Michigan

Michigan Tech coach after win over Green Bay: ‘Nobody U’ wasn’t dig by Doug Gottlieb

Published

1 year ago

December 19, 2024

Michigan Tech coach after win over Green Bay: ‘Nobody U’ wasn’t dig by Doug Gottlieb

If you want to say Michigan Tech is in the middle of nowhere, we’ll allow it. The men’s basketball team traveled four hours by bus to Green Bay for a game Wednesday, and then four hours back to campus in Houghton, in the ear of the Upper Peninsula, and that’s the shortest road trip it will have all season.

Just don’t called Michigan Tech “Nobody U,” not anymore, not after the Division II program made national headlines Wednesday with its 72-70 win over Division I Green Bay.

The win came after Green Bay’s new head coach, sports-media personality Doug Gottlieb, made the “Nobody U” comment ahead of the Michigan Tech game ― though Gottlieb has insisted he wasn’t speaking specifically of Michigan Tech, and Michigan Tech head coach Josh Buettner didn’t take it personally, either.

Of course, that didn’t stop Buettner from using the clip of Gottlieb as motivation for his players in practice this week.

“I listened to his press conference. I’m not trying to squash (Gottlieb’s comments), but if you read the whole thing, I don’t think it’s a direct shot at us,” Buettner told The News after arriving back on campus Wednesday night. “(But) we had showed the guys (the clip). Any form of motivation you can get, you’re gonna do it.

“We were somewhat prepared that it would be a pretty big story (after Tech won) … and it’s even more than what I thought it would be. I’m happy for the guys. I’m happy for Michigan Tech.”

Gottlieb, 48, has been a lightning rod this season, his first as a Division I had basketball coach, in large part because he continues to host his daily talk show on Fox Sports Radio.

The double-dipping was embraced locally in Green Bay, because Gottlieb was certain to bring visibility to the program in an era where visibility ― and donor dollars ― are so paramount. Of course, visibility doesn’t seem like such a good thing anymore, as Green Bay is off to a 2-11 start after the loss to Michigan Tech (the game was an exhibition for Tech, but not for Green Bay), including eighth straight losses.

Green Bay’s struggles are so bad that it even led to an X (formerly Twitter) war of words between ESPN’s Adam Scheffter and Gottlieb on Tuesday, when Gottlieb questioned Schefter’s sources on a story, and Schefter responded by telling Gottlieb to spend less time on social media and more time coaching his team, as the losses are piling up.

“Obviously, everybody knows Coach Gottlieb’s gonna have a little bit of a target … hosting that radio show, he’s putting himself out there,” Buettner said. “He’s kind of in a no-win situation when the world’s looking at and listening to everything you have to say.”

Following Michigan Tech’s win Wednesday, before a crowd of more than 5,000 (including many Michigan Tech alums and fans) at Resch Center in Green Bay, many X users took a dig at Gottlieb over losing to “Nobody U.” Gottlieb took exception, saying he was “done with this crap” and that he never disrespected any opponent.

Buettner backs up Gottlieb’s comments, and even pointed out that Gottlieb was complimentary of Michigan Tech on a podcast leading up Wednesday’s game.

Gottlieb’s point with “Nobody U,” he said, was that he was going to have to rethink how he scheduled in the future. He scheduled tough this season, with games against Oklahoma State, Providence and Ohio State, and that it hasn’t looked pretty. And next up is a game at Drake, which is teetering on the brink of the Associated Press Top 25, on Saturday, It’s a fine line, Gottlieb said; he made the argument you can learn more your team losing to a power program that beating a low-level program, and that’s where he threw out the “Nobody U” line.

“We just happened to be the DII team that was coming up right after he said it,” Buettner said.

Michigan Tech, with the win Wednesday, sent a statement to the rest of a very good Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that it means business. Michigan Tech is 7-3 on the season, including 2-0 in the GLIAC.

