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By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News
UNIVERSITY PARK – Matt Doherty says he is left-brained. His wife, Kelly, calls him a good-looking nerd.
He has been described in other ways during his college basketball coaching career. Face it – had they all been flattering, he would not be Southern Methodist University's new coach.
Rather than starting practice last Friday on the Hilltop, he still would be on the mountaintop, coaching perennial power North Carolina. His alma mater. His dream job.
His meteoric rise and sudden fall was such a high-profile, textbook case of failure that it recently was a class topic at SMU's Cox School of Business. The lecturer was Matt Doherty.
"I think it's an interesting story," says Mr. Doherty, 44. "It happens to people in business all the time. It was a hard experience but maybe one of the best things that ever happened to me."
After his forced 2003 resignation at North Carolina, Mr. Doherty responded as he always has when confronted with an issue. He analyzed it. Then he attacked it.
Now the coach who retooled himself takes over a program long due for an overhaul. SMU has not played in the NCAA Tournament since 1993.
"He's so competitive, it blows my mind," Mrs. Doherty says with a laugh. "He's all about becoming better in everything he does.
"It's tiring. It can be intimidating, if you let it be."
Such traits enabled Mr. Doherty to become a McDonald's All-American out of Long Island, N.Y., and a 6-foot-7 starter on North Carolina's 1982 national title team.
They helped him, at 37, land the Notre Dame head coaching job in 1999.
They were why he was embraced a year later as the ideal successor to low-key Bill Guthridge at North Carolina. After the Tar Heels shot to the No. 1 ranking and finished 26-7 in his first season, Mr. Doherty was named Associated Press national coach of the year.
But Mr. Doherty is the first to admit that some of those attributes caused his downfall. Naturally, those traits then compelled him to figure out what happened.
He left the profession for two years while taking leadership courses at three institutions. He returned to the bench last season, guiding Florida Atlantic to a 15-13 record.
"It's a different skill set going from an assistant to a head coach," says Mr. Doherty, who was an assistant at Davidson (1989-92) and Kansas (1992-99) before taking over at Notre Dame.
"I always discounted experience until I got let go at North Carolina – because I always thought I was smart enough to manage it."
A thorough coach
As he sits in his Moody Coliseum office, retracing his steps and missteps, Mr. Doherty keeps reaching for his day-timer.
The more he talks, the faster his mind churns, the more notes he jots. Then he uses his Treo smartphone to text an assistant coach, making sure he has a Mustangs weightlifting session covered.
"I don't like things falling through the cracks," Mr. Doherty says.
No one has ever questioned his attention to detail. But when incoming athletic director Steve Orsini hired Mr. Doherty to replace Jimmy Tubbs on April 23, many college basketball fans probably wondered if SMU was getting a borderline maniac.
What other conclusion could be drawn after his messy North Carolina exit? What are players, fans and potential employers supposed to think of a coach who lost, as Mr. Doherty put it, "the keys to the castle"?
Whether he mislaid them or had them taken away, it doesn't look good.
But Mr. Doherty's former boss, Davidson coach Bob McKillop, says SMU got a brilliant coach who simply needs another chance.
"When you give your heart over to someone and some thing and it gets ripped out – and make sure you phrase it that way; I didn't say who ripped it out – that's a very challenging experience," Mr. McKillop says.
"But it's one that offers great opportunity if you're able to weather the storm. I really believe he's on a consistent pattern of growth. This is just one more step."
Mr. McKillop speaks not only as Mr. Doherty's former boss but as his coach at Holy Trinity High School.
As a seventh-grader in Mr. McKillop's summer camp, Mr. Doherty brought a notebook and kept a log of the teaching points.
"His ability was evident right away, but in no way did that put the brakes on his ferocious work ethic," Mr. McKillop recalls. "If he was asked to do 10 pushups, he'd do 11."
Mr. Doherty's father, Walter, played minor league baseball in the 1940s. When Matt started sports in the fourth grade, Walter gave him a jockstrap and some advice:
"Don't tell the coaches, 'I know.' Just listen."
Mr. Doherty says his competitive nature comes from his mother, Mary. Having Irish blood and a house full of siblings – older sisters Meg, Nan, Maureen and younger brother John – made for a never-dull upbringing.
