College Hoops Coaching Carousel

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Let me play devil's advocate...what if Brad sees the direction of college basketball with the portal, and he feels that he needs to move to a school that has more money available to pay players (Walmart type), and less restrictive admission standards?

I couldn't logically complain TOO much with that, to be honest. I understand that we cannot compete with the schools who have extraordinary and unique financial backing like Wal-Mart with Arkansas and oil money with Texas. However, I think there is zero excuse for us to not be competing with even the likes of Kansas, Indiana, Arizona and other "big-time" basketball programs. There is as much money in the Illini fan base as there is in those ones, we just have to tap into it. Hell, if you told an Illini fan in 2013 that we'd have NIL in 2022 and Illinois would be as competitive as we are in this regard, I don't think they would have believed you. That is a credit to Josh Whitman seeing how high the ceiling is for Illini Athletics and being a good enough AD to actually realize that potential!

 

[Illinifan74]

Very interesting take by Waddell in the last couple minutes there. Pretty much echoes our insiders' comments in the last day or so. Brad isn't necessarily looking to leave but would jump if the right opportunity presented itself. Dominoes would need to fall a particular way to expedite that, though.

I don't know - I guess to me, that is the definition of "looking to leave". If you are not looking to leave it should not matter if there are 10 other jobs available - because you are where you want to be, and you would not even entertain any of those schools. I am a big Underwood fan and if he would leave, would wish him nothing but the best. Him looking at other schools every off-season does not give me the "warm and fuzzies" though. Seems just a matter of when, not if, he is going to end up at another school.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I knew that anOSU has a crap arena and tepid support for mediocre teams, but 66% is pretty surprising. And pleasing to me!

Yeah, it's a bit skewed by them having a pretty big arena (18,809), so their average attendance was 12,428. Still, that is ninth in the conference. And of the five teams with a lower average attendance, three of them (Michigan, Northwestern and Rutgers) have arenas of 13,000 or less, and Minnesota was just terrible. The "embarrassing" ones here are Iowa (12,371) and especially Penn State (7,719), as both were pretty good and have capacities over 15,000.

 

[AdDoBe]

An idle question. Is there anyone on this board who would not have a conversation with an established competitor offering more money?

I would not. Of course since I work for the DoD, I would probably be thrown in jail if I did...

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I don't know - I guess to me, that is the definition of "looking to leave". If you are not looking to leave it should not matter if there are 10 other jobs available - because you are where you want to be, and you would not even entertain any of those schools. I am a big Underwood fan and if he would leave, would wish him nothing but the best. Him looking at other schools every off-season does not give me the "warm and fuzzies" though. Seems just a matter of when, not if, he is going to end up at another school.

Again, not to beat a dead horse, but I think there is a huge difference between Texas calling Brad's agent and offering absolutely insane money and Brad seriously considering it vs. Brad's agent calling an Arkansas and proactively asking them if they'd match or exceed what he's getting at Illinois (an incredibly high salary compared to the rest of the nation). The former is just due diligence and looking out for yourself, the latter speaks to at best being more-than-ready to consider leaving Illinois for the right money and at worst actively looking to leave as long as the salary is at least even.

 

[Heisenbobble]

Again, not to beat a dead horse, but I think there is a huge difference between Texas calling Brad's agent and offering absolutely insane money and Brad seriously considering it vs. Brad's agent calling an Arkansas and proactively asking them if they'd match or exceed what he's getting at Illinois (an incredibly high salary compared to the rest of the nation). The former is just due diligence and looking out for yourself, the latter speaks to at best being more-than-ready to consider leaving Illinois for the right money and at worst actively looking to leave as long as the salary is at least even.

I'm curious on some of our insiders' takes on this one. It sounds like Brad has been looking around more than just Texas reaching out to him (if they're even doing that since one insider doesn't think that's happening).

 

[sbillini]

An idle question. Is there anyone on this board who would not have a conversation with an established competitor offering more money?

If all BU/his agent are doing is a market check to make sure he's getting paid appropriately, probably should handle it a bit more tactfully as to not motivate JW to attend Xavier games.

And even if they trying to handle it tactfully, you can't blame JW for still being a bit irked. He made him the 7th highest paid coach in the country, and we were nowhere close to being the 7th best team in the country last year. Highly doubt BU is going to from 7th to 20th+ in 1 year, so probably wouldn't hurt to take a year off from market checks.

All this assuming a market check is happening (could be more, could be less...ie. nothing).

 

[BashCtIllini]

An idle question. Is there anyone on this board who would not have a conversation with an established competitor offering more money?

Big difference between answering a call and making a call. It sounds like Underwood's agent is making calls.

Would I be upset with Underwood if he wanted to go to Kansas State? Not in the least, home is home. Would I be upset if he wanted to go to Kansas or Kentucky? no.

