I'm still gonna need a little more than one upset mom to get me stirring.
Bill Cubit gets 2-year deal as Illinois Head Football Coach
- Status
I'm still gonna need a little more than one upset mom to get me stirring.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
After seeing what Iowa State did (firing their coach, who is a pretty solid football guy, a week before the season was over and then grabbing the guy they wanted the day after the season was over), I just don't get it. They are basically the Big XII's equivalent of Illinois in football. How can Illinois' administration be so pathetic?
DrewD007
- Woodridge, IL
Have to say I disagree with this. We are very senior laden next year, I think Robert from IlliniBoard's depth chart for next year has nearly 30 seniors on it. Plus getting Dudek and Hardee back will hopefully improve Lunt's numbers. Frankly, if we can't win at least 6 games next year we're in for a miserable number of years (which may be the case anyways).
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
I will second what Josey said. I talked to players' parents every game before the Illiniwalk in Grange Grove. I was repeatedly told by one player's mom that the injured players were in the locker room, upset by the fact that they were not allowed to partipate in the Illiniwalk. She was REALLY upset that they missed the remarkable turnout and celebration before the Homecoming game. I suggested couldn't the hurt players ride in golf carts to take part, and she said she had suggested that, but the coaching staff was still saying no. If these two examples are the kind of disregard for the team individuals as part of the Illini football family that is being demonstrated by Cubit and his staff, how can we believe and/or hope that the younger players will respond to Cubit?
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
What the hell? Why?
I'm beginning to feel quite strongly that, as this plays out over the next few months, it is going to be more and more apparent it was a egregiously ill-informed, short-sighted, pass-the-buck decision by a certain executive or executives (interim or otherwise) above Kowalczyk's head who don't really understand the dynamics or conventions of major college athletics and don't really care. The closer you look at it, the less sense it makes.
-- It damages the brand and makes us a less (certainly not more) attractive destination for future candidates. We're now the weird school that has to punt it's most basic hiring decisions down the road a year at the expense of program integrity because we don't know how to get our act together.
-- We will not be in a better position to hire a permanent head coach at the end of the 2016 season after squandering a crucial year of recruiting on a placeholder solution.
-- There is no reason to believe an interim AD is significantly more likely to botch the ultimate hiring decision. Every hiring decision is a dice roll to a large extent. A particularly savvy AD might do a better job separating out the pretenders but that assumes we hire a particularly savvy AD and the coach Kowalczyk would theoretically have hired would have been a pretender.
-- We're not scaring off potential AD candidates because they won't want to work with a football coach that's already been hired. Every newly-hired AD is going to inherit at least one coach in a revenue sport. Managing what you got -- that's the job. What kind of bona fide candidate who's in it for the long haul is going to say "No, I won't take that job if I have to work with (insert hot coaching candidate name here) for 3-4 years."
This whole thing is based on wrong-headed assumptions that do not hold up under scrutiny and could only be held by someone who doesn't get it and has no interest in working through the challenges.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
I would disagree that an Interim AD would make a good hire. Over all my years of watching college football, football coach after football coach including the biggest names in college football have said who their boss is (AD) is the number one factor for them in taking or staying with a particular job. Could Kowalczyk have made a good hire? Yes he could, but many candidates would be scared away not knowing who their boss will be, especially at a place like Illinois. For a coach to succeed here, he needs a strong AD who is behind him every step of the way. Smart coaches probably would not step into the uncertainty and perhaps Illinois was getting that vibe already.
Sal Iacuzzo
- Yonkers, NY
I just don't understand how Penn State post-Sandusky is able to hire a real coach but we are completely incapable.
Excellent post. I just want to put emphasis on this part. It's a really elegant way of summing up the whole situation.
IlliniFanHere
- New York
You want to be a wee bit more depressed. Take a look at the 2016 schedule.
North Carolina, at Nebraska,at Michigan,Michigan State, at Wisky,Iowa and NW at NW.
Whew.....
North Carolina, at Nebraska,at Michigan,Michigan State, at Wisky,Iowa and NW at NW.
Whew.....
Deleted member 10005
D
Guest
I thought the best part about the way Beckman was let go, is that the DIA wouldn't owe him any money, leaving a big blank check for hiring the next coach. Now we're going to owe Cubit a couple million if the new AD is hired and decides to replace him.
