An uninspiring hire has produced uninspired results - OPINION

[The Watson]

IU admin worked hard to destroy men's hoops. They have no intent on bringing it back to greatness.

I do believe there is some modicum of truth in what you say. I think there was an active effort by the university in the years immediately following Knights firing to reduce the status of the men’s program. Maybe the intent was not to destroy the program, but certainly to neuter it. The result, though, is that they destroyed it.

There have been far crazier conspiracy theories. How else can you explain our epic collapse over the last 25 years?

 

[Ty Webb iu]

He could be let go tomorrow and would still be smoking the finest Cuban cigars and drinking unctuous aged Bordeaux’s for the rest of his life. This IU gig of his is just for the mad money.

Great comments!!! Though they had nothing to do with my post. Point was...
Dolson isn't going to fire Woody a year after giving him a 1MM raise for no reason. It's not going to happen. Dolson doesn't have the balls, or clout.

 

[Willdog7]

Take it from someone who's seen DePaul's fall from the 70s and 80s. Once you start sliding you better fight to the death for the results you once had and expected.

I've been one to point out that during Knight's tenure it wasn't just a straight line across in terms of 25-win seasons, which were much more impressive back then. It was mostly on a three- and four-year cycle to elite.

Now? We are 259-249 in the conference in the last 30 years. We've had single digit losses in a season only four times during that span.

People who are reasonably old, like 40 years old, have never seen what people only 10 years older, like me (OK, 11) saw and people 15-20 years older saw consistently. Now, it seems the majority of people are saying the tournament is good enough. As in, "Woody got us to the tournament two years in a row." He was 21-14 and 23-12 in those years.

That is awful. Yet, that's good to too many people.

The standard is the standard - until it's not. This is what the IU admin simply has not understood during their 30-year walk in the wilderness.

It's almost gone. The last 10 years? 192-135. 93-96 in the conference. It's such that a lot of people think that now we need patience in getting back to... what exactly?

No, we need urgency. Urgency to get back to standards and levels that, unfortunately, an ever-shrinking pool of supporters remember, aspire to and demand.

I don't think people really understand how far away we are and how long it's been. It's not a matter of, "We better fix this before we lose it". It's, "It's gone - and we need to get it back."

Woodson's not the answer. X isn't the missing piece. It's a little bit better version of Mike Davis. It's a little bit better version than Archie. We all know it. Not just because of the record but because of the basketball we see. The horrible IQ and lack of fundamentals consistently not corrected. Horrible scheme and philosophy. Idiot subbing patterns until the media calls get too loud. Idiot decision making in the auto-benchings, again, until the media calls get too loud. The roster totally devoid of any meaningful guards, point and shooting. Bad basketball. Bad roster. Meet the new guy. Same as the old guy.

It's bad. We know it's bad. Fix it. Now. Why wait? Wait for what? 19-13? 15-16? Is there a difference? Bad basketball. Bad roster. Meet the new guy. Same as the old guy.

Says you

 

[Seyton]

Says you

Right. Just my opinion. I know where you stand but I can't wait for how happy you'll be - how happy we'll all be - a few years from now!

 

[Al Bino]

IU admin worked hard to destroy men's hoops. They have no intent on bringing it back to greatness. And the fans won't care soon either. So sad.

Ah yes, the nebulous bogey man - the Administration!!

Of course, I bet, that VERY few of the people in all levels at IU, are still involved that were here when RMK was fired but don't let that keep you from a good rant. What, we are on our 4th pres and like 5th AD. Seriously doubt any Trustees are the same.

So, do they have a secret manual hidden in the administration building behind a fake panel or under a loose floorboard? I assume that book is titled - How to keep the basketball program in it's place! And they pass it on from year to year to each successive pres and AD.

Never mind, the millions of dollars spent on upgrading Assembly hall, coaches salaries, etc.. That is just cover for a bigger plot to keep IU basketball down.

Good grief.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

Ah yes, the nebulous bogey man - the Administration!!

