Bobby Lutz was Mark Gottfried’s right-hand man for the first five years of his tenure, but after a 16-17 campaign in 2015-16, Gottfried relieved Lutz as part of a staff overhaul.
Now Lutz is an assistant coach in the NBA D-League. The Hickory, N.C. native though remains a well-respected figure from his days as a head coach at Charlotte and Pfeiffer, where he won 398 games in 21 seasons combined and helped Charlotte to five NCAA Tournament appearances and three NIT berths in 12 years.
Lutz was on the Mac Attack radio show on 610/102.5 THE FAN in Charlotte Friday morning (audio) to offer his unique perspective of the news of Gottfried’s firing, and he admitted he was surprised of how quickly the end came.
“I’m saddened for them and obviously the players and the fans,” he told the radio show. “I thought, as I left I said, I thought that team would be a lot of fun to be around and be a part of coaching. I’m not there everyday anymore, so I don’t know why. Honestly I haven’t watched them play. I don’t know what went on, but I am surprised.
“I thought with the additions that they had and obviously Dennis Smith and plus Terry Henderson being back, I thought they had a chance to be a top-five team in the ACC, top-six, somewhere in there; and obviously this year if you are in the top six you are in the top 25 or 30 teams in the country probably. I know it’s been a tough year for them.”
Lutz said that while he was at NCSU he scouted every game for the Pack his final year on the job. The 58-year old also noted that he felt like he got along well with the NC State players.
“Our last year and my last year at NC State, the year before that was the Sweet 16 year, and if you looked at the player evaluations, I ranked the highest of any of the coaches on the staff,” Lutz recalled. “Even though I am older, I relate really well to the players. Yes I’m proud with what I helped build, but Mark is the head coach and he deserves the credit for four tournaments in five years and two Sweet 16s.
“Don’t forget where the program was when we came in there and how much he did accomplish. It just shows you how quickly it can turn especially at the highest level.”
Although he hesitated in fear of coming across as a self-promoter, Lutz said that he feels he is the best coach he has ever been. He knows he is not a likely candidate to replace Gottfried, but is confident he would give the Pack a good five or six-year run.
Part of that is because he feels he has the proper mentality of what it takes to succeed at NC State, which is why he thinks fans hold him in higher regards.
Lutz also hears the noise from national pundits that NC State is too tough a place to coach at, but he said the right coach can succeed even if some reportedly say that they would not consider it.
“I think there is some truth to that, and some of that is probably fair and some of it is unfair, or I look at it differently,” Lutz explained. “It is a big challenge. Sean Miller told me when I was at Charlotte that people have no idea, he’s been all over the place but he was an assistant at NC State at one time, that people have no idea the unique challenge that it is to coach in the state of North Carolina if you are not at North Carolina and Duke.
“He was talking about NC State, he was also talking about Charlotte because it filters down all the way. It’s such a dominant force. He said there is nowhere like it in America, it’s so unique. I just think you have to have the right guy who has the courage, has the proper respect for Duke and Carolina because you have to respect them, but you can’t fear them.
“I understand that now with all the money that is out there that there are a lot of coaches who might not, even though it is in the best league in the country, they may not want to do it.”
Lutz recalled how he never played college basketball and quit law school to begin a coaching career leading JV boys and girls basketball in high school, then became a high school coach for four years before working his way up at Pfeiffer.
“I always had a chip on my shoulder, plus I’m a little guy,” Lutz added. “I feel like I had to fight my way through everything. That’s how NC State is. That’s the kind of coach they deserve: is a guy that understands and respects what’s going on but doesn’t really give a crap and says we’re going to go head to head and beat them.”
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