The Illinois AD Search

Illwinsagain · Feb 9, 2016

mattcoldagelli said:
Yep.

Illinois ties = a great tiebreaker, but a terrible prerequisite

The only reason that I think Illinois ties are important, is that the only way we could reasonably expect to get someone decent to come to the mess that is currently the UI, is if they have some emotional attachment.

I do also appreciate the point S&C makes about the boosters wanting one of their guys.

mattcoldagelli · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
This is still no way to run an athletic department, but until the fire is put out, we don't have much of a choice.

Don't know about you guys, but I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my "Illinois Sports 2015-16: Just Get the Fire Under Control" DVD.

Joel Goodson · Feb 9, 2016

Shuttlesworth said:
No. Tiley is a better hire than George, although either would be home runs. Oversees a much larger operation and has been incredibly successful at that, breaking records every year. Not sure why Tiley would be on the same level as a d3 athletic director. Tiley is taking a definite major step down if he takes the Illinois job. It's really a matter if he wants to make the big move.

+1

EJ33 · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
No question. But job #1 will be developing a vision and a plan for a football facility to sell to our next coach in December. The work starts now.

Excellent point...thanks.

Second and Chalmers · Feb 9, 2016

mattcoldagelli said:
Don't know about you guys, but I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my "Illinois Sports 2015-16: Just Get the Fire Under Control" DVD.

Thumbs up on the gag, but it should be mentioned that it goes a lot deeper than sports.

Steven Salaita forgets to press send on a couple of those tweets and we have Phyllis Wise, Mike Thomas, and Dino Babers right now. Is that a better world? Remains to be seen, but it reveals the tenuousness of the situation.

FoxesFan · Feb 9, 2016

But --- "We didn't start the Fire" . . .

mattcoldagelli said:
Don't know about you guys, but I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my "Illinois Sports 2015-16: Just Get the Fire Under Control" DVD.

. . . . just say'n

Cubby Blue · Feb 9, 2016

I think more has gone into it than some think.

Cubby Blue · Feb 9, 2016

AutoPoster 3000 said:
If you examine what was actually said and done (to the extent we know), it's apparent that the process here was never about locating the best available athletic director for the University of Illinois. The process was about polling the "stakeholders" to determine the characteristics of the ideal athletic director, and then seeing who out there best fit the description they created.

Maybe that sounds like semantics, but there's a difference. The former is like ordering the most popular item on the restaurant's menu, even if some people won't like it. The later is like asking everyone at the table to name their favorite ingredient, and then ordering a dish that contains as many of them as possible.

a well constructed post. :thumb:

Sybok · Feb 9, 2016

I love the impatience some demonstrate on this forum. If the best candidate shakes loose in a month, you wait. This isn't hiring an unskilled laborer at McDonalds.

EJ33 · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
Thumbs up on the gag, but it should be mentioned that it goes a lot deeper than sports.

Steven Salaita forgets to press send on a couple of those tweets and we have Phyllis Wise, Mike Thomas, and Dino Babers right now. Is that a better world? Remains to be seen, but it reveals the tenuousness of the situation.

It's all V'Angelo Bentley's fault: We lose the 2014 Minnesota game --> Beckman is fired at the end of the season --> he never has the incident with Simon over bowl game attendance and bowl swag --> Wise and Thomas keep their jobs --> we're headed into season 2 under a new football coach.

Second and Chalmers · Feb 9, 2016

EJ33 said:
It's all V'Angelo Bentley's fault: We lose the 2014 Minnesota game --> Beckman is fired at the end of the season --> he never has the incident with Simon over bowl game attendance and bowl swag --> Wise and Thomas keep their jobs --> we're headed into season 2 under a new football coach.

Wise still loses her job, but that's another huge what if.

The dumb blind luck we got to win that and the Penn State game were jaw-dropping at the time. We should have known better than to think we were getting fortunate. :tsk:

Second and Chalmers · Feb 9, 2016

Sybok said:
If the best candidate shakes loose in a month, you wait.

And if Josh Whitman is ready to throw his hands up at the whole situation? Or Archie Miller is kinda eyeing the Illinois job but not sure if it's going to be open or worth his while? Or Shahid Khan decides Rick George winked at him and decides to shut down the process again?

There is no more time to wait. It's absurd that it has even taken this long. This needs to be over with, immediately. Next 24 hours immediately.

sdillini · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
And if Josh Whitman is ready to throw his hands up at the whole situation? Or Archie Miller is kinda eyeing the Illinois job but not sure if it's going to be open or worth his while? Or Shahid Khan decides Rick George winked at him and decides to shut down the process again?

There is no more time to wait. It's absurd that it has even taken this long. This needs to be over with, immediately. Next 24 hours immediately.

I'd be willing to bet Josh Whitman will wait as long as it takes. How many other Power 5 schools are chasing him for an AD job? Are there any D2 schools chasing him for an AD job? This would be an incredible jump up for him, and taking a big chance on the part of Illinois--relative to how most people climb the ladder.

Second and Chalmers · Feb 9, 2016

sdillini said:
I'd be willing to bet Josh Whitman will wait as long as it takes. How many other Power 5 schools are chasing him for an AD job? Are there any D2 schools chasing him for an AD job? This would be an incredible jump up for him, and taking a big chance on the part of Illinois--relative to how most people climb the ladder.

I would not be willing to bet the future of the program on that.

