Gottlieb transferred to Golden West College (GWC), where he received an Associate of Arts in business. Despite offers from Cincinnati, Alabama, and others to transfer and sit out a season on their campus, Gottlieb chose to sit out his transfer year at Golden West College. GWC was coached by his former Tustin coach Tom McCluskey, and Gottlieb took on the role of redshirt player/coach. He practiced with the team and traveled to road games as the assistant coach. In addition, Gottlieb was a volunteer assistant at his high school, under Andy Ground. In one game at Santa Ana Valley, Ground was ejected, and Gottlieb coached the team to an overtime loss.