Athletic director Terry Gawlik addresses Zac Claus’ firing

University of Idaho Athletic Director Terry Gawlik addressed the media after Idaho’s 68-53 loss to the University of Montana. She announced that, effectively immediately, Idaho head coach Zac Claus was relieved of his coaching duties. Tim Marrion will serve as acting head coach for the remainder of the season. 

“It was a difficult decision, as it always is,” Gawlik said. “It not only affects the coaches but the student- athletes and coach’s families.” 

Although Marrion will be assuming the coaching duties for the Big Sky Tournament, the search for a new head coach is wide open. 

“We’re using a search firm, so anybody’s that’s interested (can apply),” Gawlik said. “We always want to look for someone with high character, someone who follows the rules, academics are important. Given the transfer portal, you need to be able to utilize that, and then you also need to be able to keep the kids here.” 

Gawlik later expanded on how her final hiring decision will be made. 

“It’s not (just) about X’s and O’s,” Gawlik said. “It’s about culture and who you are.” 

As college basketball has changed in recent years, it’s more difficult now than ever to get players to stick with the program. 

“One of the questions we’re going to have on the interview is ‘how are you handling the transfer portal,’” she said. “What is your experience with it, what are the biggest challenges and how do you keep kids?”    

This will be the first time Gawlik has utilized a searching firm for basketball, and only the second time overall. 

“The first one was with our football hire,” she said. “The benefit it brings to us is more people power, because here at Idaho, we don’t have our own athletic HR department.” 

One of the biggest reasons for moving forward with finding a new coach was the recent completion of the ICCU Arena. Gawlik wants the investment to pay off and for Idaho to be a top player in the Big Sky. 

“I want to compete for a conference championship, and I want to go through March Madness with a basketball team, both of them,” she said. “That’d be a really fun thing to do.”  

Claus finished his tenure at Idaho with a 28-88 overall record from 2019-2023, tallying his most wins this season with 10. He started his career as an assistant coach ahead of the 2015-16 season, was named interim head coach in July 2019, and earned the role of permanent head coach in February 2020. 

“Zac took over an incredibly challenging situation and stewarded our program with integrity and class throughout his entire tenor,” Gawlik said. “We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.” 

James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or online @jamesaldrich25.