Given the success Karl had as a Coach, 3 straight NCAA trips, the #6 team in the nation, and his reputation as a highly regarded recruiter before and after while an assistant, is it not surprising he has not received a second chance as a Head Coach?

KH had spent the past three seasons at Georgia Tech but when Damon Stodamire was released, so too were his assistants. 

To address Dude's question, in my mind, it's incredibly disappointing but the fact that he's been blackballed from becoming a head coach is not that surprising.  In the minds of many, Omargate which is my way of saying recruiting players at fraudulent prep schools, may have been permitted (as long as players were cleared to play by the NCAA Clearinghouse which was the case with all GW players) but was deemed to be morally wrong.  Coaches can't claim plausible deniability on this one because it was widely known which schools were not kosher.  Hobbs felt that he needed a competitive advantage at a program like GW's and was able to attract talent (Omar, JR, Mo Rice) who he arguably would have been unable to land in a more legitimate recruiting battle.  Depending on who you spoke to, it was considered anything from cheating to bending the rules too far to playing within the rules.  Whatever it was, it was enough for school presidents and AD's to easily take a pass on him.  

People with far greater sins have been given second chances. I think people just don’t think he’s an all that good of coach, or someone, somewhere would have certainly taken a flyer. And his sideline histrionics didn’t add to his appeal.

Let's not also forget that KH became a very petulant coach over his final four seasons at GW.  He felt that the school did not have his back and when you consider that the school president publicly criticized his recruiting practices (after the fact of course), the academic standards suddenly got much tougher as a result, and the decision was made to being in Brian Ellerbe as his top assistant (and presumed head coach in waiting should KH falter) against his will, it's hard to suggest that KH was wrong about all of this.  Nevertheless, this can easily come across as his being "difficult to work with" or "more trouble than it is worth", fair or unfair. 

The very end was a dumpster fire - recall Greg Colucci’s big find - a “hidden gem” named Matt Aiibriton. 😂😂

Last edited by Alum1 (8/14/2026 9:55 pm)

I don't buy the idea that Hobbs was "blackballed" because of recruiting violations. He was fired because the program took a dive after 2007. As to the recruits, I will never forget the end of the 26-1 season in 2006 when we won at the buzzer on Saturday; were rated #6 in the country; and the Wash Post has a FRONT PAGE headline story about the recruiting of Omar Williams. What they didn't mention was Omar was on the Dean's list that year. I also learned the Post had planned a bigger recruiting story about Georgetown but that was set aside to go after GW.

Gwmayhem wrote:

So if we can get to the point where we can agree on this, then what else is there except KH left GW marked as "damaged goods" who showed that he needed to bend the rules or break the rules (again, he didn't break any but that doesn't mean that this perception does not exist by many) in order to field highly successful teams.  "The juice is not worth the squeeze" can easily sum up how university presidents and athletic directors felt about the subject of hiring KH as their head coach after 2007.

Tom Penders managed to get hired after showing his disregard for the rules. As did John Callipari. And Rick Pitino. And Sean Miller. Now, guess what they have in common that KH does not have. (Hint: It is not a one-off story in the Washington Post that was unflattering; you need to use your eyes and you can see it!).

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

So if we can get to the point where we can agree on this, then what else is there except KH left GW marked as "damaged goods" who showed that he needed to bend the rules or break the rules (again, he didn't break any but that doesn't mean that this perception does not exist by many) in order to field highly successful teams.  "The juice is not worth the squeeze" can easily sum up how university presidents and athletic directors felt about the subject of hiring KH as their head coach after 2007.

Tom Penders managed to get hired after showing his disregard for the rules. As did John Callipari. And Rick Pitino. And Sean Miller. Now, guess what they have in common that KH does not have. (Hint: It is not a one-off story in the Washington Post that was unflattering; you need to use your eyes and you can see it!).

This is another discussion where people feel compelled to argue that it must be one or the other.  No, Hobbs as a head coach did not have Pitino's or Calipari's 900+ career wins or Miller's +.700 winning percentage.  He didn't even have TP's 594 career wins although Penders should be treated differently in that he was hired at GW for reasons well beyond his coaching record.  If the argument is that these are all more successful head coaches than Hobbs, mission accomplished.  

Hobbs did not have the overall resume to warrant receiving multiple chances as a head coach due to questionable recruiting practices.  At the same time, if we can pretend that Omargate never happened, it's very hard to fathom a head coach having the success in years 3-6 of KH's tenure that KH had and then never receive another head coaching job (despite staying in coaching his entire career).  I'll make it easy:  can you name a comparable example?

My point is that had KH had the coaching resume of others you mentioned, or had he not encountered any recruiting issues while at GW, he would most certainly would have been a head coach someplace else.  Because he lacked the coaching credentials you cited, I'll contend that he wasn't worth taking a chance on as a head coach in the eyes of university presidents and athletic directors.

DC Native wrote:

All of these comments assume that Hobbs could not have gotten another head coaching job all these years, but I'm not sure that's true. I think it is entirely possible that he could have got a job as a head coach at a low major, but preferred to be an assistant coach at a P5 school. Salaries are probably comparable, if not better at the latter, and he got to coach a higher caliber of players. And maybe he thought this was a better long-term career choice than fighting for scraps and potentially failing at a low major.

One thing we used to see more of is the hiring of "retread" college coaches.  I'm thinking of guys like Oliver Purnell etc. who would be out of the game for a few years and then reappear at smaller schools.  I think with the landscape of CBB changing so much, schools are much more inclined now to hire young ACs or G League coaches who are more in tune with the current system and who do not have that legacy of operating in the old ways of building a program (FWIW, I think ML getting back into coaching would face these same headwinds). 

Hobbs is interesting because he has obviously still been around the game as an AC while the NIL and transfer portal rules have changed, but I would bet ADs are probably viewing him as part of the old guard and not someone they'd be willing to stake their own careers on.  Call it a bias, or age discrimination, but KH may just be on the wrong side of generational change in CBB.

Oh absolutely, and I think it goes to your point about salaries being comparable.  Not disagreeing with you on that one.