Doug Gottlieb always believed he would be successful if he ever got the opportunity to coach an NCAA Division I basketball team.
Two years after he was hired by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, his new contract would suggest he was correct.
UWGB has signed Gottlieb to a two-year extension that takes him through the 2030-31 season and makes him the highest-paid individual in the history of the school.
Gottlieb will earn $335,000 this season, $360,000 in 2027-28, $380,000 in 28-29, $405,000 in 29-30 and $430,000 in 30-31.
Under his old contract, he was set to make $270,000 this season, $290,000 in his fourth season and $305,000 in his fifth and final year.
He also has the option to extend his contract an additional year if either UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander or athletic director Josh Moon leaves.
Gottlieb’s annual salary is made up of a $275,000 base salary along with incremental increases for retention, which will come through the UW-Green Bay Foundation.
The contract includes buyouts should he accept another position at a DI school or a position with a broadcast media employer which prohibits him from continuing as the coach of the Phoenix.
If he is hired by a Power 4 or Big East school as a coach or general manager through April 1, 2030, the buyout is $1.2 million before going down to $100,000 through April 1, 2031.
If Gottlieb is hired by a non-Power 4 school as coach or GM or takes a media job, the buyout through April 1, 2027, is $750,000.
It decreases to $500,000 in 2028, $350,000 in 2029, $300,000 in 2030 and $100,000 through April 1, 2031.
The media provision in the buyout will be eliminated as of April 2, 2028.
If the school decides to terminate Gottlieb without cause before April 1, 2028, it will be required to pay him $800,000.
The termination pay from April 1, 2028, through March 30, 2029, is $650,000. From April 1, 2029, to March 30, 2030, it is $430,000 and from April 1, 2030, to March 30, 2031, would require payment of the remaining base salary.
Gottlieb has plenty of opportunities to make additional money each season.
He will receive $5,000 for winning at least a share of a Horizon League regular-season championship and $10,000 for a Horizon League tournament title.
Gottlieb receives $5,000 each for an opening-round win and a second-round win in the NCAA Tournament, $15,000 for making the Sweet 16, $50,000 for an Elite 8, $100,000 for a Final 4 and $200,000 for a national championship.
He will receive $2,500 for an NIT appearance, $1,000 for each win in the tournament and $10,000 for an NIT championship.
A national coach of the year honor nets him $10,000 and a Horizon League coach of the year award is worth $5,000.
Each win over a Power 4 or Big East opponent is worth $2,500. Each NET top-60 win – which will be determined at the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament – will earn Gottlieb $2,500.
Gottlieb also will receive $10,000 for a 20-win season and $7,500 for each sold out home game at the Resch Center or Kress Center.
Doug Gottlieb finds home at UWGB
Gottlieb said earlier in the offseason that any extension talks could wait until everything else on the team was settled, including most of the roster and raises for his assistant coaches.
After his assistants earned raises, it was time to talk extension with Gottlieb.
“I think, personally, it’s kind of like you made it as a coach, right?” Gottlieb said. “If you can get to the second contract, it’s like, ‘Alright, you can do this thing.’
“Then the significance is like the next step in a relationship. They want me here. I want to be here. The important parts of the contract are really the buyout and the termination clause than anything else. It just signifies that I’m not going anywhere, and if I do, it’s going to be for a big, big job. I think this job is a great one at this level.”
It might have been difficult this time last year to imagine UWGB extending Gottlieb with three years remaining on the original five-year deal he signed when he was hired in 2024.
The Phoenix was coming off a 4-28 season, which tied the second-fewest wins in its DI era and was in line with the disastrous 3-29 campaign in 2022-23 that cost former coach Will Ryan his job before that season was done.
How quickly things changed.
UWGB made a remarkable turnaround in Gottlieb’s second season.
The 18 games it won tied the 2023-24 squad for the most victories in the last seven seasons and tied for the second-most in the last decade.
UWGB also won a Horizon League tournament game for the first time in six years.
Gottlieb went from the hot seat to a coach of the year contender.
He also showed Moon all the reasons why he hired Gottlieb in the first place.
“His ability to win at whatever he is involved with, from thriving in chaos,” Moon said. “How do you go from losing an All-American center [Jalen Overway to a torn ACL] and instead of sitting there and moping and dwelling about it, he’s immediately, ‘Let’s figure out the solution.’
“I think that’s a reflection of even when bad things happen, he’s always attacking and always working to find the next solution. For him, I think he loves the community. He can see the potential in this place. It’s a place that should be one of those best mid-major jobs around, especially in the Midwest.”
With Gottlieb’s extension, the school now has Moon, Gottlieb and women’s basketball coach Kayla Karius all signed through at least the 2030-31 season, with Karius receiving an extension in April that takes her through 2034-35.
With the NCAA transfer portal causing significant turnover for many teams in college basketball – the Phoenix women are a notable exception – it’s nice for UWGB to at least have potential long-term stability at the top of its athletic department.
“At some point you have to get off the merry-go-round of constantly having new coaches, new players, new everything,” Gottlieb said. “There has to be consistency. Think about it. You have three AD positions in our league that are still open. You have how many coaching changes were made on the women’s side?
“Here, me, Kayla, Josh, all extended through [at least 2031]. All in lockstep. We just feel like having that unified approach is very much a Green Bay thing, it’s very unique in this landscape and it shows a complete alignment. That’s the only way to be successful ever.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB men’s basketball coach Doug Gottlieb earns raise, extension
Reporting by Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