The Huskies won behind a 30-point game from junior guard Marcus Tomashek, who just happens to be a Green Bay native, but wasn’t recruited by the program in the years preceding Gottlieb’s stunning hiring in May. Tomashek is averaging 24.1 points on the season, not including the Green Bay exhibition. He’s scored 30 in a game three other times, and 40 once. It was fun to see, Buettner said, though he knows Wednesday’s performance almost certainly should put Tomashek on the Division I radar should be want to transfer up after the season.

Tomashek is one of 10 Wisconsin natives on Michigan Tech’s roster; the other six are Michigan natives. The school is academics first, known for its engineering. So Buettner, a former Michigan Tech standout, has played the long game since he was hired in April 2021, developing players out of high school. Many of those players are juniors and seniors now, and the fruits of his labor are shining through.

That’s the story Buettner wants to talk about, not the Gottlieb criticism. For the record, the two didn’t say much in the handshake line Wednesday. Gottlieb congratulated Buettner, and then walked away, to face a firestorm on X. Buettner, meanwhile, got in the bus, for the four-hour ride home ― a drive that, suddenly, didn’t seem so bad.

“It didn’t, and that’s short for us. The Chick-fil-A tasted great,” Buettner, whose team got paid a few thousand bucks to play Green Bay, said with a chuckle. “It was a great opportunity for us going into the Christmas break. … And people are talking about Michigan Tech, and Michigan Tech is a great university and a great place.

“It’s awesome for Michigan Tech. It’s a really good school in a unique part of the country.”

In the middle of nowhere, perhaps.

Nobody U, not so much.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984

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Michigan

List of active weather alerts as severe weather moves through Southeast Michigan

Published

11 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

List of active weather alerts as severe weather moves through Southeast Michigan

Severe storms bring risk of tornadoes, hail, flooding

4Warn Weather – The severe thunderstorm warnings in Monroe and Lenawee counties have expired.

A ground stoppage has also been deployed.

Click here for the latest forecast from our 4Warn Weather team.

Here’s a list of the alerts by county.

Wayne County

No active weather alerts.

Oakland County

No active weather alerts.

Macomb County

No active weather alerts.

Washtenaw County

No active weather alerts.

Monroe County

Severe thunderstorm warning expired at 8 p.m.

Livingston County

No active weather alerts.

Lenawee County

Severe thunderstorm warning expired at 7:45 p.m.

Lapeer County

No active weather alerts.

Genesee County

No active weather alerts.

St. Clair County

No active weather alerts.

Sanilac County

No active weather alerts.

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Michigan

Michigan football emphasizes return of discipline under new regime

Published

23 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Michigan football emphasizes return of discipline under new regime

The buzzword continued to come up in Schembechler Hall, from each one of the captains.

From Bryce Underwood to Jordan Marshall, Rod Moore to Trey Pierce − Michigan football players around for the previous regime and in the case of the latter two, the one before that too − each said Wednesday, March 25, that there’s a noticeable difference within the program under new coach Kyle Whittingham.

For Moore, a sixth-year player who will likely become a third-time captain when the official leaders are voted on later this summer, he recognized the vibe.

“I would say it’s kind of a similarity to coach Harbaugh’s regimen,” he said. “It’s a lot more strict than the past two years, and the weight room has kind of been a night-and-day difference than the past two years. We feel a lot stronger, a lot more progress.”

The Wolverines finished winter conditioning and Whittingham graded it with an “A+.” Hope is often the dominant mode at this time of year and adding a new coaching staff to what’s generally a positive time creates little surprise that the Wolverines are raving about the new system.

But beyond the platitudes and clichés, there are tangible examples. Take Pierce: The projected starting defensive tackle has trimmed his weight to 300 pounds while adding muscle mass to his overall frame.

“Something new that we have now is that whenever we start meetings, there’s like a loud air horn that goes off throughout the whole building,” Moore said. “The past two years, we would start the meeting at 2:30, but now we start the meeting at 2:25, even though it’s a 2:30 meeting. Just everyone being five minutes early. The coaches are holding everyone accountable in the meetings, going to class.