But looking into Texas and Arkansas and whichever other schools when you currently have the 7th highest salary in college basketball, would absolutely rub me wrong if I was your boss. Especially when of the 6 guys ahead of you, 4 have won a national championship and the other 2 have made a Final 4. In fact Underwood is getting paid better than coaches that have made Final Fours and 1 that has won a national title. Underwood and Kevin Willard are the only coaches in the top 15 highest paid that haven't made at least a Sweet 16. So I fully get Whitman saying whatever dude, do what you want, but I'm going to take active steps to find a new coach while you're taking active steps to find a new school, if that is actually occurring.

 

[Ill in Cols]

Like what you did there.

I noted before that I can't take credit for this. Borrowed from another poster, but really liked it. My anOSU friends, not so much.

 

[phats22]

Yeah. He’s really excited to start tracking the coaching carousel.

Easy job, it just goes round and round and round and......

 

[Rap47]

Does anyone on here know how Mrs. Underwood likes living in CU? I would think the wives of most men would have some input in where they are going to live.

 

[Illini in Italy]

While not big in the grand salary scheme, keep in mind that if a coach making $4.5mil in salary moved to Texas without a salary bump, his take home pay would increase about $222K just due to the fact that Texas has no income tax. That's not chump change.

 

[altgeld88]

While not big in the grand salary scheme, keep in mind that if a coach making $4.5mil in salary moved to Texas without a salary bump, his take home pay would increase about $222K just due to the fact that Texas has no income tax. That's not chump change.

Tru dat. However, the property taxes are much higher generally, which bite back hard (in larger cities and burbs, at least). I speak from past experience. I saw an analysis 10-15 yrs ago that it was a wash compared with many states having income tax. Am interested to hear from Texans on the board what the sitch is these days.

 

[sacraig]

While not big in the grand salary scheme, keep in mind that if a coach making $4.5mil in salary moved to Texas without a salary bump, his take home pay would increase about $222K just due to the fact that Texas has no income tax. That's not chump change.

Texas has other taxes (property/personal property) that make up a lot of that difference. The actual fully-burdened tax rate when you consider all forms of tax actually doesn't vary that much from one state to another (with some exceptions). One way or another, we all have to pay the man.

 

[pruman91]

 

[Illini 993]

Having read thru all the pages of the last 2 Coaching threads, there is a question that I haven't seen (tho I am prone to missing stuff.) All of these rumors are coming from somewhere. It would be very informative to know where these things are started. It's quite different whether the BU crew is leaking, or if it's coming from JW. And, if it is coming from one side, what are the motives for putting it out into the public?

 

[Roundball Sage]

... I grew up in Chicago and have been down here for 25 years with some time in Seattle. I can tell you Texas has huge state pride.. So we (I consider my one at this point) believe that we are special and can be the best. With UT it's an entitlement and arrogance...

People who haven’t lived in other regions of the Country don’t have a way of understanding what the prevailing vibe of a State or region is... but all regions in our Nation have them. It’s something you have to personally feel and experience to know.

Texans have a cultural legacy of pride that is difficult for those outside of Texas to understand. Going back in time... Texas was a full-on country itself. Self-governing and supremely confident. It got... ‘assimilated’ shall we say in a way that long timers still are not happy about.

But this points to the fact that there is a State and cultural pride in Texas of being a unique place with a special history that translates itself into things like the State University. For some that morphs into an arrogance that is never all that attractive. But the ‘confidence’ and the expectations that Texans have about succeeding is real and pervasive. And sometimes, refreshing.

The State Illinois has a bit of an inferiority complex. This feeling even shows up sometimes in these pages. Not that Illinois does not have a pride and great history of its own because it does. But Texas is just supremely confident about things and Illinois sometimes struggles to feel good about itself.

You have to dream big to achieve big. Whether in Texas or Illinois... this is where is all begins. And very often the results you get are what you were expecting.

Not everyone in Texas is a UT fan. In fact, large parts of the State have no use for it. But the Panhandle loves Tech and East Texas loves A & M and the Waco area loves Baylor and so on. And one thing that people will love is when Texas and A & M are back together in a conference. That is one special rivalry.

They all love competing against each other. But in the end... they are all TEXANS.

 

[ChiefGritty]

It's quite different whether the BU crew is leaking, or if it's coming from JW.

One can't help but wonder about that given the sharp difference in the message we're getting from our usual "insiders".

My assumption has always been that the stuff that end up here comes from people within the DIA (as opposed to someone like Piper where that whole business model is built around being the mouthpiece of the coaching staff), but who knows?

 

[drsmitty74]

An idle question. Is there anyone on this board who would not have a conversation with an established competitor offering more money?

I have been solicited many times over the years from headhunters offering more money from established, competitive global companies.

Not always about the $$$. Not to me it's not.

I make a great living, work for a 3rd generation family owned business that takes care of me and my family.

I have turned down offers of more money, because I value what I have, more than what might be.

