A look at its 9-11 record (0-5 mark in SEC play) and seven-game losing streak, and most observers probably would have seen that the Georgia men’s basketball team was likely headed for a coaching change. Dennis Felton’s record as head coach dropped to 84-91 after an 83-57 loss at Florida on Wednesday night. But as bad as this season was starting to look, Athletic Director Damon Evans’s decision to relieve Felton of his duties on Thursday likely had to do with factors other than the team’s record.
Gone from last year’s team that made a surprising championship run in the SEC Tournament was the starting backcourt of Sundiata Gaines and Billy Humphrey. Gaines left due to graduation and Humphrey was kicked off the team, becoming the latest player under Felton to leave the program before exhausting his eligibility. As a result, Georgia was picked sixth in the SEC East but did have perhaps the highest touted freshman to step foot on campus in the Felton era-Trey Thompkins-coming in. Georgia was in fact competitive in all but three of their losses this season, with a legitimate chance to win seven of them. The Bulldogs even blew second-half leads to Georgia Tech and Tennessee.
In another context, those games and Georgia’s record could have been looked at as a team that was close to being good. That is when one turns to look at the team’s coach and is also where Felton conceivably came up short. Despite its low expectations, Georgia’s record could be better than what it is today – so why isn’t it? After their loss to Kentucky back on Jan. 18, their fifth in a row, Felton cited the Bulldogs’ lack of toughness as a problem: “That’s been one of our issues all along. We haven’t gotten as tough as we want to be and need to be.”
Whose job is it to instill and demand that toughness? One would assume it is the head coach. Felton saw it as more of a collective effort. “As coaches we’ve got to do everything within our power to address that. But I also think that the players have to commit to it and our leaders have to lead to a great degree to achieve that type of presence.”
That might be right or wrong, but the head coach gets fired for the team underachieving, not the players. By his own admission, Felton decided to take it easier on his players this year, after coming to the realization he might have been working them too hard in the past. For whatever it is worth, that hard work led to an improbable SEC championship last season and when you have a losing record during your tenure as head coach at a school, no season is a season to take it easier. It was also following the Kentucky game that Felton also took time off to attend President Barack Obama’s Inauguration. While the couple of days off may have already been planned as a break for the players since Georgia’s next game was six days away, Felton probably could have done something more constructive to help his Bulldogs get their first SEC win. Georgia got down 15-2 against Mississippi State and despite coming back, the Dawgs never could make up for the deficit. That was not the best statement to make in terms of job security.
Felton was a good coach who guided the program in the years after the Jim Harrick tenure landed the program in hot water with the NCAA. Because of dismissals and players leaving, he never had a stocked recruiting class go from being freshmen to seniors and the program this year was seemingly making a turn for the worse. Could he have turned the program around? Perhaps yes, but judging by this season, he did not seem in a hurry to do so.
As far as his long-term replacement goes, Georgia needs to focus on three qualities in a coach: classiness, good recruiter and humbleness. No matter how badly the Bulldogs want to win, bringing in a coach with even a hint of shadiness concerning NCAA rules is probably out of the question. The Harrick years have not been that long ago. Secondly, someone who can get young people excited about the University is also in ordered. The State of Georgia is filled with high school talent and a dynamite recruiter could have a top-15 program very quickly. Finally, the Bulldogs would probably do better with a coach that understands that football will always be king. While the athletic department wants all sports to do well, as evident by relieving Felton of his duties, the fan base will always love football more than anything. If the new coach accepts and understands this, he will not likely be looking to leave at the first sign of a “basketball school” calling.
In the short term, associate head coach and former Navy head coach Pete Hermann takes over on an interim basis. Georgia next plays at Alabama on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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