Of course, I bet, that VERY few of the people in all levels at IU, are still involved that were here when RMK was fired but don't let that keep you from a good rant. What, we are on our 4th pres and like 5th AD. Seriously doubt any Trustees are the same.

So, do they have a secret manual hidden in the administration building behind a fake panel or under a loose floorboard? I assume that book is titled - How to keep the basketball program in it's place! And they pass it on from year to year to each successive pres and AD.

Never mind, the millions of dollars spent on upgrading Assembly hall, coaches salaries, etc.. That is just cover for a bigger plot to keep IU basketball down.

Good grief.

Triggered much?

 

[Willdog7]

Right. Just my opinion. I know where you stand but I can't wait for how happy you'll be - how happy we'll all be - a few years from now!

I hope to be dancing

 

[ulrey]

I'm not sure about the woke part. there was a rumor a couple of the players wanted to wear blouses instead of jerseys and got denied.

I knew that was gonna trigger ya

 

[ulrey]

I hope to be dancing

And get clubbed in the second round!!

 

[ams66]

I do believe there is some modicum of truth in what you say. I think there was an active effort by the university in the years immediately following Knights firing to reduce the status of the men’s program. Maybe the intent was not to destroy the program, but certainly to neuter it. The result, though, is that they destroyed it.

There have been far crazier conspiracy theories. How else can you explain our epic collapse over the last 25 years?

You're right about Brand. He couldn't stand that Knight was a bigger representative of IU than he was and he wanted to de-emphasize athletics generally. But under Herbert they hired Sampson. If he had just done what he said he would do he would likely still be here.

 

[13thman]

IU admin worked hard to destroy men's hoops. They have no intent on bringing it back to greatness. And the fans won't care soon either. So sad.

IU administration = IHSAA administration

 

[CriticArisen]

As my father in law would say, I hear the wind a blowin' but I don't see the trees a bendin'.

So I'll believe it when I see it. For now I'm forced to assume that we're simply in the new normal. We're not owed anything.

Great quote-props to your FIL.

 

[TR32]

Take it from someone who's seen DePaul's fall from the 70s and 80s. Once you start sliding you better fight to the death for the results you once had and expected.

I've been one to point out that during Knight's tenure it wasn't just a straight line across in terms of 25-win seasons, which were much more impressive back then. It was mostly on a three- and four-year cycle to elite.

Now? We are 259-249 in the conference in the last 30 years. We've had single digit losses in a season only four times during that span.

People who are reasonably old, like 40 years old, have never seen what people only 10 years older, like me (OK, 11) saw and people 15-20 years older saw consistently. Now, it seems the majority of people are saying the tournament is good enough. As in, "Woody got us to the tournament two years in a row." He was 21-14 and 23-12 in those years.

That is awful. Yet, that's good to too many people.

The standard is the standard - until it's not. This is what the IU admin simply has not understood during their 30-year walk in the wilderness.

It's almost gone. The last 10 years? 192-135. 93-96 in the conference. It's such that a lot of people think that now we need patience in getting back to... what exactly?

No, we need urgency. Urgency to get back to standards and levels that, unfortunately, an ever-shrinking pool of supporters remember, aspire to and demand.

I don't think people really understand how far away we are and how long it's been. It's not a matter of, "We better fix this before we lose it". It's, "It's gone - and we need to get it back."

Woodson's not the answer. X isn't the missing piece. It's a little bit better version of Mike Davis. It's a little bit better version than Archie. We all know it. Not just because of the record but because of the basketball we see. The horrible IQ and lack of fundamentals consistently not corrected. Horrible scheme and philosophy. Idiot subbing patterns until the media calls get too loud. Idiot decision making in the auto-benchings, again, until the media calls get too loud. The roster totally devoid of any meaningful guards, point and shooting. Bad basketball. Bad roster. Meet the new guy. Same as the old guy.