"We hire a permanent AD, and that permanent AD makes decisions about coaches."
Wow. So now I'm curious what happened on Saturday, since obviously, by that definition, it wasn't a decision about coaches.
Wow. So now I'm curious what happened on Saturday, since obviously, by that definition, it wasn't a decision about coaches.
Sal Iacuzzo
- Yonkers, NY
Does that mean say we hire an AD in a month could they fire Cubit on the spot?
Asked if she considered hiring a new coach now, Wilson said, "No. That's just not the way things should unfold."
Except, you know, it IS how it unfolds at every other school in the country. Or you could have tried to hire a permanent AD, the process for which apparently has not even started, based on her comments that they are still trying to figure out whether to retain a search committee.
So I guess the way this "unfolds" is to fire the current AD with no plan in place, dawdle around for a few months while you contemplate the concept of search committees, and retain an interim coach during the pendency of all this because,you know, setting up a lame duck with no long term future provides stability and helps with recruiting in the near term.
There's so much wrong with this I can't even wrap my mind around it. I think there is no mistake we've pinpointed the individual in this process who profoundly does not get it.
Un-be-liev-a-ble.
Except, you know, it IS how it unfolds at every other school in the country. Or you could have tried to hire a permanent AD, the process for which apparently has not even started, based on her comments that they are still trying to figure out whether to retain a search committee.
So I guess the way this "unfolds" is to fire the current AD with no plan in place, dawdle around for a few months while you contemplate the concept of search committees, and retain an interim coach during the pendency of all this because,you know, setting up a lame duck with no long term future provides stability and helps with recruiting in the near term.
There's so much wrong with this I can't even wrap my mind around it. I think there is no mistake we've pinpointed the individual in this process who profoundly does not get it.
Un-be-liev-a-ble.
Also, if the AD knows anything about college football, they know Cubit can't successfully recruit with his contract. Does he immediately replace him? Give him a new contract and vote of confidence? I doubt either of those would happen but if the hire occurs well before signing day, it could be a possibility.
Barbara Wilson may be a nice person, perhaps admirable considering she's doing a job she does not want to hold long term. But, it's painfully clear that she knows nothing about how athletic programs work, and she never really had any intention on learning.
It's just the players and fans who get to deal with the consequences.
It's just the players and fans who get to deal with the consequences.
hooraybeer
- Pittsburgh, PA
Wilbon just mentioned us as a possible destination for Les Miles on PTI haha
Q: if you were les miles, would you be excited about staying at LSU after how the administration treated you?
Wilbon: if I was les miles I would tell LSU and all the administrators to go to hell, and I would leave. and I would look at schools like Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina. state schools not completely unlike LSU where I could go and recruit essentially anybody I wanted, and I could build a powerhouse there because I'm les miles and I know how to do this.
Q: if you were les miles, would you be excited about staying at LSU after how the administration treated you?
Wilbon: if I was les miles I would tell LSU and all the administrators to go to hell, and I would leave. and I would look at schools like Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina. state schools not completely unlike LSU where I could go and recruit essentially anybody I wanted, and I could build a powerhouse there because I'm les miles and I know how to do this.
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I don't know how it's possible but as time goes by I'm actually getting more disappointed about this whole ordeal
IlliniFanHere
- New York
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Wouldn't that be fun?
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
That is crazy talk. He'll get fired next year and get the $15,000,000 buyout, or whatever is left. Maybe Wilbon doesn't want $15,000,000, but I would guess the rest of us would find a way to hang around for a while.
Soxfreak64
- Bloomington
I'm just imagining Cubit in a room with Wilson, snapping his fingers like Obi-Wan Kenobi:
Cubit: "Barbara, I am the coach you're looking for."
Wilson: "Bill, you are the coach we're looking for."
This whole situation is FUBAR, and disgusting, and painful. And now I have to be laughed at for another 5 years as an Illini fan. Imagine what it must be like for the players.
Cubit: "Barbara, I am the coach you're looking for."
Wilson: "Bill, you are the coach we're looking for."
This whole situation is FUBAR, and disgusting, and painful. And now I have to be laughed at for another 5 years as an Illini fan. Imagine what it must be like for the players.
illinimike
- Wheaton, IL
+1
As I look at transfer thread and coaches leaving stability was the last word that came to mind. I don't want to watch anymore, but I can't look away from the train wreck.
opcorn:- Status