SDSU Pulls the Plug on Brandenburg : Basketball: “I wanted to stop the pain,” athletic director says of the firing’s timing. Harrick named interim coach.
Jim Brandenburg, who watched an already creaky San Diego State basketball program come crumbling down this winter, was fired Tuesday as Aztec coach in the midst of one of the worst seasons in school history.
Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director, made the announcement late Tuesday afternoon in a crowded news conference in Peterson Gym. In front of several players and members of the SDSU athletic department as well as the media, Miller named Jim Harrick Jr., who had been a part-time assistant coach under Brandenburg, as the interim coach.
Harrick, 27, the son of UCLA Coach Jim Harrick Sr., will take the team to Laramie, Wyo., today for a Thursday game with Wyoming. He becomes the youngest Division I coach in the nation, supplanting Niagara’s Jack Armstrong, who is 29.
SDSU assistant coaches Jimmy Williams and Greg Graham, who were in their third seasons under Brandenburg, also were dismissed, leaving only volunteer assistant Steve Harris to work with Harrick.
“It was time to go ahead and make a change,” Miller said. “It was time. . . .
“When you’re 2-19 . . . it was painful for Jim (Brandenburg), it was painful for our team and it was painful for our town. At that point there comes a time when you make a change.
“This was the fifth year of the program; we have not been productive over a five-year haul, and I think that was a fair shot at it. After a fair shot has been given and if the success is not there, that’s the nature of our business. It’s harsh, but it’s real.”
Brandenburg, 56, who has a career record of 267-200 but was 52-87 at SDSU, never had a losing season before coming to SDSU but never had a winning season since. He was a three-time Western Athletic Conference coach of the year while at Wyoming and Big Sky Conference coach of the year once at Montana.
He was told of the decision Monday night by Miller and John Wadas, an associate athletic director who works with the basketball program.
Brandenburg refused to comment when approached by a Times reporter Tuesday afternoon at the SDSU basketball offices.
“Get out of my face,” he said. “Get out of my face.”
He told radio station XTRA he was “numbed” by the decision.
“I need time to think about this,” he said. “I’m not done as a coach.”
A two-sentence release issued by the school said Brandenburg will be “reassigned to other duties within the department to be determined at a mutually acceptable date.”
Brandenburg broke the news to the team in a 10-minute meeting Tuesday afternoon before the news conference. Miller and Wadas met with the players in a separate meeting, and Harrick had yet another meeting with the team. After all that, the Aztecs had a closed-door practice from 8 to 10:30 p.m.
“It’s a tough position to take over,” Harrick said. “I’m deeply saddened by what’s gone on with Jim Brandenburg, but in the same breath, I’m very excited for the opportunity. . . . “I don’t want to guarantee anything or promise anything, but I’ve asked our guys to play hard and I think they will.”
Although most were guarded in their comments, it was evident that SDSU players were relieved with the change. They have not appeared to have played hard in at least two weeks, and several players complained bitterly about Brandenburg’s negative demeanor in a story published Jan. 29 in The Times.
“I think people in games are going to see a difference in the play and a difference in motivation,” sophomore Terrence Hamilton said. “You’re going to see a spark in our ballclub.”
Senior Nelson Stewart said he figured Brandenburg would be fired after the season. When asked if he was happy it was done sooner, Stewart paused.
“I don’t know if I want to answer that,” he said.
When asked to describe the team’s mood, Stewart replied: “Nobody was down about it.”
The Aztecs, who have seven games remaining, are closing in on the worst SDSU start ever, 2-23 in the 1986-87 season. They have a 14-game losing streak, three short of tying the school record.
Miller was at a loss to explain how such a previously successful coach could experience such woes at SDSU.
“I don’t know,” Miller said. “I’ve kicked that one around, walked the streets and thought about it a lot. You try to grab (the answer) and it’s like smoke, it keeps blowing away from you.”
A source of frustration to Brandenburg throughout his SDSU tenure was the school’s inability to have an on-campus arena built. A neighborhood group filed suit over the proposed arena, and that suit is still pending. The arena was supposed to have been done in time for SDSU to play host to this year’s postseason WAC tournament, but ground has yet to be broken.