Even today, family miniature golf outings and Wiffle ball games remain high-spirited. Meals are referred to as "competitive dining."
"We don't look at Matthew as a public figure," says John, a private banker in New York. "We're just siblings."
Drawn to UNC
Duke, Virginia and Notre Dame courted Mr. Doherty, but it was North Carolina's Dean Smith who wooed him.
As a small forward, he was the ideal complementary player on powerhouse Tar Heel teams that included James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan. As a freshman, Mr. Doherty was the sixth man on the team that lost the '81 NCAA final to Indiana. The following season, he started on the 32-2 squad that beat Georgetown for the championship.
After the 1984 season, Mr. Doherty analyzed his NBA chances and figured he would be drafted in the third round.
But on draft day, while speaking to 300 kids at a North Carolina basketball camp, he got a tap on the shoulder. Cleveland, sixth round. He fought back tears.
Training camp a few weeks later brought another tap, this time from Cavaliers coach George Karl, who told him: "There comes a time for you to do something else."
Feeling let down by basketball, he sold government bonds on Wall Street. That way, when asked about the NBA, he could feign indifference and say: "No, man, I'm working on Wall Street."
He stayed four years, even though he dreaded going to work and daydreamed about basketball. He finally quit and moved to Charlotte to get into real estate.
The next thing he knew, he was coaching an eighth-grade AAU team and doing radio work for Davidson games. When Davidson hired Mr. McKillop in 1989, he asked Mr. Doherty to be an assistant.
Tar Heel connections
Being a Tar Heels basketball player opens coaching doors.
Dean Smith's players-turned-coaches include Mr. Karl, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, Eddie Fogler and Jeff Lebo. Carolina-blue blood is thick. Loyalty is sacred.
In 1988, Mr. Smith helped get his Tar Heels assistant, Mr. Williams, the head job at Mr. Smith's alma mater, Kansas. That paved the way for Mr. Doherty to join the Jayhawks staff in 1992.
He quickly established himself as a relentless recruiter, helping sign eight future NBA players, including Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz and Nick Collison.
"All these former players who are coaches used to work our summer camp," Mr. Smith recalls. "Most of them went to the golf course in the afternoon. Matt would be in the kitchen, making recruiting calls."
Mr. Smith retired after the 1996-97 season and was replaced by Mr. Guthridge. When Mr. Guthridge retired after the 1999-2000 season, it was universally assumed that Mr. Williams would depart Kansas for North Carolina.
Mr. Doherty certainly thought so. Having just finished 22-15 in his first season at Notre Dame, he phoned Mr. Smith to ask what he should do in the event that Kansas called about Mr. Williams' vacancy.
"Well, it's not a done deal here yet," Mr. Smith said. "You're still on the short list."
Stunned, Mr. Doherty thought "that'll never happen." A week later, he was sitting across from Mr. Smith, being offered the job.
He recalls Mr. Smith assuring that it was his program to run. In hindsight, he says he should have realized: "Whoa. OK. He's saying that, but I need to probably lean on him, seek his counsel on everything."
At Notre Dame, change was welcome. At North Carolina, Mr. Doherty ruffled tradition by bringing most of his Fighting Irish staff and pushing out Tar Heels assistants Phil Ford, Dave Hanners and Pat Sullivan.
If there were complaints the first season, they were muted by Carolina's on-court success. But with a roster full of freshmen the following season, the Tar Heels plummeted to 8-20 – their first losing record since Mr. Smith's first year, 1962.
A rumble of discontent grew, including some player complaints about Mr. Doherty's in-your-face approach. The unrest swelled the following season, even as the Tar Heels improved to 19-16 despite injuries.
"If Sean May doesn't break his foot, we win 25 games and go to the NCAA Tournament," Mr. Doherty says. "Unless I get caught with my pants down in the middle of Franklin Street with a fifth of vodka in my hand, I'm still there."
Mr. Doherty resigned in April 2003. Ever since, he says he has focused more on what he did incorrectly in Chapel Hill than how he might have been wronged. Still, he can't help but wonder which really occurred first – his ouster or Mr. Williams' sudden availability.
Two years later, Mr. Williams, mostly with Doherty recruits, won the national title.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Doherty speak by phone about once a month. Mr. Smith predicts great things for Mr. Doherty at SMU, lauding his intelligence and dynamic personality.
