Um, we hired Louisville's (one of the best baseball programs in the country) top assistant as our current HC. Why exactly is that a problem? The Big Ten is a midmajor baseball conference with weather issues. While I like the investments in facilities and the progress we've made, IU is not an attractive job in baseball. Seriously, the B1G is on par with MAC football, if that. We offered Tracy Smith a blank check to stay, but he said no, because ASU is such a better job. I believe he was making more money here than there. No clue what your issue is with Lemonis. That was a reasonable hire.
Who did you think would be clamoring to take the football job? We can't even get people to come to games? It's pretty much either coordinator or MAC HC. Wilson didn't have any HC experience either, other than HS. And it's really not unusual to hire assistants as HCs. I'm not sure if you just don't follow college football or what. Allen has turned around two different Power 5 defenses now, literally going from the 100s to the 40s-30s in one year. Acting like we just scooped him up out of Ben Davis is disingenuous.
This is why I cringe when people talk about other IU sports on this board. They seem completely befuddled as to why they don't attract every top coach in the nation. IU basketball does not equal baseball or football. They've got 100 years of losing and crappy conference prestige/weather to overcome.
Apparently you believe that you have some kind of monopoly on knowledge. Uh sport, I know where the baseball and football coaches were hired from. Your usual condescending attitude notwithstanding, IU Baseball and Football will never reach high levels until the administration manages them to reach greater success.
IU baseball had just built a brand new facility and reached the college world series under Smith. It was perfectly natural for Smith to take the ASU job -- it's one of the best college baseball jobs in the country. The question is, what happens to IU after he leaves. If the right hire is not made, all the momentum that had been generated by the program is lost. You seem to be willing to settle and assume that because it's Indiana baseball, their success was an aberration, they should just hire a "usual" candidate -- an assistant coach at another school. Yes, L'ville baseball is good. They've been ranked number 1 (actually, glass could learn from Jurich, but that's another discussion entirely). I would hope, though, that Indiana baseball could take the next step in the evolutionary process of success and attract a coach with head coaching experience. You listed the limitations of IU baseball (being in the BIG, geography (FYI -- only 75 miles away from L'ville), etc..). It's all about attitude. You seem to believe that IU needs to understand and accept its place in the NCAA baseball landscape. If that was the case, why did they build a new stadium? How did Tracy Smith have so much success?
Now let's look at football. Kevin Wilson had improved recruiting immeasurably at IU. They had gone to 2 bowl games in a row for the first time since 1990/91. You mentioned that Wilson didn't have any head coaching experience -- you're right. When he was hired, the program was mired in mediocrity (having gone through a 19-30 stretch). Just like tracy smith, he's improved the program. So when Wilson was fired, instead of "improving" the program, what did Glass do? He made a hire with no head coaching experience. I would argue that he was in a better position to get a more experience, higher profile coach this time around. If the improvement of the football program is going to continue, the standards are going to have to be raised, and that includes the hiring process.
I agree with you that the pedigree of the IU baseball and football programs do not match that of the basketball program. However, I don't believe that having higher expectations for both programs is misguided or ignorant (as seemed to be thesis of your post). I don't expect all of IU's sports programs to attract every top coach. However, I do expect the AD to attempt to continue to improve the sports programs -- especially those which are moving in a positive direction already.