Wake Forest fires Dino Gaudio

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After three seasons and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, it looks like Dino Gaudio has been fired by Wake Forest. A press conference is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Check back later today for more and check out the forums for more discussion.

WXII: Gaudio out at Wake Forest

Wake Forest University head basketball coach Dino Gaudio was fired Wednesday after mounting a 61-31 record during his three seasons as head coach, sources at the university confirmed.

An announcement was planned for 4:30 p.m.

Gaudio coached the team to two NCAA basketball tournament appearances and one NCAA tournament win.

He was hired in 2007 after coach Skip Prosser died suddenly from a heart attack

Gaudio, 53, joined Prosser in 1981 at a Central Catholic High School in West Virginia, and the native of Yorkville, Ohio, took over the program at tiny Wheeling Central in 1985 when Prosser left to join Xavier’s staff.

Here’s the release from WFU, which was up immediately following Wellman’s press conference, which lasted about 25 minutes.

Wake Forest’s Dino Gaudio Released From Contract

Wake Forest University Director of Athletics Ron Wellman announced today that head men’s basketball coach Dino Gaudio would not be retained. A national search for a new basketball coach will begin immediately.

“I met with Dino this afternoon and informed him that he would no longer be our basketball coach,” said Wellman.

“Dino has made contributions to this program over the last 10 seasons. He stepped into a difficult situation at a very trying time when Skip Prosser passed away and he steadied the program.

“But from a competitive standpoint, it has been disappointing that we have developed a pattern of not playing well late in the season and in the postseason. Wake Forest has a proud history of basketball success but we have not been as competitive in the postseason as we would like.”

Wellman said there was no timeline for the hiring of a new coach.

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166 Responses to Wake Forest fires Dino Gaudio

  1. GoldenChain 04/07/2010 at 7:21 PM #

    ‘Bout time they got rid of that loser!
    Oh My, whoever could be next?! Naw, never happen.

  2. Wulfpack 04/07/2010 at 7:31 PM #

    I wonder if anyone has gotten in Wellman’s ear telling him he can’t possibly expect to compete with the likes of Duke and UNC, or even Butler…doubtful.

    So now by my count, there have been four ACC coaching changes since Sid was hired (Bennett, Donahue, Clemson TBA, Wake TBA). I wonder how many more changes we have to sit back and watch before anything is done about our dormant program.

    I would kill to have seen Lee’s reaction when informed of Wellman’s decision to can Dino. Or does he even know yet? Still out on the lake?

  3. Alpha Wolf 04/07/2010 at 7:35 PM #

    Wellman didn’t fire Gaudio to hire Herb Sendek.

    That would be a slight upgrade at best.

    It would be hilarious, though. Unfortunately, we would be the butt of the joke. Then again, if there’s one thing Sidney Lowe gets loud and clear, it is rivalries. If you don’t think Wake would suddenly become a game circled in red three times you’re probably fooling yourself.

  4. wolfpacktexx 04/07/2010 at 7:49 PM #

    Wellman is a pro. This move will be well orchestrated, Wake will significantly improve their coaching status , I am confident of that. He appeared on Mark Packer’s show this afternoon and you can hear his confidence over the radio waves.
    I understand there is humor with Sendek references and such. We need humor when we are faced with such an incompetent leader of our athletic department – Uncle Jed. WFU is the school that will make moves to compete with the Big Four, I mean big Three in BBall, NCSU is not close to winning championships in any sport but Bass Fishing. You are nobody’s rival when you are Never in the championship discussion. I am so sick of Fowl-up.

  5. Dogbreath 04/07/2010 at 8:01 PM #

    Forgive me if this has already been noted, but everything you need to know can be found in Wellman’s direct, candid explanation.

    He was troubled by Gaudio-coached teams tendency to fade late in the season. Therefore, you can rule out Barnes or HWSNBN.

    Wellman doesn’t fuck around.

    Say hello to Brad Stevens. I expect a Friday morning press conference, if not tomorrow.

  6. ADVENTUROO 04/07/2010 at 8:04 PM #

    My wife listened to the Post Game ACC Tourney interview when Dino’s boys exited….and we read about it….Dino had a case of the MOUTH. He said, and I paraphrase….”I coached a winning game by the players played a losing game”. That caused a buzz by some of the folks attending the ACC Tourney….Dino’s not the coach that Prosser was.

    He has not, as Wellman pointed out, achieved what could have been achieved. Remember how the honored Brad D at UNX…then threw him out.

    I think that Dino’s mouth was his undoing….

