DC Bobby Hauck out at Illinois

#251      
Chuck Nuggets
It seems obvious to me that Hauck was Bret's Plan C hire. Bret is the spinmaster, so he was never going to tell us that. I have no inside information. It's just my take and it could be wrong.

I do have to wonder if Hauck is too used to being the head coach and he wasn't comfortable with being told what to do rather than doing what he wanted to do.
 
#252      
STLini25
ImGonnaBeILL said:
Zero doubt Hauck initiated this. He wanted retirement and went into retired. BB mistakenly tried to get him out of it. Fired and gets a nice fat retirement gift from BB and Illinois.

Terrible hire. BB with egg on his face. Hauck was done with football 6+ months ago
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He wasn’t fired. He most likely is paid through the date he quit if he walked in and said “I’m done” which is what all parties are saying.
 
#253      
Noblesville Illini
Illini2010-11 said:
Seth Meyers Sarcasm GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers
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Owning it. I was wrong, but if you think he’s calling plays……
 
#256      
aaeismacgychel
The Maestro of Mayhem said:
a. henry's No. 3-ranked ND defense is ranked #1 in total defense (3.6 yards/play) and #2 scoring defense (8.0 pts./game)....

maybe we're pointing the finger at the wrong guy?
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Right. I mean one could of course argue that there is a major talent disparity on defense between us and Notre Dame and that Henry struggled hard here as DC while having significantly more talent than we have this season, but I'm sure it's just that we no longer have Henry.

Our biggest issue is that we had to bargin bin our DL and LB group. If Henry were still coaching here, we'd also be running 3 man fronts, dropping 8 in coverage, lining up 10yds off the LOS and our defense would be giving up easy 10-20yd chunks each down. How do I know that? Because that's what happened the past 2 seasons, and our talent has gotten much worse. Hauck was given an impossible task and failed at it. Henry wouldn't be doing much better.
 
#257      
fuddrules
Mr. Tibbs said:
so one would then assume we owe him nothing more on his 2026 and/or 2027 contract
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It's certainly possible but I didn't think so before the presser.

BB may have told him he's demoted, he may have said, no I'm not, I'm gone.

Or

He told BB it's my defense, I'm doing what I want and BB said, bye.

At least the way BB lead into today talking about the prior in-season demotions, it may be the first scenario.
 
#258      
pvaughn8
ChiefGritty said:
I'm gonna be real, I just straight up don't believe the narrative that Bielema was committed to moving on from Henry and totally changing the defense, but then just sat on that conviction for two months as the coaching carousel spun in order to avoid having to fire Henry.

That smells to me like the writer's room of Official Insider Lore straining to tie up loose narrative threads for the season finale.
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Do you think the plan was to roll with Henry another year and he just happened to be stolen by ND at an inopportune time?
 
#261      
Epsilon
If Bobby wasn’t doing the play calling on defense who was?
 
#262      
aaeismacgychel
TampaToo said:
Anyone worth a darn will realize it’s not the norm for Coach B. It would be concerning if this was his normal operating procedure with how he handled termination of coaches. The issue is with the hiring to begin with and not the timing of the termination.
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While I tend to agree with you regarding potential coaches viewing the situation, I see 3 possible issues that could creep up:

1. Coaches generally want stability and appropriate time and opportunity to institute their defense over multiple seasons. I'm fine with assuming they understand this is a 1 off and that Bret will give them assurances they'll be given appropriate time to turn it around

2. Coaches want to know that they will have the appropriate resources and players to field a competitive roster. You don't want to play a bunch of not even replacement level guys at the B10 level and look several overmatched as that does you no favors on the resume. This will take some convincing by Bret and a change in philosophy of how we attack the portal and build the defense

3. The longer a coaching spot remains open, the less sexy an option it becomes, and as the pressure to fill it keeps increasing it starts looking more and more like a poison pill. 2 months is a long lead team for an opening.

If we are able to hire one of the DCs of our choice in the early coaching cycle then no worries, but if we miss on an early candidate and other schools start filling their positions, I'll start getting extremely nervous. Hopefully it'll be alright, but I still have some PTSD in there from prior coaching searches. That said, in Josh and Bret I trust.
 