It's bad. We know it's bad. Fix it. Now. Why wait? Wait for what? 19-13? 15-16? Is there a difference? Bad basketball. Bad roster. Meet the new guy. Same as the old guy.

I fully agree. When you think through Woodson's plans, you realize he has no plan to win. He just thinks he needs better players to beat the other guy. He doesn't outprepare, outwork, out hustle or outsmart anyone, he just tries to get disgruntled transfers who have a lot of basketball ability to help him out of the hole he has dug.

 

[dbmhoosier]

Sounds like Buckner is the big hold up. Insisting a year 4 with Pearl in the bag and Dusty likely going to OSU. We just can't get out of our own damn way.

 

[achoosier]

IU stopped caring all that much about winning ages ago. Look at Mike Davis’ record in his final season… that would score Woodson an extension now.

 

[Al Bino]

Triggered much?

Vague much?

You made claims like they were facts now back them up.

 

[Univee2]

Right. Just my opinion. I know where you stand but I can't wait for how happy you'll be - how happy we'll all be - a few years from now!

No, there’s “happy” and then there’s “willdog happy,” which is elusive.

 

[CriticArisen]

This is likely the only recourse concerning a potential conflict of interest involving the Board of Trustees-Holcomb’s e-mail.

Gov Public

in.accessgov.com

 

[Tammany Hall]

Sounds like Buckner is the big hold up. Insisting a year 4 with Pearl in the bag and Dusty likely going to OSU. We just can't get out of our own damn way.

This is like cronyism in the government. Awful.

 

[dbmhoosier]

This is likely the only recourse concerning a potential conflict of interest involving the Board of Trustees-Holcomb’s e-mail.

Gov Public

in.accessgov.com

It's pretty obvious Quinn is putting his friendship with Woody way above the best interests of the program and the University.

 

[stollcpa]

Ah yes, the nebulous bogey man - the Administration!!

Of course, I bet, that VERY few of the people in all levels at IU, are still involved that were here when RMK was fired but don't let that keep you from a good rant. What, we are on our 4th pres and like 5th AD. Seriously doubt any Trustees are the same.

So, do they have a secret manual hidden in the administration building behind a fake panel or under a loose floorboard? I assume that book is titled - How to keep the basketball program in it's place! And they pass it on from year to year to each successive pres and AD.

Never mind, the millions of dollars spent on upgrading Assembly hall, coaches salaries, etc.. That is just cover for a bigger plot to keep IU basketball down.

Good grief.

I don’t think the “administration” wants to have a bad basketball program. Their meddling in the hiring of at least Woodson and Sampson was sheer incompetence.

I have no confidence that Buckner won’t continue that incompetence with keeping his buddy.

 

[Tammany Hall]

I don’t think the “administration” wants to have a bad basketball program. Their meddling in the hiring of at least Woodson and Sampson was sheer incompetence.

I have no confidence that Buckner won’t continue that incompetence with keeping his buddy.

Agree. We also suffer from ADs with little experience as ADs. Glass had no AD experience (he’s a lawyer) and he botched the Archie hire. Dolson was new to being AD (been at IU forever, most fundraising) and he got run over with the Woody hire.

ADs should manage the bball program. We have AD issues + meddling from higher ups (Presidents and BoT). That is a nightmare of governance and management and the “admin” issue we all talk about.

 

[gator mcCluskey]

Agree. We also suffer from ADs with little experience as ADs. Glass had no AD experience (he’s a lawyer) and he botched the Archie hire. Dolson was new to being AD (been at IU forever, most fundraising) and he got run over with the Woody hire.

ADs should manage the bball program. We have AD issues + meddling from higher ups (Presidents and BoT). That is a nightmare of governance and management and the “admin” issue we all talk about.

Fred Glass BETRAYED this program…he wasted 10 YEARS!!!!

 

[Willdog7]

And get clubbed in the second round!!

always negative

 

[Al Bino]

Agree. We also suffer from ADs with little experience as ADs. Glass had no AD experience (he’s a lawyer) and he botched the Archie hire. Dolson was new to being AD (been at IU forever, most fundraising) and he got run over with the Woody hire.