    I have NO inside info….just an observance. Even old Huckleberry Roy handled his losses better. He just kept on “aw shucks, I trying everything I can” He was more than impatient with his squad and called them out…but he freely admitted that he could NOT change what he thought needed to change and it would take a while.

    SO…WFU has an opening….it will be interesting to see WHO DOES eventually fill it….

  7. wolfpacktexx 04/07/2010 at 8:09 PM #

    Dogbreath agreed. If not Stevens it will be another well thought out execution of candidate to hire. (excuse the Sophomoric expression) Fowl-up – you could not carry Wellman’s jock.

  8. packplantpath 04/07/2010 at 8:23 PM #

    “Then again, if there’s one thing Sidney Lowe gets loud and clear, it is rivalries. If you don’t think Wake would suddenly become a game circled in red three times you’re probably fooling yourself.”

    If that’s the explanation for the losses to this years awful UNC team (twice), maybe we need another strategy….

  9. Wulfpack 04/07/2010 at 8:24 PM #

    Somebody earlier mentioned the timing of this decision seems a bit odd, that the decision could have been made much earlier, and I certainly agree with that assessment. However, what we don’t know is how this decision came to be. It’s possible Wellman was influenced by Butler’s run through the NCAA Tourney as well as Duke’s run to the title. He likely asked himself, “How can this team accomplish so much where my team accomplishes so little?”. Dino recruited very well but didn’t win nearly enough, and faltered down the stretch. At some point, you have to ask yourself what is going on. If you’re getting good players, but they aren’t performing when it really matters, then what gives? Keeping a coach simply because the players “like” him, or because recruiting looks pretty good, is no reason to keep a coach if the FACTS (i.e. win/loss record over three years) don’t support the conclusion that the program is advancing. Objective measures: what a concept.

    I also think Wellman has also been influenced by Grobe’s success. He doesn’t do it with the best players in the world, but he does it. And he does it in a dignified manner. In basketball, all you need is a few good players and you’ve got a great shot. Far different in football. Many more factors involved.

    It could be any number of things. But I salute the guy for pulling the trigger when it may have not been the popular move. My hunch is he will be rewarded.

  10. packbackr04 04/07/2010 at 8:31 PM #

    NOW THAT IS SOME ATHLETIC DIRECTING RIGHT THERE!
    anyone who thinks Stevens is not ALREADY the next coach at Wake is kidding themselves. you dont fire a semi-succesful person IN ANY position in America without already having their replacement in place. Stevens is in Winston looking at houses by now. Welcome to HELL wolfpack fans. i am much more afraid of stevens than i am of K or Roy, both of whom have 10 more years in them (maybe) each. Brad Stevens is a name you will come to rue.

    Woodson, in your attempt to seem reasonable and wait to dismiss ole Lee, you missed the boat. so now when you fire fowler, it will be like $hiting on my cupcake and telling me its whipped cream.

  11. choppack1 04/07/2010 at 8:38 PM #

    Boy, quite a contrast.

    Athletic Director #1 – runs one one of smallest schools in BCS conferences, but has overseen an athletic department that won an ACC championship in football, went to 3 straight bowl games, won a national soccer title, won a national field hockey title. Fires men’s basketball after making 2 straight tournaments in his 3rd year. That coach’s worst ACC record: 7-9.

    Athletic Director #2 – runs athletic department of biggest school in same state. Currently last in Sears Cup in the ACC, 4 straight losing seasons in football, no national titles, no ACC titles in men’s, women’s or football. Kept a coach who was at school for 10 years, only advancing to NCAA 5 times. Current basketball has never made NCAAs in 4 years. His BEST conference record is 6-10. AD is conifident program is headed in the right direction.

    This is why I’m starting to hate my alma mater.

  12. MatSci94 04/07/2010 at 8:46 PM #

    “you dont fire a semi-succesful person IN ANY position in America without already having their replacement in place.”

    I know of a place that doesn’t do things that way.

  13. JeremyH 04/07/2010 at 9:04 PM #

    ^^ I’m very fond of this post choppack, laying it out as objectively as possible (Murrow-esque?), without succumbing to any sort of personal attack. The uncle Jed schtick found at this site I think makes what is said less credible. BUT I do understand we certainly need some sort of comic relief. Dammit, it stinks what has been done to our alma mater. At least the Lions were able to shed Matt Millen.

  14. jbpackfan 04/07/2010 at 9:18 PM #

    Chop- well said. I am saving that quote.

  15. graywolf 04/07/2010 at 9:19 PM #

    Sick of losing, sick of Fowler, sick of the BOT not caring?

    Solution : Write a letter explaining why you are going to Stop sending them money and walk away until the changes you expect occur.

    Money and your action make a difference.