But facility or not, Miller decided that Brandenburg had a fair enough chance and, in the end, Miller simply ran out of patience.
“I think you will find other programs around the country that have been in civic arenas that have been successful,” Miller said. “You will find other programs around the country that have been in campus gymnasiums and have been successful. . . . I’m sure the lack of a major, on-campus arena is harmful, but we still have other opportunities for success. Whatever the reason, we did not achieve that success.”
Brandenburg, who was hired March 24, 1987, has two seasons remaining on his contract and receives a base salary of $70,266. Extras such as radio and television contracts increased that to well over $100,000 annually, although with Tuesday’s decision, the school will be responsible for only Brandenburg’s base salary over the next two years.
It is a sizable financial setback for SDSU, because the school also has Denny Stolz, former football coach, on its payroll as a golf coach. Stolz, also making a base of $70,266 annually, has two years left on his contract. When he was fired toward the end of the 1988 season, Stolz and SDSU reached a settlement whereby Stolz basically received a five-year deal from the point of firing.
The timing of Brandenburg’s firing is unusual because it is very rare that a collegiate coach is dismissed during the season. But Miller said it had reached the point where he decided it would serve no purpose to wait.
“We went through a complete round of Western Athletic Conference opponents, we were unsuccessful in that complete round,” Miller said. “I felt that now would be an appropriate time to make the move and the end of the season, quite frankly, would make no difference.
“I have an obligation to our players and I feel that obligation. That’s the reason for the change right now. We were going nowhere, it was a painful process and I wanted to stop the pain and get a new direction.”
That new direction, for now, is Harrick, a fiesty second-year SDSU coach who is popular among the players.
When asked why Harrick was the choice, Miller cited Harrick’s attitude.
“Enthusiasm, positive reinforcement, a fresh breath of air,” Miller said.
Harrick, who played guard for four seasons at Pepperdine, emphasized that the Aztecs need to start having fun.
“There’s no pressure on me or on the team,” Harrick said. “We can do no worse. We’re going to have fun.
“The kids have been through a lot, the program has been through a lot and Jim Brandenburg has been through a lot.”
Although Harrick said he is not yet sure what he will do differently, the Aztecs will probably switch to a more up-tempo game.
“I think we’ve got a great bunch of guys, young men who want to be loved, and you’ll see them blossom,” Harrick said. “I don’t know how they’ll respond; I hope they’ll respond that way.
“I think if you put them in a system that maybe can work, if you instill some positiveness--I do it with sugar and not vinegar--I think young men’s ears open up tremendously when they hear praise and not when they’re ridiculed.”
Although Harrick was promoted, he will work under his existing contract. He will not receive a raise and, unlike other SDSU head coaches, he will not receive a courtesy car.
“I’d do it for free,” Harrick said. “I don’t care about the money. I don’t care about the cars. I just want the chance.”
Miller said the Aztecs will embark on a national search to find a successor to Brandenburg and that Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian, who owns a condominium in San Diego and is reportedly very interested in the SDSU job, remains a possibility. Miller also said that Harrick will be considered.
“We will always open the position,” Miller said. “(Harrick) has an opportunity as the interim coach to provide his expertise and show me what kind of success he can have out there. I’m an aware person; those things register on me.
“We’ll keep all of our options open.”
Asked what kind of reaction Brandenburg had when informed of his dismissal, Miller said: “It’s a painful, numbing experience; he’s never gone through it before. He took it like a man and he’s moving on. He needs some time to heal some wounds, and I’m sure Jim Brandenburg is going to make a positive contribution to this sport wherever this sport will lead him.”
A Look at Jim Brandenburg’s Coaching Record Year by Year Record: At San Diego State 1991-92: 2-19 1990-91: 13-16 1989-90: 13-18 1988-89: 12-17 1987-88: 12-17
At Wyoming 1986-87: 24-10 1985-86: 24-12 1984-85: 15-14 1983-84: 17-13 1982-83: 16-13 1981-82: 23-7 1980-81: 24-6 1979-80: 18-10 1978-79: 15-12
At Montana 1977-78: 21-8 1976-77: 18-8 Career: 267-200