Brad Underwood Named Illini Basketball Coach

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#901      

Deleted member 10005

D
Guest
Everyone has been focused on the big payday, which I'm sure helps, but at the end of the day, it may just be he didn't like the OSU AD. People don't typically leave organizations because of the organization, they leave because of a poor relationship with their boss.
 
#902      

mattcoldagelli

The Transfer Portal
Not sure if this has been discussed on here, but how does Tilmon get utilized in BU's fast guard play offense?

You still need a big to hold down the FT line area, preferably one that can get up and down the floor, pass and shoot.

Also, Underwood's teams prioritize shots at or near the rim and crash the offensive glass. A 6'10" guy helps a lot.
 
#903      
According to reports and previous posts in this thread (ie. the fantastic infamous photo of the hand on the leg), Underwood did sit down with his AD Holder on Monday before the tournament started, and that meeting did not go well. That's when the raise/contract was discussed, and the statement about wanting to be as good as Iowa State and Kansas State was made.

This touches on what my response is: this was part of a negotiating process that BU initiated, and his AD said in essence,

1. I don't value the turn-around you've made enough to move much
2. You're making close to what I can afford to pay you here
3. You'll probably never get very much here because this isn't a school that values basketball like the big boys
4. I don't have a vision that we can become one of the big boys

Contrast that with what Whitman did for him, and there's no question he made the right decision.

BTW, I have a lot of sympathy for the players. It's a part of the NCAA I don't like, but understand. The uniform has the school's name, not the coaches.

One thing I haven't heard, is what was BU told when he hired at Ok St. Did they explicitly or implicitly tell him his contract could be revisited? It's not uncommon for an employee to be sold one thing when they hire in, only to find that the company sold them on the position, but didn't really intend to deliver the support that was discussed.

As far as the Ok St AD goes, it doesn't sound like he went to bat for BU. That said, it's still a negotiation, and he was positioning to keep expectations low, given what he felt were his constraints. Whether that was a good call or not, time will tell. Clearly the way he went about it could have been a lot better, and the communication in particular went off the rails, so to speak. Kind of a classic example of a manager vs a leader. Whitman got his guy because he's a leader and was looking for a leader in a basketball coach.

I will say this as a fan, seeing Whitman's gamble is far far preferable to the past couple ADs fumble around, or play it cheap.
 
#905      
You still need a big to hold down the FT line area, preferably one that can get up and down the floor, pass and shoot.

Also, Underwood's teams prioritize shots at or near the rim and crash the offensive glass. A 6'10" guy helps a lot.

He's not going to get fed down low like he would under Groce (and might under Cuonzo) though. No point in pretending otherwise.
 
#907      
Saw this video by local OK media, and thought it was interesting about Holder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNNLnyYvTpo&sns=em

Interesting. They are talking about hiring Gottlieb. That seems insane to me. No experience running a program at all, and there's a contingency that thinks he can do it.

On BU, also interesting to hear that they had an understanding that he would get to $3 mil/year, but he was so upset with the AD about how it would be implemented that he bolted anyway.

Not in any position to judge, just find it interesting.
 
#908      
No, but as Underwood is earning that raise, you make sure that he knows you're gonna take care of him. Again, you make sure he knows. You draft some basic terms and send it to his agent. Let him know there's room for negotiation. Do it multiple times during the season so he knows. And most importantly, even if you're not going to, you tell the damn coach that you want and expect the program to win national titles, and that you will be fully supporting him in that process.

I'm not an AD, and I just came up with that in 5 seconds. Holder probably gets around 1M per year to do at least those basic things. He effed up. Plain and simple.

Ya snooze, ya lose
 
#909      

frozenrope9190

Aurora, IL
Every coach is going to say the job he just was hired to is a destination job. That's coach speak and criticizing it is grasping at straws.

His contract had a $3 million buyout which will be paid by Illinois and thus his contract was fulfilled.

I was angry and felt betrayed when Bill Self left UI like every other Illini fan, so I can sympathize with how Oklahoma State fans feel. That doesn't make what either coach did wrong. they pursued better opportunities in their profession. They got big raises. 99% of us would do the same in our own lives if someone offered to compensate us 2 or 3 times as much to do our job.

Finally, I find it a bit dubious that you think new Illini coach Underwood is "slimy" for accepting a better opportunity, and yet you believe Steve Alford was justified in covering up evidence in a rape case involving his best player. Those two opinions put together make me question your concept of ethics or else your actual motivation posting to an Illini message board. :noidea:


Yes, this.

And Alford accepted a 10 (?) year contract extension with New Mexico a week before he bolted for UCLA. That felt like a punch in the gut, I'm sure. Another reason I find him to be a bit of a louse with that contract extension. Yuck. Underwood had this in his contract that he can pursue other stuff after one year, and he exercised it.

And to the point of him rah-rahing the school during his time at OSU, of course he's going to do that while he's working there. I don't think he was actively thinking 'I don't really mean this'. I'm sure he cares about the school very much, just didn't have a good relationship with his boss (as a Operations Manager I'm very cognizant about making sure my employees are well taken care of) and left for a better opportunity.

His only obligations with his career pursuits are to himself and his family. We are the benefactors of the product he produces. Like the chef at a restaurant, someone else will cook the pasta in Stillwater, and their patrons will eat it.
 
#912      
The fact that Underwood's buyout gets reduced if Whitman leaves is, to me, the most instructive part of this whole thing.