 

[Iamgroot]

Agree. If he's actively looking to bail, that's a completely different scenario than a recruiter (in our world) calling and saying...I may have an opportunity that might interest you. I can't imagine Brad calling about a job that is currently filled and undermine another coach like that. I think that he's got more class than that UNLESS he feels heat. Look at our fans. Look at the scrutiny. People threw out the name Sean Miller and the thread went almost 50 pages with complete disregard for what BU's accomplished at the University. They saw a new name, erased his past, are ignoring the fact that he's been at Xavier for not even a year and BU got thrown under the bus. It was that quick and it was based 100% on rumor.

This is an an industry that absolutely nobody on this board can relate to. It's turned into a next best thing amongst the players, which requires each and every coach to reevaluate each and every year.

As fans, we want things both ways. We talk about the hot seat flippantly. If he wins, he's good, of he doesn't ...dump him. It's easy for us because it's not us. If it were your job and you hears whispers that you have a great year or else....my guess is that you wouldn't ignore that until March of 2024. Just a guess.

Then again I think very few of us are being paid anything close to what Bu is for his performance. Im not diminishing his accomplishments in his 6 years here as he brought us out of the dark Era of John groce but to be paid as highly as he is with 2 ncaa wind under his belts here with talent that has been brought in along with the assistants that have been brought along with the upgrades to our facilities.i really don't think it's completely unreasonable for the illini faithful to expect more tournament success.just my opinion either way I'd be ok with Bu coming back but truthfully I'd be ecstatic if Miller and Cohen come me just my 2 cents

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

I had posted this yesterday. I wonder if their sources are the same as our insiders?

Those guys are good buddies with Tyler … FWIW

 

[WyattEarp]

An idle question. Is there anyone on this board who would not have a conversation with an established competitor offering more money?

Sure…we’re all capitalists. More is better.
That’s the economic side of things. No one could/would despute that. No would begrudge him wanting to better himself.


BUT…there’s the fan side of things that has nothing to do with the economics that… wonders is it ever gonna be enough? All it takes to send him running
are a few meddlesome/persnickety boosters?

He’s top ten in salary now…top ten! Look at the other names in that group…Brad has been amazing but look at the resumes of the other coaches in that group...Whitman compensated him QUITE well…Ubben is basically a resort. We might not have Texas and Arkansas $ but there’s plenty of coaches who would give their left nut to coach here. It’s his second “dream job” remember. It’s understandable if diehard fans feel little put off at least, a little by this.

Especially a season that was Mutiny aboard The USS Ubben for much of the season.

I love Brad Underwood as our coach. I still
like him. But two things can be true at once…something Loyalty COLLECTIVELY never seems to grasp or ever wants to admit.

 

[sacraig]

One can't help but wonder about that given the sharp difference in the message we're getting from our usual "insiders".

My assumption has always been that the stuff that end up here comes from people within the DIA (as opposed to someone like Piper where that whole business model is built around being the mouthpiece of the coaching staff), but who knows?

I think we mostly agree said insiders really do have inside connections, but (with the exception of @illini0440, whose father-son connection is obvious) we don't know how close each connection is so it's not surprising you'd get variations on the story coming from each. They all have enough commonality that it seems pretty clear that BU is actively exploring other options (and generally has each year), but how serious those explorations are an how likely he is to leave seems to be a highly variable estimate.

 

[DeonThomas]

Nice post bro...............I said yesterday that I was completely blindsided by the talk about BU sniffing around other HC jobs as I never knew he had ever done that .......

All I've heard from BU is this is his dream job and we have the best fans in the country........With the upgrades to Ubben , following the major upgrade to SFC , I felt JW was doing everything to make our facilities among the best in the nation ....

Then came the extensions to BU and the increase in the AC pool to replace the 3 AC's we lost .............It got to where , IMHO , anything that BU wanted , either JW got or tried to get.......Not being an insider I depend on Indy , 0440 , Lville and DBHeadband for any info regarding the behind the scene's going's on with the Illini....

Yesterday's thread just sprouted wings and was flying at breakneck speed for the duration of the day.........Post after post of so and so going there and what ramifications that would have on the Illini.......The thing that got my attention was the notion that BU has sniffed around other jobs EVERY year since he's been here......I get the nature of the job as I had other companies calling me and asking if I was happy where I was at ........But , I never inquired first about another job and that has me in a quandry about BU..

I kinda feel betrayed by that , or at least mislead by his action of sniffing around privately while profoundly spewing superlatives about UI and Illini Nation , talking about how tight he was with JW and now what he has said might not be an accurate picture of what is really going on........I have known other managers in my field years ago just tell me they needed another challenge as they had become stagnant in their current job performance.......Ok , that's cool .....Just don't go so overboard with the praise unless it is truly heartfelt.............JUST BE HONEST is all I ask.......And i feel our good sources were being brutally honest with their info they passed on to all of us yesterday.....I would trust all 4 of them completely without reservation in their info........

Bottom line to me is we are in for an exciting period going forth and when the music ends , I hope we have the right coach to lead us to the second weekend in the dance and even further,,,,,,JMHO ...It really really really is ................

LETS GO ILLINI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRU - well done, SIr!

 

[Oldskoolkoach]

Kinda quiet and boring around here today! I need the juice!