Seton Hall Fires Bobby Gonzalez: Good Riddance to Bad Garbage

After last night's disgraceful loss to Texas Tech in the NIT, Seton Hall Law Dean Patrick Hobbs expressed his displeasure with the lack of control and direction of Gonzalez's regime.

This was a clear sign that a move was going to be made.

It came this afternoon when the university fired Bobby Gonzalez. Quite frankly, it was something the university needed to do.

Enough was enough. The coach has done nothing but embarrass himself and the program.

If last night was not the tipping point, what else would he have to do to be fired?

One would think the team would play hard for their embattled coach in that NIT game, but that was not the case. The team quit as soon as the game started.

Herb Pope provided Seton Hall's highlight when he was tossed for punching Texas Tech's Darko Cohadarevic in the groin. That was a symbol of what has gone on under Gonzalez's leadership.

The players reflect Gonzalez's personality by showing lack of self-control at games. 

It wasn't surprising that they could not prosper when the going got tough. If the coach can't provide answers for his players, how are they going to succeed?

All Gonzo would do is argue with the refs. Has he ever shown that he can be a good game-day coach?

Oftentimes in the huddle, players looked confused whenever Gonzalez attempted to make plays. It was obvious that some players did not pay attention either.

The university paid him a lot of money to represent the program well by winning games and being a good leader. He showed that he had no clue how to do those things. It was enough to justify their decision to fire him.

His behavior was an issue too. It's one thing to be arrogant if he was winning, but he wasn't. He never understood it.

He acted like he was above criticism. Every time someone asked him a question that he did not like, he would treat that person like trash.

This writer asked Gonzalez an innocent question on Big East Media Day several years ago. He acted condescending when asked about what he could do to maintain the standards Louis Orr created. He took a shot at Orr's work as coach.

By then, he knew this coach would not make it in the Big East.

Several people in the coaching fraternity told Gonzalez to change his approach. This buffoon refused to listen to them.

If anything, he made enemies with them after that. What does that tell you about him?

Seton Hall should have understood then that it was better to cut their losses. They gave him a chance to learn from his mistakes, but he rewarded them by acting worse each time.

Seton Hall hired him for his ability to recruit. They experienced buyer's remorse after he recruited players with questionable character.

The players in this area did not want any part of Gonzo's nonsense. He decided to focus on junior-players. They turned out to be failures in the last two years.

They caused nothing but headaches off the court. They weren't good players either.

Gonzalez never tried hard to recruit players in New Jersey. All he wanted to do was focus on the players in New York City.

Most coaches in New Jersey thought he failed to create a working relationship with them. He failed in so many areas. That justified Seton Hall's firing of him.

Now they can go hire a coach that actually knows what he is doing when it comes to recruiting and coaching.

Seton Hall had success when they hired a coach from Siena several years ago in Orr. They should do it again this time around by hiring Siena coach Fran McCaffery.

Rutgers decided not to fire Fred Hill after realizing no one was going to pay for his buyout. This is an opportunity for Seton Hall to take advantage of Rutgers' mistake.

St. John's could be in the mix for McCaffery unless they make an NIT run. It's doubtful that it's going to happen.

Still, St. John's could be looking at Tom Pecora as their head coaching choice. Either way, Seton Hall needs to beat that team in getting McCaffery.

What's next for Gonzalez? Who knows and who cares?

Gonzalez was not long for the job. If he did well, he was going to bolt for another program. He had no interest being in Seton Hall despite what his bobos say.

It's hard to think any major program will hire him again. He will be relegated to coaching a program like Manhattan at this point.

He has no one to blame but himself for the situation in which he put himself.

He had it coming.