It's not because Underwood fell in love with a guy he met earlier that day. It's because he came to realize at OSU that he didn't want to be involved with someone who wasn't ambitious and committed to taking risks to do big things.
 
#915      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Wish I could've been a fly on the wall in the meeting where they decided "our thing will be writing phrases on grease boards on live TV."

That is really hard to watch. That and the fact that those two guys are typical small market sports guys.
 
#918      

Foggy Notion

San Francisco
No OSU fans have animosity toward Illinois (if I were being snarky i'd say "why would we?" but being snarky doesn't seem to go over too well here.). Everyone had shifted to excitement about who might be next. Archie, Crean, Few, Jankovich, Self, Buzz, Scott Sutton, Gregg Marshall, Enfield, Mack, y'alls instate guy Muller, and of course Gottlieb. Lots of fun potential options. Will we swing one? No telling.

To answer your self-acknowledged snarky question that you asked while simultaneously denying that you were being snarky: because we stole your coach. Being snarky goes over just fine here as long as you can take what you dish.
 
#919      
Sensible take, grounded in reality and void of childish sentiment and jargon. You don't fit in around here, do you?



What baffles me is that so many earnestly believe Underwood took this job because Illinois is where he actually wants to be coaching. One only needs to watch the OSU introduction and then the Illinois introduction to see the lip service that he, and essentially all coaches, put on. Everyone wants to believe that their coach is in his dream job, but it just isn't always the case. Hell, we have a head football coach that holds school records here as a player and is basically the King of Stillwater and that dude, Mike Gundy, still flirts with other schools every few off seasons. The breed of coach that is actually coaching in their dream job is a rare one.



Just be happy that Illinois was willing to pay Underwood an amount no one else was willing to and that he agreed. It's a business, and at times it's slimy, but you're exactly right...Underwood will probably lead Illinois to a lot of wins, and he's no stranger to the Big Dance at this point, so things are definitely on the upswing at Illinois...and ultimately, isn't that the point of it all?



No OSU fans have animosity toward Illinois (if I were being snarky i'd say "why would we?" but being snarky doesn't seem to go over too well here.). Everyone had shifted to excitement about who might be next. Archie, Crean, Few, Jankovich, Self, Buzz, Scott Sutton, Gregg Marshall, Enfield, Mack, y'alls instate guy Muller, and of course Gottlieb. Lots of fun potential options. Will we swing one? No telling.



Who is on your top 3 wish list for your next head coach versus your top 3 of who you actually think will get hired?

Not to say they can't be the same thing of course...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#921      

sbillini

st petersburg, fl
Sensible take, grounded in reality and void of childish sentiment and jargon. You don't fit in around here, do you?...

No OSU fans have animosity toward Illinois (if I were being snarky i'd say "why would we?" but being snarky doesn't seem to go over too well here.). Everyone had shifted to excitement about who might be next. Archie, Crean, Few, Jankovich, Self, Buzz, Scott Sutton, Gregg Marshall, Enfield, Mack, y'alls instate guy Muller, and of course Gottlieb. Lots of fun potential options. Will we swing one? No telling.

Man, you're great at snarky comments, but following them up with thin-veiled attempts to walk them back in the very next sentence/post is where you fail miserably. It's ok, though. I'm sure OSU will find a great coach who can perform, is a great recruiter, and will stay loyal (if i wanted to be snarky, i'd say "they seem to have a great history of it", but that would kill my credibility come off as weirdly bitter). In all seriousness, though. I'm sure OSU will be fine. But that doesn't seem to matter to you.

And, if the OSU message boards are any indication, there's plenty of animosity from OSU fans, mostly to BU, some to the AD, but also to Illinois.
 
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#924      
Sensible take, grounded in reality and void of childish sentiment and jargon. You don't fit in around here, do you?

What baffles me is that so many earnestly believe Underwood took this job because Illinois is where he actually wants to be coaching. One only needs to watch the OSU introduction and then the Illinois introduction to see the lip service that he, and essentially all coaches, put on. Everyone wants to believe that their coach is in his dream job, but it just isn't always the case. Hell, we have a head football coach that holds school records here as a player and is basically the King of Stillwater and that dude, Mike Gundy, still flirts with other schools every few off seasons. The breed of coach that is actually coaching in their dream job is a rare one.

Just be happy that Illinois was willing to pay Underwood an amount no one else was willing to and that he agreed. It's a business, and at times it's slimy, but you're exactly right...Underwood will probably lead Illinois to a lot of wins, and he's no stranger to the Big Dance at this point, so things are definitely on the upswing at Illinois...and ultimately, isn't that the point of it all?

No OSU fans have animosity toward Illinois (if I were being snarky i'd say "why would we?" but being snarky doesn't seem to go over too well here.). Everyone had shifted to excitement about who might be next. Archie, Crean, Few, Jankovich, Self, Buzz, Scott Sutton, Gregg Marshall, Enfield, Mack, y'alls instate guy Muller, and of course Gottlieb. Lots of fun potential options. Will we swing one? No telling.

Well. He WANTS to be supported. He WANTS to be paid like a P5 head coach. He WANTS a chance to win NCs. He has all that here, so not hard to believe he WANTS to be here.
 
#925      

The Galloping Ghost

Washington, DC
I couldn't care less if our beloved is BU's dream job or not. That buyout compounded by BU's age is going to make it real difficult for him to jump ship to greener pastures.
 
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