williams.
Williams has his Jayhawks in the national title game Monday night, but has
had to fend off questions about a possible return to coach the Tar Heels.
``I told him I'm sorry this happened at this time and I
didn't know why they couldn't have waited a week,'' Doherty said. `And I
told him no matter what he decides I'm behind him 100 percent.''
So what's next for Doherty?
He hasn't ruled out getting back into coaching soon. He also
may try broadcasting.
``It's all fit for me,'' Doherty said when asked about
future jobs. ``There are places that are at a major level that are great
jobs and there are jobs you can turn into great jobs. That could be exciting
too. Look at Ben Howland, he turned Pitt into a great job. The timing was
right. That was (what) happened at Notre Dame. Where is there kind of a
sleeping giant? That would be a pretty neat opportunity.''
Doherty said he would even return to coaching as an
assistant.
``I would love an opportunity to work for an established
head coach. I've learned in the Carolina system, I've been in that system
for a long time now and I think it would pretty neat to learn another system
and then maybe take the best of both. Maybe I could add something to someone
else's staff.''
Kirschner said Baddour would give Doherty a recommendation
if another athletic director called.
``Mr. Baddour would say positive things about Matt,''
Kirschner said. ``But that doesn't change the fact that a change was needed
here. Mr. Baddour believes Matt will coach again and be successful.''
Copyright 2003
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:51:09 AM
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