It’s 3:00 AM. I can’t sleep. I’ve read thru 24 pages of this thread. Guess which 1 question I have after all these comments and opinions?? How in the hell is Fred Hoiberg the 15th highest paid coach in the nation?
Coaching Carousel (Basketball)
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This is what schools like Michigan and Ohio State do ALL the time. We always hang on to our coaches too long (see Tepper, Lou)
Fans are saying that Brad has peaked and his performance is now slipping. He brought us back so we were in the discussion for elite eights and final fours and now we are simply hopeful that we win a B1G Tournament game and make the NCAA. Our expectation of Brad is winning the B1G regular season, and/or B1G, and making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. He set those expectations and we embraced them.
Now it seems Brad's goals are nepotism, hiring and retaining friends of nepo baby, chasing away a true orange and blue Illini coach and a second coach of great value to the program because each disagreed with the course of the program.
If I am Josh, and Texas A&M or another program is truly after Brad, I'd tell Brad how grateful I am for what he's done for the program, and tell him point blank to accept another offer and go. Then I'd hire the coach that I think would pursue winning the B1G regular season, and/or B1G, and making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
In many ways this reminds me of the discussion surrounding "Bruce Almighty" who became known as the squeaky voiced coach. We waited too long then. Let's not wait too long now.
Now it seems Brad's goals are nepotism, hiring and retaining friends of nepo baby, chasing away a true orange and blue Illini coach and a second coach of great value to the program because each disagreed with the course of the program.
If I am Josh, and Texas A&M or another program is truly after Brad, I'd tell Brad how grateful I am for what he's done for the program, and tell him point blank to accept another offer and go. Then I'd hire the coach that I think would pursue winning the B1G regular season, and/or B1G, and making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
In many ways this reminds me of the discussion surrounding "Bruce Almighty" who became known as the squeaky voiced coach. We waited too long then. Let's not wait too long now.
@Indy Illini Fan do you have any insights to Whitman’s thoughts when it comes to this?? Just curious. I have to believe that he’s not happy about things like Hamer being retained.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Big Jack
- Decatur
After yesterday I sure as hell would! Boosters with big dollars are not happy at all! Think he knows the dial on the stove just got cranked up a little.
Big Jack
- Decatur
To me at this point it is honestly about player retention, program perception and culture. To me all of these issues are a big huge red flag.
Pizza hut parking lot has changed to Tasty Freeze. I do not like the direction of this program right now!
JJE
- North Port, Florida
Ok, @Indy Illini Fan IF A&M were to get Brad, who does Whitman go after now that some of the guys you’ve mentioned before took jobs already.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
The stubbornness, the issues with retaining players, the total mismanagement of his coaching staff, the perpetual open flirting with the next shiny object when he’s had everything he’s wanted given to him, and the total adherence to “Plan A, but better” has made me change my mind on this.
I trust Josh Whitman to find the right person to take this program to an even higher level should that need arise.
Jmo, but you kick the tires on Golden because why not. Then you go make Chris Beard say no.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Purdue, MSU, and Michigan don’t have a major uptick in NBA guys and seem to be doing just fine.
I could not care less about being a NBA feeder program unless those NBA feeders also win a lot of games and make it to the second weekend more than once a decade.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Ok so I know you all think I am nuts but I am not so sure that Hoiberg isn't a better coach than Brad. With our resources and JW commitment to BB think he could be a good fit.
But to clarify I would rather have Golden or Beard.
When will we hire for that coveted open assistant spot? I feel like, if done correctly, it could boost our portal haul.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Since it’s clear money makes recruiting go ‘round now, I want a good tactical and player development coach. The days of the strong personality coach being able to woo players are gone and likely never coming back.
Line up the NIL money, get a coach who can develop talent and can make in-game adjustments, and there you go.
The Calipari sales model died the day NIL/pay to play became legal.
Golden still thinking about UCLA? Seems like that may have fizzled out.
Exactly. If these things happen, then we know winning isn’t the top priority…or wine couldn’t get better players in the portal. I don’t think JW will allow that to happen but who knows…
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I'd think Beard is one of your first calls (Assuming the vetting has been done as mentioned on his legal issues)..dude can win.
illiniswish09
- Northwest Suburbs
Looking more and more less likely Cronin leaves. Don’t see an opportunity for him elsewhere at the moment… But as we know that could change
I believe A&M pays more in NIL to baseball than basketball. Their games are never sellouts and Reed what is the name of Texas A&M basketball arena? arena is rarely full. I don’t think Brad would go without significant NIL guarantees, but that’s probably every coach these days.
Where do we stand with Hamer?
You know it's not so much what we would do. It's what the Illinois coaches should do. A long-term system.
Bielema has a system. He runs and recruits to his system. It's not perfect but it's highly competitive. It allows Illinois Football to be in almost every game. Everyone that really cares about Illinois football can realistically hope for a win every game. That's not going to happen but the hope is legit. We can feel it. His system also attracts and retains excellent assistant coaches something that is highly critical for long term success. His system retains players also important.
Underwood has done a very good job building up Illinois basketball.
But there seems to be more chaos now than an actual system. It's all over the place. Anyone not know what they're going to get when they play Michigan State or Purdue? At Illinois, not only is there variability between seasons there's variability within seasons. A continuous evolution. Not all but some of that variability is not good. This is where fans feel as if Baby Underwood and the The Hamer are running the show. Call it youthful exuberance or youthful ignorance behind the curtain. They're going to blame something because something feels off, we can feel it.
TSJ saved Underwood, IMO. TSJ was great last year. He's certainly not the first coach to find a system that clicked with a player and do very well. But had Illinois not had TSJ, it would be rough for the coaches right now. And the fans.
This year and the team two years ago (sans Final 8 year), I had no hope of Illinois basketball pulling any upset in post season. None. Honestly, I was surprised Illinois beat Xavier. Illinois looked solid that game and it was nice to see. Then, they fell apart,.....again.
The 2025-2026 season, TBD. I will remain calm and keep my patience but I'm somewhat skeptical of how it plays out. There isn't a good system in place....maybe.
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Because Nebraska football has 403 consecutive sold out home games.
but true.Will Wade with a "strong a$$ed offer"
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