Former Oklahoma Sooners coach Jeff Capel says ‘I just didn’t get enough time’
University of Oklahoma Head Basketball Coach Jeff Capel poses for a photo at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma November 11, 2009. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
Former Oklahoma Sooners basketball coach Jeff Capel is headed back to North Carolina to serve as an assistant coach under Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. And hours after his hiring was announced, the former Duke point guard and Fayetteville, N.C., prep star gave this interview to his hometown newspaper.
Among Capel’s comments:
– He compared the troubles with his program at Oklahoma to being “hit with a tornado.”
– He said his firing was particularly difficult on his wife, who continued to teach at the OU law school after his dismissal.
– And he said there’s plenty he’d like to say — but can’t — about the current NCAA investigation into Oklahoma basketball:
Some exerpts of the interview with Fayetteville Observer sports writer Dan Wiederer:
On how the last five years were like being “hit with a tornado”:
“Growing up in North Carolina, we had hurricanes and you could always track a hurricane. You could spot where the eye was forming and see where it was headed and you could track it. But for me, the situation in Oklahoma over the past five years, was like a tornado. You can’t track it. That’s what I felt like happened. We got hit with a tornado. And I know we were on track to recovering from it and being better and being stronger than ever. I just didn’t get enough time. But I really believe it was a tornado of things that we just didn’t foresee coming. And one of the things that was kind of a mantra with the last team I coached at Oklahoma was to focus on moving forward and staying positive. I commend our guys for their focus and for giving me everything in that regard. There were just some things that we couldn’t help.”
On how he felt after being fired at OU:
“You feel disappointment for the fans. You have the feeling that you let people down. That was not easy. It was frustrating. It was a lot of different things. But I think it’s made me a better coach. It’s helped me grow. And for that I’m happy. I’ve been asked frequently, ‘Are you bitter about the way it ended?’ I’m not bitter. I’m better. I’m better for having gone through it all.”
On being associated with an NCAA investigation:
“I think anyone who goes through something like that is frustrated by it. Incredibly frustrated. You need time to figure out what happened. But again, this is where I grew in learning to control what you can control. Because with that situation, especially initially, there were so many things being said about you and you’re hearing rumors that you know are not true. And everyone now, it’s all about speculation with a lot of what’s written. And some of it, you know is not true. But you can’t say anything. You can’t say anything. Even now, I can’t say all of the things that I really want to say because of the investigation. So yeah, that’s very frustrating.”
On the impact the firing had on his family:
“The first thing for me was making sure my family was OK. Anyone that goes through a firing like this, it’s traumatic for everyone. Your family, your staff. Most important to me was making sure my wife and daughters were OK. My wife teaches at the law school at OU. And you can imagine how difficult that was for her. She had to go back and teach on campus for six weeks after that. So I wanted to make sure she was OK. I wanted to make sure the players were OK. I wanted to make sure my coaching staff and their families were going to be OK. When someone gets fired, the impact reaches so far. And I’m a person who cares. That’s who I am.”
On his immediate plans after being fired and how they changed:
“My initial feeling was that I was going to be out of coaching for at least a year. I had thought about trying to maybe do some TV and had talked to some people who were generous enough to listen and to contemplate giving me an opportunity. But when this situation came up, it was just too good to pass up.”
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Comments
Hmmm. I sympathize but not much. A head coach is responsible for everything that happens with his program. The school pays the guy a whole lot of money to take on that responsibility. Did Warren Buffett try to shirk responsibility for the guy who broke insider trading rules at Birkshire-Hathoway? No. You get the big bucks and you take responsibility. Who hired the bad guys? He did. OU didn’t tell him who to hire. Not enough time? He had a #1 NBA pick fall in his lap and he rode him to what? The Sweet 16? And then downhill fast from there. Gee it must have been real hard for his wife to teach law at the college that is the most removed from OU athletics of them all, way off by itself with a student body and faculty that largely doesn’t care about basketball. And for six figures no doubt. Doesn’t sound so hard to me. I think a lot of people would take the money that couple got to go thru the ‘pain’. Bottom line, he didn’t win and he didn’t sell tickets. Bu-bye…
Boo-Hoo for poor Jeffy. To compare his lack of control over his players and program to a TORNADO is so insulting to the people of the state that have suffer death and destruction from these uncontrollable natural disasters. I had to make sure my family was OK? His daughter is like 3 yrs. old, I’m sure she will recover. His wife had to fulfill 6weeks of a six figure job and is a Harvard educated lawyer. What are the law students going to throw tomaotes at her or read the paper when she’s lecturing. The man is getting $2.5 million dollars from OU for doing nothing. The one constant in this sob story is his total lack of personal resposibility for he mess he made of OU’s b-ball program. Thank God we have adults running the program again.