ADs should manage the bball program. We have AD issues + meddling from higher ups (Presidents and BoT). That is a nightmare of governance and management and the “admin” issue we all talk about.

How did Glass "botch" the Archie hire?

I have said it several times in response to posts such as yours, Archie was, from what I read, unanimously the number one hire in college basketball that year! Sure, it didn't work out but that is hindsight.

 

[Al Bino]

I don’t think the “administration” wants to have a bad basketball program. Their meddling in the hiring of at least Woodson and Sampson was sheer incompetence.

I have no confidence that Buckner won’t continue that incompetence with keeping his buddy.

It is hard for me to imagine that QB would prioritize his friend over the IU program but it would appear (if rumors are true) that he is OR he truly believes that Woodson can be successful at which point I would be shaking my head!

Hire the right AD and allow them rise or fall on their own merit. I think Dolson has been pretty good so far. This situation with the Bball program will be his biggest test. Can he overcome resistance and make the best decision for the program? Will he at any point, say something like "Let me run the program or I walk"? That would be a gutsy move that not many would take since he makes pretty good coin!

 

[Tammany Hall]

How did Glass "botch" the Archie hire?

I have said it several times in response to posts such as yours, Archie was, from what I read, unanimously the number one hire in college basketball that year! Sure, it didn't work out but that is hindsight.

As an outsider I didn’t see anything wrong with the Archie hire either. But he wasn’t a cultural fit with IUBB (probably should have been caught in the interviews) and he failed as a coach.

It is “hindsight”, but this is big time college bball and we have to judge on results. The results came in and Archie was a failure. Glass is responsible for that because he is in charge of the bball program. Not sure who else could be held accountable.

 

[Al Bino]

As an outsider I didn’t see anything wrong with the Archie hire either. But he wasn’t a cultural fit with IUBB (probably should have been caught in the interviews) and he failed as a coach.

It is “hindsight”, but this is big time college bball and we have to judge on results. The results came in and Archie was a failure. Glass is responsible for that because he is in charge of the bball program. Not sure who else could be held accountable.

Sure Glass is responsible but, IMO, that doesn't mean he "botched" the hire. He made the #1 hire in college basketball. What more could he have done? I have hired people thinking that they could do the job then realizing that I was wrong, they had to be fired.

Also, I have never understood this "cultural fit" part that several have brought up. He was hired to coach basketball and to me at least, his personality has nothing to do with it. RMK probably wasn't a cultural fit either but it seemed to work out. I have always thought that philosophically, RMK would have probably fit in better with conservative WL instead of liberal Bloomington.

In a way, this is all semantics since Archie didn't work out and it seems Dolson was forced into the Woodson hire. I just hope SOMEONE can figure out who to get at IU that will restore the program!

 

[Tammany Hall]

Sure Glass is responsible but, IMO, that doesn't mean he "botched" the hire. He made the #1 hire in college basketball. What more could he have done? I have hired people thinking that they could do the job then realizing that I was wrong, they had to be fired.

Also, I have never understood this "cultural fit" part that several have brought up. He was hired to coach basketball and to me at least, his personality has nothing to do with it. RMK probably wasn't a cultural fit either but it seemed to work out. I have always thought that philosophically, RMK would have probably fit in better with conservative WL instead of liberal Bloomington.

In a way, this is all semantics since Archie didn't work out and it seems Dolson was forced into the Woodson hire. I just hope SOMEONE can figure out who to get at IU that will restore the program!

Glass could have hired a coach that ended up being successful. In the end all we have is win/loss results to assess the job Glass did and he got it wrong. I don’t think the Archie hire was near as bad as hiring an NBA coach with no college experience, staff, or connections.

When I say culture I’m talking recruiting mostly.

Doesn’t matter. As you said all that matters is if Dolson can get something done here.

 

[Hank Reardon]

I don’t think the Archie hire was near as bad as hiring an NBA coach with no college experience, staff, or connections.

