Former Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie is a hot commodity for some schools seeking a coach. Gillispie is seeking a second chance in the collegiate ranks. Photo by Victoria Graff.
Former Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie is rumored to be the next coach at the University of Houston.
If Gillispie is hired, he will be given a second chance to succeed at the collegiate level after sitting out this past season. Gillispie sat out this past season after getting fired by the Wildcats last spring. Gillispie also has been mentioned as a candidate at DePaul.
Since leaving Lexington, Gillispie has apparently cleaned up his drinking habit and appears to be 0n the path to recovery, in the first step toward regaining respectability.
Gillispie’s coaching path is similar to former UK coach Eddie Sutton who was given a second chance at Oklahoma State after he resigned following a recruiting scandal at Kentucky in 1989. One year later, Sutton took over as coach of the Cowboys and enjoyed a successful stint with the school that ended with another issue with alcohol.
While at Oklahoma State, Sutton went 362-149 and guided the Cowboys to a pair of Final Four appearances. His signature is inscribed on the court at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. Aside from the misstep toward the end of his tenure at Oklahoma State, Sutton took advantage of his second opportunity as a coach in the collegiate ranks.
It’s a given Gillispie will get another chance to regain the magic he had at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and later at Texas A&M. Sutton is proof that second-chance coaches can succeed.
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1 comment
Jim Braun
March 25, 2010 at 11:27 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Some see the number two as in second chance, some see the number three as in three time loser. The fact that this article made reference to Eddie Sutton should prove the point about alcoholism – once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. Sutton was still an alcoholic at the end of his career just as he was at the height of it, and most likely at the beginning despite a life style of cover up. There is no such thing as a 50 year old caught red handed on three occasions being cured after a months stay at a posh rehab clinic. Anybody that buys into that claim deserves to have their employee caught peeing in a grade school parking lot. The sad thing about an alcoholic coach is that they are also role models.
Surely there are hundreds even thousands of candidates as qualified as Gillispie. God knows he emerged as a complete and total failure at Kentucky, not only as a coach, but as the leader of his team, with at least three player’s parents warning the AD they would force their kids to leave if Gillispie returned. And he was a disaster as a representative for the school. The man couldn’t even get up in front of a group of people without shaking and stammering – ultimately going into his crying like a baby routine in an attempt to cover up his uncontrollable fear of public speaking.
There is likely no worse choice than this man for the head coaching position at any DI school. Houston deserves whatever bad fortune will surely be if they hire the drunk. Gillispie had his chance at fame and fortune and was an astonishing failure. Move on Houston, don’t get involved.