“Just the little things that makes a team great, not just the big, broad things that everyone sees.”

There was an implication from everyone, though nothing said explicitly, that the past two seasons featured little enforcement. Most players would show up on time for lifts, but there were those who didn’t, with few repercussions.

“It’s the little things,” Pierce said. “Guys being late for lifts, guys not being where they’re supposed to be, whether it’s [missing] class. Just enforcing that a little bit heavier, that type of thing. … A lot of coaches say that when you’re being recruited in front of your parents. But for [Whittingham] to say that in front of the huddle after practice and say, ‘That’s why I’m here,’ I would say, ‘OK, he cares. He gets it.’”

Throughout the offseason, some who’ve spent time inside the facility said the weightlifting sessions had notably more juice. The past two years felt like a carryover of the previous years in terms of style, but accountability and discipline wavered.

Now, with Doug Elisaia leading the strength and conditioning room, there are different philosophies.

Practices are a bit shorter these days – two hours – but as Marshall said, “I don’t stop moving at practice, like, we’re always doing something that’s not only going to help with us competing with teams, but our conditioning.”

Marshall believes it can take the Wolverines to the next level, he said.

Just more than a week into spring ball, players are oozing confidence. Not just in their skills − the running back room is deep, the wide receiver room has as much raw talent as at any point the past decade, the offensive line returned multiple key pieces, the secondary added depth and the defensive tackles feel underrated − but in mindset.

U-M had early, demanding lifting sessions during winter conditioning, with a clear organization.

“It introduces that factor of toughness, like we’ve been through this at 6:30 a.m., 6:15 a.m., all these days in the grind together,” Pierce said. “It improves team bonding, and puts you in the headspace of, we’ve done harder stuff than this, and nothing can break us.”

The difference between winning and losing can often be razor-thin. Will this pay off when it counts during the season?

“If I can trust you to do things maybe you don’t want to do,” Marshall said, “then I can trust you on the field when it’s the fourth quarter and we have one minute left.”

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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Michigan school bus driver wins national hero award

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Michigan school bus driver wins national hero award

LANSING, Mich. (InvestigateTV) — A Lansing school bus driver has won a national award for going above and beyond behind the wheel.

Jackie Wilkerson-Brown, known as Miss Jackie by students, transports children to and from Lansing’s Gardner and Lewton schools. She recently became the first recipient of the 2025 School Bus Driver Hero Award.

“I was like, seriously, seriously, seriously, and I just started crying,” Wilkerson-Brown said.

The award was presented by School Bus Fleet Magazine. Teachers and parents nominated Wilkerson-Brown for the honor.

Known for being fun and firm

Wilkerson-Brown is known for being fun and firm with students. She hands out candy and leads students in games like the name game on rides home.

“Being a mirror bus driver is just sitting in your bus and, ‘Sit down, stop doing that, stop jumping over the seat,’” Wilkerson-Brown said. “You have to sometimes get up out of your seat and face-to-face with your children.”

Posters of positivity line the inside of her bus.

“I keep it on my bus, and I just try to remind the kids that, you know, smile,” she said. “Kind vibes, happy lives.”

‘Unbelievable honor’

Patrick Dean, president of Dean Transportation, said the recognition is significant.

“This is an unbelievable honor for Jackie,” Dean said. “Jackie exemplifies everything it means to be a superhero bus driver.”

Todd Sharp, operations manager for Dean Transportation, said Wilkerson-Brown treats students as her own.

“When those students step up on her bus, she treats them as her own. They’re her children while they’re in her care,” Sharp said.

Wilkerson-Brown said she loves her job.

“I’m trying not to get emotional, because I love my job, I love what I do,” she said. “If you call my phone right now, the message is going to say, ‘Hey I’m busy being awesome.’ So, because I am awesome, I am awesome, and then to receive this award, and then it came and I’m employed by Dean Transportation, oh, my God, it doesn’t get any better than that.”