The only thing wrong with the Archie hire was keeping him a year too long. I imagine the the Covid year bought him the extra time. The Woodson hire though was inexplicably bad. A last second hail Mary, and for every successful Flutie to Phelan there are 50 balls bouncing sadly onto the ground. It was a low probability play, with unsurprising results.

But he's Buckner's guy and apparently Buckner is the Don in this organization. They must have some pretty good cigars there in the pole barn.

 

[BleedinGold]

Take it from someone who's seen DePaul's fall from the 70s and 80s. Once you start sliding you better fight to the death for the results you once had and expected.

I've been one to point out that during Knight's tenure it wasn't just a straight line across in terms of 25-win seasons, which were much more impressive back then. It was mostly on a three- and four-year cycle to elite.

Now? We are 259-249 in the conference in the last 30 years. We've had single digit losses in a season only four times during that span.

People who are reasonably old, like 40 years old, have never seen what people only 10 years older, like me (OK, 11) saw and people 15-20 years older saw consistently. Now, it seems the majority of people are saying the tournament is good enough. As in, "Woody got us to the tournament two years in a row." He was 21-14 and 23-12 in those years.

That is awful. Yet, that's good to too many people.

The standard is the standard - until it's not. This is what the IU admin simply has not understood during their 30-year walk in the wilderness.

It's almost gone. The last 10 years? 192-135. 93-96 in the conference. It's such that a lot of people think that now we need patience in getting back to... what exactly?

No, we need urgency. Urgency to get back to standards and levels that, unfortunately, an ever-shrinking pool of supporters remember, aspire to and demand.

I don't think people really understand how far away we are and how long it's been. It's not a matter of, "We better fix this before we lose it". It's, "It's gone - and we need to get it back."

Woodson's not the answer. X isn't the missing piece. It's a little bit better version of Mike Davis. It's a little bit better version than Archie. We all know it. Not just because of the record but because of the basketball we see. The horrible IQ and lack of fundamentals consistently not corrected. Horrible scheme and philosophy. Idiot subbing patterns until the media calls get too loud. Idiot decision making in the auto-benchings, again, until the media calls get too loud. The roster totally devoid of any meaningful guards, point and shooting. Bad basketball. Bad roster. Meet the new guy. Same as the old guy.

It's bad. We know it's bad. Fix it. Now. Why wait? Wait for what? 19-13? 15-16? Is there a difference? Bad basketball. Bad roster. Meet the new guy. Same as the old guy.

I like this.

IU is on pace to hire it's 7th coach in the last 25 years (assuming CMW doesn't make it through 2025).

Maybe if IU showed more urgency and had a new coach every 2 years instead of every 3.5 IU could get back to where it needs to be.....

CMW isn't the answer but neither is this strategy of urgency.

Right now IU is the like the dude that peaked in high school who thinks they are determined to be great just because of an era with an all-time coach.

Get back to a coach that works his ass off, rebuilds a culture, and will recruit a team instead of just recruiting star rankings. Embrace the suck.

Or just keep shooting at the hip and start over every 3-5 years... That's been working well.

 

[Tammany Hall]

I like this.

IU is on pace to hire it's 7th coach in the last 25 years (assuming CMW doesn't make it through 2025).

Maybe if IU showed more urgency and had a new coach every 2 years instead of every 3.5 IU could get back to where it needs to be.....

CMW isn't the answer but neither is this strategy of urgency.

Right now IU is the like the dude that peaked in high school who thinks they are determined to be great just because of an era with an all-time coach.

Get back to a coach that works his ass off, rebuilds a culture, and will recruit a team instead of just recruiting star rankings. Embrace the suck.

Or just keep shooting at the hip and start over every 3-5 years... That's been working well.

No idea what you’re talking about.

We need to churn coaches as fast as possible until we find the right one. Three years is all you need to know if a coach is good or not in the NIL/portal era.

