Bob Weltlich
Biographical details | ||||||||||||
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Born | November 5, 1944 | |||||||||||
Alma mater | South Alabama | |||||||||||
Head coaching record | ||||||||||||
Overall | 300–335 (.472) | |||||||||||
Tournaments | 0–3 ( | |||||||||||
Awards | ||||||||||||
SEC Coach of the Year (1980) TAAC Coach of the Year (1993) Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2000) | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Bob Weltlich (born November 5, 1944) is an American former
Coaching career
Indiana
Weltlich got his degree in education from Ohio State University in 1967 and was set to teach. He met Army coach and fellow OSU alum Bob Knight in Orrville, Ohio. Knight hired him as an assistant at Army, then took him to Indiana University, where in 1976 he helped coach a 32–0 team to the NCAA title.[1]
Ole Miss
Weltlich left Indiana to become the head coach at the
Texas
In 1982, second-year Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds hired Weltlich from Ole Miss to serve as the next Texas Longhorns men's basketball head coach. Nicknamed "Kaiser Bob" by Longhorn fans for his harshly disciplinarian approach, Weltlich was almost immediately faced with such a manpower shortage from the departures — both voluntary and involuntary — of so many Texas players that he famously had to press Texas male cheerleader Lance Watson into service during the Longhorns' abysmal 6–22 season of 1982–83.[3][4]
Weltlich coached the US national team in the 1982 FIBA World Championship, winning the silver medal.[5]
Weltlich's next three teams posted yearly improvements in overall records, with the 1985–86 team — which finished with a 19–12 mark and a share of the Southwest Conference Championship — representing the zenith of his tenure at Texas. After his teams finished 14–17 and 16–13 in the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons, respectively, Weltlich was dismissed with two years remaining on his contract.[6][7]
Weltlich compiled a 77–98 record during six seasons as the head coach at Texas. None of his six teams managed an appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament; only the 1985–86 team participated in postseason competition, losing 71–65 to Ohio State in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).[6]
FIU
Weltlich served as head coach at Florida International University (FIU) from 1990 to 1995.[8] He led the Panthers to their first regular season and tournament championships, which are still their only ones in program history as of 2024.
The Panthers won the Trans America Athletic Conference title for the 1992-93 regular season with 20 wins, but due to the conference not meeting NCAA qualifying standards, the team was shut out of playing in the NCAA Tournament. On January 15, 1995, he announced his resignation after the season would end, citing it as the best interest for both himself and the university.[9] At the end of the regular season, they were 8–18 and won just four conference games out of 16. They were the 8th of eight seeds in the 1995 TAAC men's basketball tournament. They then proceeded to upset 1 seed Stetson and 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana to reach the Tournament Final versus 3 seed Mercer. They won the game 68–57 to clinch their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They set a record for least amount of wins (11) to reach the NCAA Division I Tournament, a mark since tied by two other teams. Weltlich let the credit for the TAAC title go to the team, stating that his resignation had nothing to do with winning or losing. [10] In the tournament, serving as a 16 seed, they played Jim Harrick's UCLA Bruins and lost 92–56, in the First Round. Notably, in the final postgame news conference, Weltlich had a shirt on with lettering on the front that read: “I need a job.” with his phone number underneath along with “Please leave a message."[11][12]
South Alabama
Weltlich was named the interim coach at the University of South Alabama on October 27, 1997 following Bill Musselman's sudden resignation on October 7, 1997.[13] Weltlich coached the Jags from 1997 to 2002 and compiled a record of 81-65 and three 20-win seasons.[2] He resigned from South Alabama after the 2002 season, but he and his family remained in Fairhope, Alabama, where he has worked as a middle school teacher to complete the 10 years of service he needed to qualify for retirement from the state of Alabama.[1]
Head coaching record
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ole Miss Rebels (Southeastern Conference) (1976–1982) | |||||||||
1976–77 | Ole Miss | 11–16 | 5–13 | 9th | |||||
1977–78 | Ole Miss | 10–17 | 5–13 | 9th | |||||
1978–79 | Ole Miss | 11–16 | 6–12 | 8th | |||||
1979–80 | Ole Miss | 17–13 | 9–9 | 5th | |||||
1980–81 | Ole Miss | 16–14 | 8–10 | 6th | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
1981–82 | Ole Miss | 18–12 | 11–7 | 4th | |||||
Ole Miss: | 83–88 (.485) | 44–64 (.407) | |||||||
Texas Longhorns (Southwest Conference) (1982–1988) | |||||||||
1982–83 | Texas | 6–22 | 1–15 | 9th | |||||
1983–84 | Texas | 7–21 | 3–13 | 8th | |||||
1984–85 | Texas | 15–13 | 7–9 | 7th | |||||
1985–86 | Texas | 19–12 | 12–4 | T–1st | NIT second round | ||||
1986–87 | Texas | 14–17 | 7–9 | T–6th | |||||
1987–88 | Texas | 16–13 | 10–6 | T–4th | |||||
Texas: | 77–98 (.440) | 40–56 (.417) | |||||||
FIU Panthers (Independent) (1990–1991) | |||||||||
1990–91 | FIU | 6–22 | – | ||||||
Trans America Athletic Conference ) (1991–1995)
| |||||||||
1991–92 | FIU | 11–17 | 7–7 | 3rd | |||||
1992–93 | FIU | 20–10 | 9–3 | 1st | |||||
1993–94 | FIU | 11–16 | 7–9 | 6th | |||||
1994–95 | FIU | 11–19 | 4–12 | T–9th | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
FIU: | 59–84 (.413) | 27–31 (.466) | |||||||
South Alabama Jaguars (Sun Belt Conference) (1997–2002) | |||||||||
1997–98 | South Alabama | 21–7 | 14–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division I first round | ||||
1998–99 | South Alabama | 11–16 | 6–8 | 6th | |||||
1999–2000 | South Alabama | 20–10 | 13–3 | T–1st | |||||
2000–01 | South Alabama | 22–11 | 11–5 | 1st (West) | |||||
2001–02 | South Alabama | 7–21 | 2–13 | 6th (West) | |||||
South Alabama: | 81–65 (.555) | 46–33 (.582) | |||||||
Total: | 300–335 (.472) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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Novel
In 2004, Weltlich's novel, Crooked Zebra, was released. It tells the story of a college basketball referee who begins to affect outcomes of games based on his gambling habits.
References
- ^ a b c d Potter, Jerry (2005-01-25). "Ex-coach Weltlich gets last word on referees with novel approach". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ a b "Rebels Face Road Challenge at South Alabama Saturday". OleMissSports.com. 2006-12-14. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ "Texas basketball from A to Z," Austin American-Statesman Archived 2007-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rosner, Mark (2005-11-15). "How the Longhorns Got Hot" (PDF). Austin-American Statesman. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 23, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ 1982 USA Basketball Archived 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "2004-05 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). big12sports.com. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
- ^ "Timeline: A history of Texas basketball," Austin American-Statesman Archived 2007-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Tribute to a Legend". Knight880.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1995/03/17/florida-international-making-best-of-worst/9054ae2f-d7a0-4f41-891c-18b1f7f77efc/
- ^ https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/bracketiq/2024-03-01/march-madness-history-teams-worst-records-make-ncaa-tournament?amp
- ^ https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1995/03/18/ucla-dumps-fiu-92-56/
- ^ "Florida International Golden Panthers in the NCAA Tournament". MidMajority.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ "Weltlich Hired". New York Times. 1997-10-28. Retrieved 2007-03-15.