I was at the University of Akron when he got the axe.

Greenberg always felt like if he could have the favoritism shown to football that he could take the program to a different level. Im not sure he was wrong, but he didnt get what he wanted. His way of dealing with that was to silo himself and his program away from the athletic department and try to just do things on his own.

Greenberg was a phenomenal talent evaluator (he saw something in Nick Young, Montrezl Harrell, Dorian Finney-Smith before anyone else did...and despite not offering Steph Curry, he was the only Power 5 school to offer Curry a scholarship after he walked on for 1 year...a bit of a nothingburger, but more than anyone else saw in him at that level)

He was also phenomenal at developing plays and actions to play to his team's strengths. He wasn't so great at tying all of that together into a program philosophy. And he definitely wasnt great at glad-handing those he felt wronged him (AD dept).

The first part, the lack of a philosophy, led to mediocre results as a whole resume despite major wins for the program on a national level. That allowed his second issue, not getting along with people, to creep into his job status.

If Greenberg had more of a smooth philosophy in how to bring everyone together in his program under one roof theres not a single thing the AD dept could have done. He could pee in their Cheerios and theyd have to take it. NIT berths left him vulnerable.

So when he was on a visit with a high priority recruit during the middle of a AD dept staff meeting, it was the final straw for him. So they let him go.

If he were a tiny bit better as a leader he wouldve held his job. If he were a tiny bit better of an employee to the university he wouldve held his job. He was neither.

But he was absolutely a great mind of the game. I learned a ton from him and he was always super nice to me and helped explain certain things to me that a Head Coach should never take the time to explain to a staffer. I loved my time there and it landed me each of my next 3 jobs after it.

People who "sorta" know Greenberg think hes an asshole. And I get why. People who were under his umbrella love him. And I get why.