IU is a program with a lot of resources and fan support. The right coach will take advantage of that pretty quickly. Then we stick with that coach for a while, hopefully a long time.

 

[iu2win]

Those of us who've been around a while realize how far the IU basketball program has fallen. Still, seeing the numbers (particularly the conference win/loss numbers) was stunning to me. I was still hanging on to hopes for Woody this year until the wheels started falling off. Now, looking back at the record the past two season, even making the tournament, double-digit losses are less than impressive. The first year with a new coach . . . making the tourney is a plus. The second year with TJD leading the team and double-digit losses with plenty of cupcakes on the schedule . . . meh. Third year we get this dysfunctional mess . . . inexcusable!!! The trend is certainly not upward and the prospect of possibly squeaking in as a bubble team next season would not instill confidence the program is back on track; unless back on track means .500 in conference.

 

[CriticArisen]

I like this.

IU is on pace to hire it's 7th coach in the last 25 years (assuming CMW doesn't make it through 2025).

Maybe if IU showed more urgency and had a new coach every 2 years instead of every 3.5 IU could get back to where it needs to be.....

CMW isn't the answer but neither is this strategy of urgency.

Right now IU is the like the dude that peaked in high school who thinks they are determined to be great just because of an era with an all-time coach.

Get back to a coach that works his ass off, rebuilds a culture, and will recruit a team instead of just recruiting star rankings. Embrace the suck.

Or just keep shooting at the hip and start over every 3-5 years... That's been working well.

If drawing names from a hat then increasing the frequency of new coaches to two years more than doubles the chance of a coaching lightning strike.

I think of the coaching regimes as follows-

Davis-WTF do I do now
Crean-Slappy The Clown
Sampson-Five minute oil change of college coaching tenure
Archie-Lander (nuff said)
Woodson-Let me see what I can pull out of my bag of NBA excuses.

 

[BleedinGold]

If drawing names from a hat then increasing the frequency of new coaches to two years more than doubles the chance of a coaching lightning strike.

I think of the coaching regimes as follows-

Davis-WTF do I do now
Crean-Slappy The Clown
Sampson-Five minute oil change of college coaching tenure
Archie-Lander (nuff said)
Woodson-Let me see what I can pull out of my bag of NBA excuses.

In Crean's final 6 years, he made three S16 appearances and won two B1G titles. (His first couple of years shouldn't even count with what he had to rebuild from).

And IU canned him.

Good luck finding a coach that has continuously beaten those results over six years.

You guys may not have liked Crean (I thought he was a tool), but what does a coach have to do in 5 years to feel secure at IU? (That's not a rhetorical question). Does he need a couple of E8 runs or a F4? 1 natty in his first 5 years?

What is it? Because B1G titles and second-week March appearances weren't enough ... "because we're IU."

Well, now IU isn't IU anymore, and IU's about to lose a generation of kids to their rival.

IU better get this next hire right, or at least hope that lightning strikes and IU finds a magical run to subdue the apathy and spark interest in the program from those under 30.

 

[Tammany Hall]

In Crean's final 6 years, he made three S16 appearances and won two B1G titles. (His first couple of years shouldn't even count with what he had to rebuild from).

And IU canned him.

Good luck finding a coach that has continuously beaten those results over six years.

You guys may not have liked Crean (I thought he was a tool), but what does a coach have to do in 5 years to feel secure at IU? (That's not a rhetorical question). Does he need a couple of E8 runs or a F4? 1 natty in his first 5 years?

What is it? Because B1G titles and second-week March appearances weren't enough ... "because we're IU."

Well, now IU isn't IU anymore, and IU's about to lose a generation of kids to their rival.

IU better get this next hire right, or at least hope that lightning strikes and IU finds a magical run to subdue the apathy and spark interest in the program from those under 30.

Crean fell off a cliff with results and recruiting. It was an easy call.

Lots of coaches can beat those results.

IU is just a big basketball school. All we need is a good coach to use our resources.

