Nate Oats' Complicated Relationship With the Technical Foul

Alabama's head coach has a reputation for his fiery personality with officials, and his technical foul numbers back that up.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It didn't take long for Nate Oats to pick up the first technical foul of his Alabama career.

In fact, it didn't even take two full games. On Nov. 11, 2019, with 8:19 remaining in the first half of Alabama's game against Florida Atlantic, Oats received a technical foul. 

It was his first of now 22, as tracked by Tide Hoops History, that have been assessed during his tenure in Tuscaloosa, solidifying and confirming his reputation as one of the fieriest coaching personalities in college basketball. 

When the stat was brought to his attention during his Tuesday press conference ahead of No. 24 Alabama's game against Georgia, Oats explained the rationale behind his passionate attitude.

“Sometimes there’s an intensity level that needs to be brought to the game," Oats said. "Sometimes the guys don’t handle it as well, so take the intensity and direct it elsewhere. Sometimes I’m just really upset about a call, sometimes I’m trying to make a point. Sometimes I just make bad decisions. There’s probably all different reasons I’ve gotten that many. I’m not trying to get that many and it’s not necessarily a positive stat.”

Perhaps the most impressive stat is the Crimson Tide's record in games where Oats has received a technical foul: 17 wins to just 4 losses. In fact, Alabama won the first nine games in which Oats was assessed a tech. The first loss didn't come until Oats' third season, a loss to Iona in the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational. 

“We should probably get more techs then, if we’re 17-4," Oats said with a laugh. "17-4 is a higher win percentage than our overall winning percentage.”

As far as where Oats' affinity for arguing with officials came from, he claims it dates back to his days as a high school coach. 

“I was pretty fiery as a high school coach then I went to work my two years as an assistant for Coach [Bobby] Hurley, who gets a few technical himself," Oats said. "I tried to talk to him about getting less technicals, and it was kind of like calling the kettle black at this point if I told somebody that now.”

The primary result of a technical foul is the opposing team being awarded two free throws, but there's a psychological aspect to it as well. At times, it's crossing a line to get the point across to officials, and at other times, it serves as a way to ignite his own team's performance. 

After Oats' technical foul against LSU on Saturday, the Crimson Tide proceeded to outscore the Tigers 68-48 the rest of the way. 

Though 22 technical fouls seems like a high number, Oats has only been ejected from a game one time during his Alabama career. That came in a home matchup with Mississippi State on February 16, 2022, where Oats received his second technical of the game and was tossed with 8:37 remaining in the game, trailing by one point. 

“The issue with that one was his boss was in the crowd and I looked at his boss a couple times, that doesn’t go over very well. Now if there’s a director of officials in the crowd I usually don’t try to reference," Oats said.

“I just had Terry Oglesby, he was great. We’re in a lot better place than when he tossed me out of the game. We won that game too, by the way. I do know that when I got tossed we came back and won after being down. Sometimes it works, sometimes I need to shut my mouth. I’m trying to get our guys inspired without handing the other team two free points, which, being an analytics guy that’s not usually a good move.”

Despite the successes that his teams have had when he receives a technical, Oats repeated the sentiment that it's not a positive to hand the opportunity for points over to the other team.

But the temptation still looms, like an angel and devil on each of his plaid-covered shoulders. 

“I’ve got to be better. I tell myself every time I come onto the floor from the locker room, ‘just coach your team, just coach your team.’ Dan Hurley I think had it written on his wrist at one point. There’s a little bit of that with me too," Oats said.

"The more time and attention I spend on the refs, the less I’m spending on my team, and my job is to actually coach my team. But there is a point you do need to make sometimes, particularly if the same call’s not being called over and over again, and it’s hurting your team, I think you’ve got to make a point a few times. I’m not going to say all my technicals were productive ones or that I wanted them all, but 17-4 right?”

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