#263      
RoundBalcs
Feels like they both arrived at "Yeah, this isn't working." In a way, I find BB's decision to help AH land softly after the firing sort of admirable, but it totally screwed us in the coaching carousel in the offseason. Phil Parkers don't grow on trees and finding one is easier said than done, but BB has made some head-scratching personnel decisions.
 
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#265      
bluemountain
lstewart53x3 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2104637639144186326
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Agree with this. I'm a couple years older than Hauck, so I get his mindset. He probably has FU money and has a great legacy from his days at Montana. Why screw that up and put yourself through this angst when hunting season is just getting started?

I also get why he took the job. He was burned out from working 80 hour weeks for the past 40 years, but thought a different challenge could reinvigorate him. It usually doesn't work that way.
 
#269      
STLini25
fuddrules said:
It's certainly possible but I didn't think so before the presser.

BB may have told him he's demoted, he may have said, no I'm not, I'm gone.

Or

He told BB it's my defense, I'm doing what I want and BB said, bye.

At least the way BB lead into today talking about the prior in-season demotions, it may be the first scenario.
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It has been stated what happened. Nothing you claim is close to what has been said what happened. In short, Bobby initiated the conversation and said I’m not feeling it and I might not be the best for the team. Coach B said ok we will move on.
 
#270      
Mr. Tibbs
fuddrules said:
It's certainly possible but I didn't think so before the presser.

BB may have told him he's demoted, he may have said, no I'm not, I'm gone.

Or

He told BB it's my defense, I'm doing what I want and BB said, bye.

At least the way BB lead into today talking about the prior in-season demotions, it may be the first scenario.
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BB said Houck contacted him & initiated the discussion . That tells me he bailed .

All signs point to Houck NOT enjoying his tenure here , especially after the season started and his defense was full of holes like swiss cheese

I think BB had realized this , and perhaps a negotiated settlement of some partial amounts for the remainder of this season with nothing for next year. BB simply needed to run it past JW and legal staff on Sat night after they all returned
 
#272      
fuddrules
Mr. Tibbs said:
BB said Houck contacted him & initiated the discussion . That tells me he bailed .

All signs point to Houck NOT enjoying his tenure here , especially after the season started and his defense was full of holes like swiss cheese

I think BB had realized this , and perhaps a negotiated settlement of some partial amounts for the remainder of this season with nothing for next year. BB simply needed to run it past JW and legal staff on Sat night after they all returned
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I think it was more than not enjoying it (probably true). BB brought up without prompt, in-season demotions and dealing with them 2 previous times. Why bring that up?
 
#273      
fuddrules
STLini25 said:
It has been stated what happened. Nothing you claim is close to what has been said what happened. In short, Bobby initiated the conversation and said I’m not feeling it and I might not be the best for the team. Coach B said ok we will move on.
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And I don't believe at all it was that clean.
 
#274      
fuddrules
I also don't believe this happened just by happenstance:

Feb. 1st - Henry announcement to ND
Feb. 4th - Hauck announcement - Retirement
Feb. 9th - Hauck announcement - IL DC

So BB didn't know Henry was leaving. Then it just so happened Hauck retired and was planning on spending his golden years between the mountains and a hammock in the Caribbean. As luck would have it, the 3-3-5 that BB had been talking about for some time - an experienced vet just fell into his lap. Talk about timing. He then talked Hauck out of the hammock and back into the saddle at Illinois. All within essentially a weeks time.

I don't believe it. Others can, no problem, I don't.

Edit: Oh, and by retiring, Hauck (or IL) didn't owe Montana anything vs. paying a buyout clause if he left for another job. Talk about incredible effing timing.
 
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#275      
Mr. Tibbs
fuddrules said:
And I don't believe at all it was that clean.
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these things that are without cause , often get negotiated . He was making more than twice his highest salary . taking a decent sized prorated portion of his 2026 money & leaving now might have made it an easy decision .

fwiw, he NEVER seemed happy nor excited with the gig
 
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