We’re 4-5 in Big 12 play in year six of the Travis Ford experiment. We’ve seen 13-15 guys come into the program and leave before their four years are up. We’re approaching a low enough APR to get us banned from post season play…if we qualify. Enough is enough

Mentally, many of us have moved on. I humbly suggest we start looking now, and the right man for the job is Doug Gottlieb. What? No, stop laughing. Seriously give me a chance to explain. I will swiftly and dramatically cast aside all objections to bringing Doug Gottlieb back to Stillwater as head coach. I’m like the original Karate kid...not the nepotistic version with Will Smiths kid.

Edna, a 75 year old POSSE member from Edmond- Pokelahoma, I loved watching Doug play, but he’s never coached before and this is a big job. How can we trust him to do well?

P: Edna, coaching basketball is not rocket science and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Our current guy coached at places like Campbellsville and UMASS before we gave him all our money. The guy he lost to on Monday? Never coached anywhere. Experience is not a necessary condition for success. I might also suggest that being the son of a former college coach, like Doug is, represents a lifetime of training.

Jim from Pawnee Fine, maybe experience isn’t everything, but recruiting might be. How would Doug recruit?

P: Recruiting is about charisma….also needed for TV and radio success. Doug speaks to millions of people every night. I think 17 year old high school students will be easy comparatively. His name recognition will get him in doors that would not be open to other coaches with less experience. Can you imagine a recruit hearing "Oklahoma State is so great I’d rather work there than broadcast the Final Four?" Plus, brother Gregg is a well respected assistant coach and would likely follow Doug.

A rich Guy in Tulsa- I really like having my butt kissed, especially after a massage. Doug going to make me feel good and open my wallet?

P: Were you listening to the last question? He regularly serves as MC of the POSSE auction etc. I think you’d see a resurgence of donor interest when one of Eddie’s former players comes back to lead this team. He's got the current guys ability to sell used cars with a smile while retaining a sense of decency and values that will easily relate to others who spent time in Stillwater.

A poster from a prominent message board- Doug said something less than glowing about Eddie like 10 years ago he clearly hates OSU and all that we stand for. Plus he says we suck when we suck, shorts on backward can't shoot free throws grumble grumble grumble Fire Gottlieb! How can you want him to be our coach!?

P: Doug helps out with the POSSE auction. He loves Stillwater, met, Mr’s G here and regularly admits we helped him grow into the man he is today. In the current state of our program, a man who can love us and our program enough to be honest about where we are, where we are going and how we will get there is EXACTLY the man we need. Besides, we’ve won one tourney game in almost ten years. We haven’t been good.

That other stuff is kind of stupid. Somebody else can coach free throws and...stop drooling on the carpet. You're staining it.

Bob from Dallas

Pokelahoma I sit in the 200 level and I like having a whole row to myself. Will Doug bring people back?

P: Bob I believe he will, we've always been a group that relates and embraces our own. Doug played in one of our more popular eras, would get big involvement from former teammates too. If Doug can’t restore the rowdy then it is dead and dead for good.

A Syracuse fan- Credit ca….

P: Shut up, I can only hope to be so successful that a mistake I made 15 years ago still gets thrown in my face. He’s lived a life of real repentance after it, always owns up to his screw up and would be a great counselor to players when they inevitably make their own mistakes.

A Cattle Rancher in Boise City- Ok all this sounds great, and you've really made some good points, but would Doug even want to do it? He has a sweet gig now.

P: Well Mrs G is from here, and two years ago he openly campaigned on the radio for the KState gig. If he wants to coach at a rural farm school, why not the one he played at? He also wouldn't be stepping on the Suttons anymore and that's important.

I know this isn't a traditional proposal and frankly it won’t happen this season. We’d owe Travis Ford something like twelve million dollars if we fired him today. Keep it in mind for next season though, or the season after that, or whenever Ford inevitably goes. The time to bring Doug home is drawing closer and I hope you'll help me get it done.