The Package

[cryano]

When Woodson was hired…I didn't love it when I first heard he would be the next IU coach.

I then found out it wasnt a Woodson hire, it was a Woodson Package…and I loved the hire.

That package included Thad Matta to make sure all of the differences in college and NBA were taken care of and made aware.

That package included Dane Fife, a coach-in-waiting of sorts, to ride out the transition of Woodson’s short term and be the next IU face to lead IU basketball. Stealing Fife back from Izzo and keeping him from MichSt seemed ideal.

The Package fell apart quickly…and Woodson has fallen on his face.

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

When Woodson was hired…I didn't love it when I first heard he would be the next IU coach.

I then found out it wasnt a Woodson hire, it was a Woodson Package…and I loved the hire.

That package included Thad Matta to make sure all of the differences in college and NBA were taken care of and made aware.

That package included Dane Fife, a coach-in-waiting of sorts, to ride out the transition of Woodson’s short term and be the next IU face to lead IU basketball. Stealing Fife back from Izzo and keeping him from MichSt seemed ideal.

The Package fell apart quickly…and Woodson has fallen on his face.

Turns out college coaching experience and a track record of winning matter.

 

[bsmitty08]

It’s about building a culture and a TEAM.
This team is loaded with accolades for individuals..
3 five stars
Ballo PAC 12 player of the year
Rice PAC 12 freshman of the year

Then compare it to a roster of Iowa st, Purdue.

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

When Woodson was hired…I didn't love it when I first heard he would be the next IU coach.

I then found out it wasnt a Woodson hire, it was a Woodson Package…and I loved the hire.

That package included Thad Matta to make sure all of the differences in college and NBA were taken care of and made aware.

That package included Dane Fife, a coach-in-waiting of sorts, to ride out the transition of Woodson’s short term and be the next IU face to lead IU basketball. Stealing Fife back from Izzo and keeping him from MichSt seemed ideal.

The Package fell apart quickly…and Woodson has fallen on his face.

That package was a weird arrangement and a result of two sides of the administration coming to some kind of middle ground.
You don’t bring in a head coach and then another successful college head coach and another younger coach in waiting at the same time and not expect that to be awkward. If you have to bring in two other coaches to help the head guy you hired, then that head coach was the wrong guy for the job. Things went south when they realized that Woody and his ego didn’t want help navigating the uncharted waters and thought he could do it all on his own. So, he hired two guys that were buddies who basically sit on the bench in some kind of semi-coma and add nothing. They cannot recruit. That cannot coach. This whole thing reeked of nepotism from the start.

 

[bailey777]

That package was a weird arrangement and a result of two sides of the administration coming to some kind of middle ground.
You don’t bring in a head coach and then another successful college head coach and another younger coach in waiting at the same time and not expect that to be awkward. If you have to bring in two other coaches to help the head guy you hired, then that head coach was the wrong guy for the job. Things went south when they realized that Woody and his ego didn’t want help navigating the uncharted waters and thought he could do it all on his own. So, he hired two guys that were buddies who basically sit on the bench in some kind of semi-coma and add nothing. They cannot recruit. That cannot coach. This whole thing reeked of nepotism from the start.

Yep.

 

[OneWayStreet]

It’s about building a culture and a TEAM.
This team is loaded with accolades for individuals..
3 five stars
Ballo PAC 12 player of the year
Rice PAC 12 freshman of the year

Then compare it to a roster of Iowa st, Purdue.

Had a 30 minute conversation with a former IU coach several years ago. All I'll say is he was highly complimentary and envious (his words) of the relationship Painter had with the Purdue admin. I was somewhat surprised at the level of admiration he expressed.

 

[Thcgh]

When Woodson was hired…I didn't love it when I first heard he would be the next IU coach.

I then found out it wasnt a Woodson hire, it was a Woodson Package…and I loved the hire.

That package included Thad Matta to make sure all of the differences in college and NBA were taken care of and made aware.

That package included Dane Fife, a coach-in-waiting of sorts, to ride out the transition of Woodson’s short term and be the next IU face to lead IU basketball. Stealing Fife back from Izzo and keeping him from MichSt seemed ideal.

The Package fell apart quickly…and Woodson has fallen on his face.

No one had to steal Fife from MSU… he was on his way out. Mike Lewis is the guy you mentioned but he was unceremoniously pushed out at last minute with no warning. He had already resigned at UCLA. Fortunately Mick brought him back with a raise. He then landed on his feet at BSU to have his center pulled away. He has handled it all with class. This program loves to shit on our coaching alumni until we decided the guy with no college coaching experience was the one. I personally think Woody is a nice guy but the experiment is a total bust.

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

No one had to steal Fife from MSU… he was on his way out. Mike Lewis is the guy you mentioned but he was unceremoniously pushed out at last minute with no warning. He had already resigned at UCLA. Fortunately Mick brought him back with a raise. He then landed on his feet at BSU to have his center pulled away. He has handled it all with class. This program loves to shit on our coaching alumni until we decided the guy with no college coaching experience was the one. I personally think Woody is a nice guy but the experiment is a total bust.

Woody was hired because he is an alum, played for Bob Knight, and had NBA coaching experience (W/L record didn't matter) and NBA "connections". Juwan Howard at UM was literally the model for the Woody hire: yep.

 

[CriticArisen]

Woody was hired because he is an alum, played for Bob Knight, and had NBA coaching experience (W/L record didn't matter) and NBA "connections". Juwan Howard at UM was literally the model for the Woody hire: yep.

Juwan fit Quinn’s narrative to hire his buddy.

 

[GeorgeStrait IU]

When Woodson was hired…I didn't love it when I first heard he would be the next IU coach.

I then found out it wasnt a Woodson hire, it was a Woodson Package…and I loved the hire.

That package included Thad Matta to make sure all of the differences in college and NBA were taken care of and made aware.

That package included Dane Fife, a coach-in-waiting of sorts, to ride out the transition of Woodson’s short term and be the next IU face to lead IU basketball. Stealing Fife back from Izzo and keeping him from MichSt seemed ideal.

The Package fell apart quickly…and Woodson has fallen on his face.

Yep 100%.. And anyone who didnt see this coming once Matta left and Fife was fired was a fool.

 

[CriticArisen]

Yep 100%.. And anyone who didnt see this coming once Matta left and Fife was fired was a fool.

Dolson tried to plug the holes with Matta and Fife but Woodson was too arrogant to cooperate positively with the arrangement. When you are the King of Indiana it is an insult to think there are any holes that need to be plugged.

This board goes through phases and there is always a group of fans that energetically support a bad coach in the face of terrible results. For years there was fanatical support for the idea that you just need to recruit the most stars according to the ranking services and one-and-dones were the pinnacle of the pyramid. Then success was just getting the highest ranked players in the portal. Now I think everyone appreciates that IU cannot have a successful program without an unusually talented coach, there is no other simple recipe for success. Even now it can’t be a choice that offends those paying NIL and can’t offend the fandom purity police that are similar to the religious police in some countries.

You cannot plug an average or slightly better than coach in to IU and expect national championships because We are IU. You need to plug in the very best coach you possibly can hire.