There is plenty of interest with fans under 30. PU has been very good for about 10 years, but no one cares.

 

[Seyton]

I like this.

IU is on pace to hire it's 7th coach in the last 25 years (assuming CMW doesn't make it through 2025).

Maybe if IU showed more urgency and had a new coach every 2 years instead of every 3.5 IU could get back to where it needs to be.....

CMW isn't the answer but neither is this strategy of urgency.

Right now IU is the like the dude that peaked in high school who thinks they are determined to be great just because of an era with an all-time coach.

Get back to a coach that works his ass off, rebuilds a culture, and will recruit a team instead of just recruiting star rankings. Embrace the suck.

Or just keep shooting at the hip and start over every 3-5 years... That's been working well.

So what are you saying here? Because a hire was bad (inept) give it a mandatory and arbitrary amount of time to keep being bad so as to maintain another arbitrary number of years between firings?

The problem with these kinds of mindsets are two-fold:

1) They focus on the wrong thing. In fact, they don't come close to focusing on anything remotely important, in this case, worrying that Mike's only been here three years, as opposed to what Mike has done in those three years and what he has set up going forward.

2) This notion that we're "starting over". From what? People regurgitate "starting over" as if it's some mystical barrier to doing better. Are people worried that "starting over" equates to time and money wasted? Why? That's exactly what it is, hence the need to... start over. You start over as many times as you need to. There's nothing noble in making conscious choices to be bad for no other reason than to avoid "starting over". What are people even talking about here?

So according to you, personally, you think we need to get rid of Woodson but you wouldn't get rid of him until he fulfills some arbitrary number of seasons so that, for some reason, he surpasses five seasons here. That sounds good. I like that. We'll suck for another three years because we decided that it's more important Mike be here for at least six years than it is to be good. And then, when that's finally imploded and the program is in even worse shape, we'll just go out and hire that kick-ass coach who'll be awesome that you referred to.

Question: why don't we just go out and hire that kick-ass coach right now?

@stollcpa - sorry you hired that bum for the Penske account. Tell Penske he has to put up with him for another five years because we don't want to "start over".

 

[Seyton]

No idea what you’re talking about.

We need to churn coaches as fast as possible until we find the right one. Three years is all you need to know if a coach is good or not in the NIL/portal era.

IU is a program with a lot of resources and fan support. The right coach will take advantage of that pretty quickly. Then we stick with that coach for a while, hopefully a long time.

Luckily for you I'm fluent in stupid. I've translated for you above.

 

[CriticArisen]

Crean fell off a cliff with results and recruiting. It was an easy call.

Lots of coaches can beat those results.

IU is just a big basketball school. All we need is a good coach to use our resources.

There is plenty of interest with fans under 30. PU has been very good for about 10 years, but no one cares.

.
...and Sampson was a huge increase in coaching ability over Crean.

 

[Seyton]

In Crean's final 6 years, he made three S16 appearances and won two B1G titles. (His first couple of years shouldn't even count with what he had to rebuild from).

And IU canned him.

Good luck finding a coach that has continuously beaten those results over six years.

You guys may not have liked Crean (I thought he was a tool), but what does a coach have to do in 5 years to feel secure at IU? (That's not a rhetorical question). Does he need a couple of E8 runs or a F4? 1 natty in his first 5 years?

What is it? Because B1G titles and second-week March appearances weren't enough ... "because we're IU."

Well, now IU isn't IU anymore, and IU's about to lose a generation of kids to their rival.

IU better get this next hire right, or at least hope that lightning strikes and IU finds a magical run to subdue the apathy and spark interest in the program from those under 30.

This is spoken like someone who's just reading statistics and didn't really know what was going on. What Crean needed to do at IU was not have such down seasons in-between great seasons. Those seasons, which sucked, only seem acceptable now that the eight seasons since he left have been so dismal. That doesn't mean we should have kept Crean. It means we missed badly on Miller and Woodson. The aspiration at the time was correct: consistent great and good seasons. It should be the same aspiration now.