Oh Im sure he had no idea about the recruiting violations, just like all the other ou coaches have no clue (sarcasim if you are having a hard time picking up on it).
Yeah, he just didn’t have enough time to learn how to become a big time college head coach.
He didn’t have enough time to learn how to judge the character of prima donnas and streetball thugs.
He didn’t hve enough time to figure out that a hot shot recruiter probably has some sketchy recruitng practices.
He didn’t have enough time to clean up the mess HE made.
And thankfully, he didn’t have enough time to make it even worse.
I was glad Joe C. made the change but I was also sympathic to Capel but after seeing how Kruger is handling the situation, I am more convinced than ever that Capel wasn’t ready for prime time.
He didn’t get enough time…Capel was trying to get chili added to the free hot dogs at Lloyd Noble but he got canned before he could do that.
How many million did poor Jeffy get? When I read the response’s to Sherman’s questions, I thought I was listening to Obama reply. 2 weeks ago he was going to Mizzou, now it’s Duke. Good for coach K. Nothing better than going out job hunting with $2.5 Mill. in your back pocket. He’s an East Coast guy. Like Blake, good recruiter, but……………
I’m not unhappy with Kruger. But I ultimately think that Capel will be a really good, if not great, coach. And I imagine in 5-10 years, we’ll be regretting letting him go.
Coming to a big-time BCS conference program like OU from a mid-major like VCU takes a lot of adjustment. At VCU there weren’t a lot of high expectations. And your exposure to high-level recruiting is limited. Then you come to a Big 12 school and suddenly you have access to a greater pool of players, guys who are NBA-bound and have significant potential…but also have major egos. At VCU you’re mainly dealing with 3rd-level talent, guys who are just happy to get an opportunity to play at the college level and get a scholarship.
But guys like Warren, Gallon, and Mason-Griffin just aren’t available at VCU. He wasn’t exposed to those kinds of egos as a coach (maybe as a player at Duke, but coaching is MUCH different). Suddenly, you get these guys, and you’re excited that you’ve got their talents, but you’re not used to their enormous egos. Complicating matters further, Capel’s first big recruit was Blake, who is the ULTIMATE professional. So Capel perhaps misjudged the other recruits, believing that some of these uber-talented guys could conduct themselves in the same way.
I completely agree with Capel in that he just needed more time. He was/is a young coach, and Castiglione KNEW that going in. He had to expect a few bumps on the road. I think it would have taken a few more years, but he would have turned out to be very successful.
Like I said, I’m not unhappy with Kruger (in fact, I’m ecstatic that we got him), and he’s the PERFECT man for a quick turnaround. But I do believe that Capel would have turned things around, if given more time. He’s an excellent game-planner, and his game management skills are VERY good. Given time to get everything else in line with those skills, I think he’ll be a great coach.
To the Fayetteville Observer, my apologies for not linking to Dan’s blog. It will be in there now and prominently. I thought I had one that. Thanks for pointing it out.
Just a quick correction to one of the people responding (Chuck). We reached the Elite 8 in Blake Griffin’s final year not the Sweet 16. I wish Coach Capel the best. I had mixed feeligs about letting him go but I think Coach Kruger is a good hire. Hopefully when Coach Kruger retires in about 7 to 10 years from now, OU will be at least close to an elite job and we can really attract some amazing candidates.
I agree with him. I don’t think he was given enough time. They shouldn’t have fired him. If you sign someone to a contract you should honor it. And really if you think the school or the team or even Mr. Capel owe you anything, you seriously need to get a life. Go do something productive and contribute something to society besides trash.
Jeff Capel is by far better off in his new job. He fell into a snake pit left by the previous folks.
” And he said there’s plenty he’d like to say — but can’t — about the current NCAA investigation into Oklahoma baseball: ”
Baseball ???
Surely this is a typo .