Sorry to jump this into another thread, just fits better here. I agree people often think some coaches should've been retained, but I really challenge someone to find an illini HC in either basketball or football that was fired too soon. We might have a lot of problems, I don't think that is one of them. Honestly can't name one off the top of my head.We're only allowed to bash a coach after they are fired. Then 7-10 years after they're gone, we get the takes on whether firing them was a mistake (see Zook + Weber)
The problem is, going 6-6 for three years straight now looks like a big accomplishment here. Same with just making the NCAAT. Of course I'd like to be at that level, but both programs were very much so mediocre towards the end of Zook and Weber, and neither coach was showing any sort of momentum, which is something you always want in a program. Optics are widely important, and often forgotten when talking about previous HCs, heck even current HCs.