Long Beach State's AD shamelessly said firing coach Dan Monson was actually just an inspiration ploy

In what feels more and more like an episode of Arrested Development, Long Beach State athletic director Bobby Smitheran has given an incredibly strange reason for firing coach Dan Monson right before he led the Beach to the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament.

Per ESPN and the Associated Press, Smitheran said he fired Monson, who had been with the team since 2007, to inspire the Beach to perform on the court.

Yes, really, they apparently fired the head coach to try and encourage the team to play better. That’s the reason the athletic director gave. We’re exactly sure that’s the reason why the Beach made this year’s NCAA tournament:

“My belief and hope is that by doing what I did and the timing of it, they would play inspired, and that’s what they did,” Bobby Smitheran told ESPN/AP on Thursday. “I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but it worked.”

Smitheran doesn’t see Monson as being “fired” because of the arrangement allegedly being a mutually agreed need for a change in leadership.

“I don’t buy into that narrative,” Smitheran said of Monson’s parting of ways being a firing. “I think this is really getting lost on people, that we agreed that a change in leadership was necessary. This was something Coach Monson brought to me.”

Monson was let go before Long Beach State punched its March Madness ticket, but agreed to coach the team through the rest of the season — which now includes Thursday’s first-round game against Arizona.

The temporary coach poked fun at his job arrangement before Thursday’s matchup, comparing it to an episode of Seinfeld.

This is easily the weirdest story to come out of March Madness, and we’re very curious to see where this goes for Monson and Long Beach State.