Here is the sad reality of IU's coaching search...
Sorry. Just the facts, ma'am.
- Big name coach or not, they all realize IU is going to be a long term rebuild - longer than fan base patience in the IU fish bowl.
- The expected length of tenure is currently 4 years, maybe less, depending on performance vs expectations.
- The IU fan base expects the team to compete for B1G titles, reverse the losing string to Purdue, and make deep runs in the ncaa within that time frame.
- The IU administration is not afraid to pull the ripcord, even with huge buyouts, thereby potentially ruining a coach's career if they don't meet expectations, even if the team's record improves each year.
- For a rapid turnaround, prospective coaches will want to know where they will get the players when:
- Most of the current team is scrambling to the transfer portal,
- Top transfers from other programs want to go to currently winning programs, and
- Matt Painter has come into his own with top recruits throughout Indiana, and has a team that could be in the top 10 for the next few years.
- Even with top recruits, IU has shown no real progress toward meeting the fan base expectations.
- The mystique of the 5 banners is no longer a major selling point to coaches and elite players - who care only about what the program has done lately.
- There is a growing belief that IU's "brand" is more about RMK than IU - kind of how UCLA's brand is more about Wooden than the program itself.
- So with all those considerations, why would a successful coaching candidate - even at a mid-major program - want to abandon a good thing for IU's collapsing program, when they can wait for a more promising career move at a top program that has only stumbled for a few years? Texas or OU may not have the storied history of IU, but have had considerable success far more recently than IU.
Sorry. Just the facts, ma'am.