Epic Fail Illinois - South Carolina is a better job
- Thread starter BSpringsteen
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hawkforlife9
Well-Known Member
Illinois will be back, but it will take a herculean effort.
hawkforlife9
Well-Known Member
He looks like a great coach... but mid-majors have had a tough time making it at the next level.
HawkeyeShane
Well-Known Member
Don't tell Fran that...
ColumbusHawk
Well-Known Member
Or Thad Matta & Bill Self.
I think the Illannoy nation has turned this into a circus. I really think that Tom Izzo's comments on the day Bruce Weber was fired have some truth. When possible candidates look at how the mob ran a coach like Weber out of town, they may have second thoughts about taking a serious look at the Illinois job. I mean Weber wasn't a great coach, but he certainly wasn't a bad one either. And he also was a class act as a person. Major conference jobs open up every year, and if you're a big-time candidate and you saw what happened in the end to Weber at Illinois, you might be inclined to pass on Illinois and just wait for the next one. The coaching search has been a circus, but it has really been a circus since about January when the pressure was starting to amount against Weber.
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I'm actually getting curious: Shaka Smart is a Midwestern guy (he went to college in Ohio) and he turned down what would have been a considerable raise to stay at VCU. Brad Stephens must also know the Midwest (I'll be charitable and assume that he'd fare much better at Illinois than Lick did at Iowa), and he also turned them down flat...
There has to be something that they know about the job that we don't. Seriously. Considering that these coaches who have proven to be incredibly effective turn down a job with a considerable pay raise to work at a school with a nice history and is in the best conference in the country... that signals that something's afoul at Illinois.
There has to be something that they know about the job that we don't. Seriously. Considering that these coaches who have proven to be incredibly effective turn down a job with a considerable pay raise to work at a school with a nice history and is in the best conference in the country... that signals that something's afoul at Illinois.
BSpringsteen
Well-Known Member
1) C-U isn't a great town.
2) Unrealistic expectations
3) Unrealistic recruiting expectations that will never come to fruition.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Illinois is in a big mess...internal issues, fans are ticked off a new admin, Prez let go a while back....two trustees didn't support the football hire because he was white, despite the FB coach hiring black coordinators..one of the same trustees (Montgomery) was furious today regarding Groce.
Were I Groce, I might try to sit this one out. The inmates are trying to take over the asylum.
Were I Groce, I might try to sit this one out. The inmates are trying to take over the asylum.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Good read from an Illini fan on SB Nation
Illini Fans Are Upset: But It Is Important To Understand Why - Hail to the Orange
"Yes, I understand that there are many coaches that rise up from the lower ranks to become coaching greats, but frankly, there are many more Todd Lickliters out there than Bill Selfs. And frankly, Matta, Self and Lickliter all had far more impressive resumes coming into the Big Ten than does John Groce."
and
"John Groce isn't what is getting people upset, it is the fact that seven years removed from a Final Four, we are hiring an unproven commodity. After hiring well known coaches with successful track records we are hiring a MAC coach that has not finished higher than third in his league. ...No Illinois fan should be happy with the knowledge that their program has deteriorated to such a degree in less than a decade, nor should they be satisfied that we ended up firing Bruce Weber for someone who is an even greater unknown."
I think Illini fans are being forced to ingest a big ole glass of reality and it tastes like mud....and they were the last ones to know.
Illini Fans Are Upset: But It Is Important To Understand Why - Hail to the Orange
"Yes, I understand that there are many coaches that rise up from the lower ranks to become coaching greats, but frankly, there are many more Todd Lickliters out there than Bill Selfs. And frankly, Matta, Self and Lickliter all had far more impressive resumes coming into the Big Ten than does John Groce."
and
"John Groce isn't what is getting people upset, it is the fact that seven years removed from a Final Four, we are hiring an unproven commodity. After hiring well known coaches with successful track records we are hiring a MAC coach that has not finished higher than third in his league. ...No Illinois fan should be happy with the knowledge that their program has deteriorated to such a degree in less than a decade, nor should they be satisfied that we ended up firing Bruce Weber for someone who is an even greater unknown."
I think Illini fans are being forced to ingest a big ole glass of reality and it tastes like mud....and they were the last ones to know.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Here is his resume, to date:
2005-07 Texas A&M University, Administrative Assistant
2007 University of Kentucky, Basketball Operations
2008-2012 University of Illinois, Assistant Coach
While that is a better resume than Fred Hoiberg had when Pollard hired him, it's thin.
BUT, if you put the right assistants around him...veteran X's and X's guys, something like that could work. Because Howard would probably be a Chicago AAU machine favorite...that is, IF Illinois wants to appeal to that machine.
Doublewide
Well-Known Member
As an Illinois fan I am really disheartened with the direction of the new AD is going(And thats tough to beat because RG should have retired long ago). His FB hire might be fine I don't know I will not judge him on that but MT is royally ******* this BB hire. God damn I am frustrated. And the whole country is laughing at Illinois.....
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Don't be coy, JD. The "Chicago AAU machine favorite" is the bag man. The guy who handles the money so the HC and AD have plausible deniability. Groce was prolly the bag man at OSU. Illinois needs a bag man if they want to get anything decent out of Chicago. The smoke around guys like Derrick Rose and Anthony Davis is gonna lead to a fire that's gonna get someone burned. Shaka and Stevens are smart enough to know they don't want to ruin their 30 year careers at this stage with a show-cause penalty to make some fat, toothless hillbilly farmer from Rantoul or pimply, virginal 22 year old male member of the Orange Krush from North Aurora happy for a few hours on a March afternoon.
Doublewide
Well-Known Member
This is not far from the truth with Illinois BB.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
MT isn't screwing it up. Speculation is that Montgomery from the BOT is the one running to the media every 10 minutes (Chicago papers are the ones breaking the stories). Say what you will about Guenther, but he knew how to navigate the political hacks on the BOT and he would appoint "the one man search committee" and these leaks didn't happen with him at the helm. Rumor had it RG went to interview Sampson and no one knew where he was going. Sampson's side leaked the interview and RG told the guy to pound sand (which probably saved the Illini headaches). I liked the Football Guy's style - his results sucked, but his style was fitting of the State of Illinois.
Doublewide
Well-Known Member
Very Interesting and I dont doubt you. I am not an a UI alum unlike the rest of my family(I am the odd one out who went to ISU). My old man knows people and says the same thing.