"He obviously knows the game and can teach it," Mr. Smith says. "He'll fit into the Highland Park community very well. I think SMU will be extremely happy with his performance."
Mr. Doherty still holds Mr. Smith in high regard and holds dear his Carolina heritage. His framed blue No. 44 Tar Heels jersey hangs near his office desk. On a nearby shelf is a framed note from Mr. Smith, wishing him luck before his first game as Tar Heels coach.
"My relationship with Coach Smith and Coach Williams is certainly different," Mr. Doherty says. "It would be like you getting a divorce from your wife and your best friend marries her.
"At some point, I think we need to have a conversation and discuss, 'OK, what did go on and what could have been handled differently on everyone's part?' "
Lessons learned
He didn't wait for closure on Carolina's end.
A friend told Mr. Doherty that he had a similar experience in the business world. He said he took a helpful course in executive leadership taught by Carol Weber at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.
One class might have sufficed, but Mr. Doherty took three. He also attended the Bell Leadership Institute in Chapel Hill and the Wharton School at Penn.
At Darden, Dr. Weber listened to Mr. Doherty's story and told him that North Carolina made some mistakes. "But so did you," she said.
She administered the Myers-Briggs personality test to Mr. Doherty and found him to be an ENTj – Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking, judging. When Dr. Weber told Mr. Doherty that only 8 percent of the population is ENTj, he swelled with pride.
"You don't understand," she said. "That means 92 percent of the population doesn't think like you think."
One of his sessions at Wharton was taught by Fran Johnston, co-founder of the Teleos Leadership Institute in Philadelphia. The topic was emotional intelligence – being aware of your emotions and how they affect others.
Mr. Doherty was spellbound. A voice in his head told him, "This is what got me in trouble at North Carolina."
After class, he approached Dr. Johnston. She agreed to one-on-one tutoring.
Mr. Doherty got a two-for-one deal. In addition to her doctorate in leadership development, Dr. Johnston has a master's in sports psychology.
He flew from Charlotte to Philadelphia once a month for two-hour sessions. She had coached numerous company CEOs, but coaches rarely seek help, especially outside the athletic realm.
"In sports, you're not supposed to show any weakness," Dr. Johnston says.
Mr. Doherty's homework assignments included envisioning his ideal basketball program; envisioning his ideal life with Kelly, 9-year-old son Tucker and 7-year-old daughter Hattie; and forming a personal board of directors.
Mr. Doherty and Dr. Johnston still talk every six weeks. When he went to Florida Atlantic, it enabled them to translate concepts into practice. One of his assistants was Rex Walters, who played under Mr. Doherty at Kansas.
"He's still very competitive, but he understands you're not going to conquer everything in a day," says Mr. Walters, who succeeded Mr. Doherty as FAU head coach. "I think he learned to delegate more, not take on every battle, just the ones worth fighting."
New beginnings
North Carolina sells out most home games in the 21,800-seat Dean Smith Center.
Last season, Florida Atlantic drew 13,341 fans total for 12 home games.
The Dohertys carried fond memories from Boca Raton, especially because it enabled Mr. Doherty to regain his coaching footing. But he calls SMU, Dallas and this juncture in his life "a healthy place for me to be."
Mrs. Doherty jokes that living in University Park is "a little Beaver Cleaverish," so idyllic she has to pinch herself.
"It's like we've come through the other side," she says.
For the record, she never thought her good-looking nerd needed fixing but admires the way he went about it. Not that he has ever done anything halfway.
"I think what he really needed to do was realize that he's not as bad as he was made out to be," she says. "I think for a while, his confidence in himself was shattered."
There is no hint of that now. In addition to recruiting, Mr. Doherty has helped Mr. Orsini raise $7 million toward a new practice facility, which will break ground within weeks. Mr. Doherty also has a blog on SMU's athletic Web site, a suggestion of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's.
Now he and the players whom he inherited are diving into a new start.
"They are really good people," he says. "They're hard-working. Very receptive."
Anyone with half a brain knows that isn't how coach and team will be evaluated. But Mr. Doherty's mentor, not the legendary one, has a good feeling.
"One of the things we talk about in our practice is people getting wakeup calls," Dr. Johnston says. "He really listened to this wakeup call."