  16. bradleyb123 04/07/2010 at 9:36 PM #

    anyone who thinks Stevens is not ALREADY the next coach at Wake is kidding themselves. you dont fire a semi-succesful person IN ANY position in America without already having their replacement in place. Stevens is in Winston looking at houses by now. Welcome to HELL wolfpack fans. i am much more afraid of stevens than i am of K or Roy, both of whom have 10 more years in them (maybe) each. Brad Stevens is a name you will come to rue.

    Sorry. I’m not sold on Stevens. When he is successful at a D-1 school in a top basketball conference, then I’ll be sold on him. People act like he’s God’s gift to coaching or something. When he tries to coach in the ACC or the Big East, there may be a lot of opinions changing about him. Success at a mid-major does not mean success anywhere else. Keep in mind where Sid’s predecessor came from.

    It’s no surprise that the anti-Sid crowd is using these coaching changes as an opportunity to bash Sid. Never mind that it serves NO PURPOSE to do so because Sid has AT LEAST one more year. Maybe two. And well he should. The basketball team IS heading in the right direction — every bit as much as the football team, and maybe more so.

    It might make sense to replace Sid with someone like Rick Barnes. It would make NO SENSE to replace Sid with someone like Stevens from Butler. That would be another roll of the dice, and frankly, it makes more sense to see what Sid can do when he FINALLY has a top-notch point guard.

  17. LRM 04/07/2010 at 9:42 PM #

    Yeah, if only Stevens had some kind of tangible, quantifiable evidence that he can coach…

  18. quacko 04/07/2010 at 10:07 PM #

    “Sorry. I’m not sold on Stevens. When he is successful at a D-1 school in a top basketball conference, then I’ll be sold on him.”

    yep he had way too many advantages at Butler to be taken seriously. let him go through some real adversity, then we’ll judge him.

    “People act like he’s God’s gift to coaching or something. When he tries to coach in the ACC or the Big East, there may be a lot of opinions changing about him.”

    or, they may stay the same as now. i know where my money is. but then again, he did inherit a powerhouse program w/ tons of talent.

    ” Success at a mid-major does not mean success anywhere else. Keep in mind where Sid’s predecessor came from.”

    remind me again about that time HWSNBN took the redhawks past the first round

  19. packfan03 04/07/2010 at 10:12 PM #

    I’ll reserve judgement until the hire is made. However, there is NO DOUBT that Wellman has his S#*@ together. I would be absolutely shocked if this search wasn’t handled successfully.

  20. StateFans 04/07/2010 at 10:35 PM #

    Ron Wellman quotes from today’s press conference

    http://www.scacchoops.com/tt_NewsBreaker_External.asp?NB=3560

  21. BJD95 04/07/2010 at 10:36 PM #

    Here’s the key, in a nutshell. Every Wake fan I know figured out (by late Feb) that it was more or less inevitable that Dino wasn’t going to get it done and would be fired in a year or two. It was clear Wellman saw the same thing.

    But lo and behold, he had the stones not to play out the string and see if he could suck out with Jack-four offsuit. Good for f-ing him and the school he works for.

    Looks like he learned his lesson from the Jim Caldwell affair.

  22. LRM 04/07/2010 at 10:43 PM #

    Hopefully for Wellman, Randolph Childress is available, otherwise I just don’t know who on earth he could expect to hire?

  23. packof81 04/07/2010 at 10:52 PM #

    Well packbackr04, I did not expect cupcakes to come into this discussion but I also hope Woodson takes care of business soon.

    How long does it take for the effete academicians to realize that the athletics program is the public face of the university? It is the grail shaped beacon. And ours has been allowed to fall into disrepair and stay that way. The basketball program has languished for 2 decades. Seems like somewhere along the way somebody influential would get hit by the clue stick and speak up.

    Or is it this way by design? I have to wonder. Even a clock that doesn’t run is right twice a day.

  24. PackerInRussia 04/07/2010 at 11:08 PM #

    I’ve been reserving this strategy for a desperate time, but seeing coaching moves all around me makes me a bit antsy. I think I’m going to start doing what small-time schools do and pull for my time while also picking a “real” team to pull for (i.e. “I go to UNC-G, but I pull for the Tar Heels.”). I think I’ll become a Butler fan.

  25. BJD95 04/07/2010 at 11:23 PM #

    I’m glad so many folks have reached their tipping point. Welcome to my world, kids!

    In case you’re wondering whether things can be fixed? The answer is no. Hell no. You snooze, you lose. This is what happens when nobody is working the Final Four on NC State’s behalf. What a freaking waste.

    Glad they don’t have a penny of my money in 2010. Better late than never to wake the hell up.

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