Athletic Department and NIL can't be fighting over the same money. Athletic Department can't see NIL as a competitor but instead a partner. That is what CTA was talking about in his statement. University was resistant to NIL.
Coaching Hotboard - Winning at Places that are Hard to Win
- Thread starter MMcCormick
- Start date
"fan culture" has almost nothing to do with IU's lack of success. Win consistently and fans will be there. String together more than a few winning seasons and Memorial Stadium will start to sell out.
You're right about the institution and athletic department's commitment to football though. If they're going to continue to keep their head coach and his assistants' salaries near the bottom of the Big Ten, they'll keep finishing football seasons at the bottom of the Big Ten.
It's not realistic for them to shoot for OSU/Michigan/Penn State levels, but Wisconsin and Iowa levels aren't out of the question.
IU SHOULD be on the level Wisconsin and Iowa has been the last several years. At least geographically speaking, they're better positioned for recruiting.
He can't and won't because he's an Iowa troll trying to provoke folks for shits and giggles.
And because we recruit mostly 3 star guys. You can coach up technique but size, speed, and athleticism at a 4-5 star level would help
It's the coach who builds the culture. It's the athletic department's job to hire the right coach. Since Bill Mallory, they've done that one time when they hired Terry Hoeppner. If they want to continue to hire guys on the relative cheap, then they shouldn't expect any major changes in the status quo of IU football.
Some truth to this. See my other post. Indiana is a basketball school. It isn't committed to football, and neither are the fans.
My reply was written before I saw this post. I appreciate that you responded to the request to expand. I don't agree with your assessment though. Basketball doesn't need to be an afterthought. It isn't at MSU, Wisky, Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas, or multiple other places. It appears to be at Iowa, but I don't think that's essential to football success. IU has made a significant commitment to football in the past twenty years but that hasn't solved the issue of bad coaching hires. And fans have embraced the program until they have been frustrated into staying home. Early-season crowds, student attendance, season ticket sales have all been strong but dwindled each year once bowl-eligibility was lost. Fan support at bowl appearances has been tremendous. As for donors, they've been there but agreed that's a continuing battle - especially in the NIL era. That's still a chicken-and-egg situation though.
Even ignoring the egregious off-field stuff, the end of his tenure was an absolute disaster.
His last four years: 3-9, 7-2, 3-9, 1-11
And then an interim coach comes in, with all the turmoil swirling, and takes his 1-11 roster to go 7-5.
It absolutely would NOT be an outstanding hire, neither on nor off the field.
As a donor you can give your money where ever you like. Buyouts or NIL or both. So the buy out probably will deplete the NIL pot.
His son plays for the best program in the state Loyola Acadamy. Fritz’s name has been tossed around for Iowa if and when iFerentz retires.
Chryst didn't like recruiting and mostly ignored it at Wisconsin... not what IU wants/needs out of a HC
Ehhh...we just fired a guy that had better success than Fitz did the last few years, on the Varsity side of the conference, without the benefit of 10 or so years of solid football behind him. Fitz did a good job prior to the last few years, but he inherited a really good program that Barnett and Walker had rebuilt. So he doesn't check the "turned around a bad program" box.
I have no doubts that Fitz is a better overall football coach than Allen. But someone would need to explain the last few years futility, and the culture issues that took him out at NW. Sure screams that he was coasting, and largely not dialed in to all it takes to be successful...we don't need anyone that would ever get to that approach and mindset.
I don't buy that re: the fans. if IU football was winning and even just a consistent thorn in the side of the the OSUs, Michigans and Penn States of the world fans would come out and support the team.
No one wants to come out to see a speed bump of a team. If the ESPN talking heads are circling the IU game as a potential disruptor to one of the 'top' Big Ten schools, then they're in the conversation and people are going to support that.
That said, that's just the beginning. When you're part of the national discussion, recruits take notice too. As a coach builds excitement and higher rated recruits are taking notice, things change relatively quickly.
I'm not necessarily saying that IU should follow this blue print, but Deion Sanders has made Colorado interesting in one year. Recruits who would have never considered Colorado are thinking about going there now. A good coach who is paid like a top coach could build excitement at IU. It's. BIG task, sure, but not impossible if IU wants to do it and is actually committed to it.
So much is right about this post. You do have your faithful fans that have always come to games. However it is far too few to make Memorial Stadium a home field advantage especially in the second halves of games. Fans can go ahead and blame coaching administration or facilities , but fans matter and quite frankly until it changes nothing will. You blame it on bad coaching choices lets look at history. I will go back to Lee Corso since that is my earliest recollection of IU football. He was hotshot hire from Louisville and was hot prospect, but did not work out could not get over the hump. Next you bring in Sam Wyche he was a hot coordinator from the NFL. He leaves after one year for head job in the NFL. No brainer to leave. You can't tell me administration is to blame for that. Next they bring in Bill Mallory and he becomes a mild success and is wins the most games in IU football history but struggles late and IU fires him. Again appears to be a good effort at hiring a coach. Next you bring in Cam Cameron who was not only an alum of both the football and basketball teams but is highly endorsed by the General. He was a hot prospect in the NFL circles and chooses to come back to his beloved alma mater. At the time of his hiring he looks like a homerun for IU. He quickly alienates seemingly all the high school coaches in Indiana and is a complete failure. Again it seemed to be a good hire hindsight not so much. Next comes Gerry DiNardo had some good years as OC for Notre Dame goes to Vandy as head coach and hovers just below ,500 but enough to get a job at LSU and goes 26-9 in his first 3 seasons and then drops to 4-7 and 2-9 the next 2 seasons and is fired. He is hired by IU. At the time again does not seem to be a terrible hire . Unfortunately turns out that last 2 seasons at LSU is who truly is not the the first 3. Next is Terry Hoeppner comes in from Miami of Ohio. He does start to change the culture and then tragedy. So thed thinking is you have Bill Lynch who had success in lower level but was on staff and so you hope he can continue the momentum. It was not a bad thought however it did not work. So next you bring in Kevin Wilson with no head coaching experince but his offenses were lighting up teams, His off the field problems become too much to tolerate and he is shown the door. Which brings us to Tom Allen again no head coaching experience but had success as a coordinator on the defensive side of the ball. His first game is a loss to Utah in a bowl game. He brings in a new staff. He has 2 really good seasons and takes IU to New Years day Bowl games loses both. Then he has 2 really bad years and thgat is where we are today. That does not really look like IU has not really tried hire the best person for the job. It just has not worked. But if you listen to some people on here you would think that IU has intentionally gone out and hired the worst person for the job. However I do not think that is what they have done. Ipersonally saw Florida go from one of the worst programs in SEC history to a record run. They hired a former hero in Steve Spurrier and he delivered. But even before he arrived Florida never had fans as bad as IU. They sat through some really bad years until Spurrier, Then Meyer. Now having a many average years Florida is still 90 k a game. Yes people do bitch about Napier but he is getting kids. I hope that the new coach receives some support from those other than the ones who are always there. And they don't jump ship the first time they get by OSU and Michigan because it is going to happen more often than not. They need to stop acting like they know more than the coaches because they don't. Just go there cheer for the Hoosiers and and stay to the end and be supportive.
Well we got #2 on my list and the only reason #2 was not #1 was his age. I actually feel better about Cignetti the more I have read about him.