And just as an aside, I know numerically, yknow, 3 is bigger than 2, but there are few if any D2 or D3 schools, and not that many lower D1 schools, where an athletic director is dealing with the caliber and complexity of a University and sophistication of a donor base like you are at Wash U. It's a more analogous job to Illinois than pick-your-D2 school, and no way would Whitman leave his current gig for a job like that either. My guess is, only FBS football would tempt him away.

Joel Goodson · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
And if Josh Whitman is ready to throw his hands up at the whole situation? Or Archie Miller is kinda eyeing the Illinois job but not sure if it's going to be open or worth his while? Or Shahid Khan decides Rick George winked at him and decides to shut down the process again?

There is no more time to wait. It's absurd that it has even taken this long. This needs to be over with, immediately. Next 24 hours immediately.

Completely over the top.

I appreciate your detailed explanation of what's gone down in the DIA and Admin. I appreciate your ardor and angst. But turn down the bombast.

If the new AD is named within a month, what difference does it make as long as we make the right choice? No pressing decisions hanging in the balance.

Second and Chalmers · Feb 9, 2016

Joel Goodson said:
No pressing decisions hanging in the balance.

No way to know that. If the donors have released their grip on the process you get while the getting is good.

But I'm delving into the realm of the hypothetical here. I have no inside info on who is pushing Tiley, if we're even pursuing him at all, if he's interested, or any of that.

TheBucket · Feb 9, 2016

Joel Goodson said:
Completely over the top.

I appreciate your detailed explanation of what's gone down in the DIA and Admin. I appreciate your ardor and angst. But turn down the bombast.

If the new AD is named within a month, what difference does it make as long as we make the right choice? No pressing decisions hanging in the balance.

The Big Ten Tournament wraps up on Sunday March 13th (with us likely out by March 10th or earlier). A decision will need to be made on Coach Groce one way or the other very shortly afterward.

In all fairness to Coach Groce, his boss should actually have some time to evaluate his work. The closer we slip to March, the closer the answer is to just keep everything as-is until further notice.

I agree with S&C. This needs to end yesterday.

mattcoldagelli · Feb 9, 2016

TheBucket said:
The Big Ten Tournament wraps up on Sunday March 13th (with us likely out by March 10th or earlier). A decision will need to be made on Coach Groce one way or the other very shortly afterward.

In all fairness to Coach Groce, his boss should actually have some time to evaluate his work. The closer we slip to March, the closer the answer is to just keep everything as-is until further notice.

I agree with S&C. This needs to end yesterday.

This ship has already sailed, IMO. Groce is staying.

TheBucket · Feb 9, 2016

mattcoldagelli said:
This ship has already sailed, IMO. Groce is staying.

Agree. I do not necessarily like that fate - but I do not hate it either.

Would be nice for the new guy to even have a chance to do anything, though.

TheBucket · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
Barring a shake of the tree turning up something unexpected. Which should be a critical part of the process.

We need a f****** AD. We need to start operating a Big Ten sports program again. It has been over four months as of about noon. If a candidate is still waffling, time's up.

3 months lapsed.. starting the 4th month now. But your point is still well taken.

Greensboro · Feb 9, 2016

Sybok said:
I love the impatience some demonstrate on this forum. If the best candidate shakes loose in a month, you wait. This isn't hiring an unskilled laborer at McDonalds.

Are you sure, I think he was included in the interviews.

sdillini · Feb 9, 2016

Second and Chalmers said:
I would not be willing to bet the future of the program on that.

And just as an aside, I know numerically, yknow, 3 is bigger than 2, but there are few if any D2 or D3 schools, and not that many lower D1 schools, where an athletic director is dealing with the caliber and complexity of a University and sophistication of a donor base like you are at Wash U. It's a more analogous job to Illinois than pick-your-D2 school, and no way would Whitman leave his current gig for a job like that either. My guess is, only FBS football would tempt him away.

Yes, that dominate nationwide sports power Wash U. Until this Josh Whitman discussion, I didn't even know they had an athletic program. If you're honest, I'll bet it's the same for you and just about everyone else on this board. ANY d3 or d2 school is SO FAR from a power 5 conference school it's ridiculous. Apples to Oranges, it's a silly argument.

Jimmy McNulty · Feb 9, 2016

mattcoldagelli said:
This ship has already sailed, IMO. Groce is staying.

In my opinion this is what needed to happen. I don't know if Groce is the guy, but I'd hate to cut bait if the dawn is almost here. I think next year will tell us all we need to know about Groce. I would almost go as far to say if we're a bubble team and still get in, a change needs to be made. That is obviously objective and has a lot of parts to it. It does however give the new AD almost a year to gather info, make a list and gauge the real interest in this job.

Joel Goodson · Feb 9, 2016

TheBucket said:
The Big Ten Tournament wraps up on Sunday March 13th (with us likely out by March 10th or earlier). A decision will need to be made on Coach Groce one way or the other very shortly afterward.

In all fairness to Coach Groce, his boss should actually have some time to evaluate his work. The closer we slip to March, the closer the answer is to just keep everything as-is until further notice.

I agree with S&C. This needs to end yesterday.

Groce gets a mulligan. No pressing decisions.

Second and Chalmers · Feb 9, 2016

sdillini said:
Yes, that dominate nationwide sports power Wash U. Until this Josh Whitman discussion, I didn't even know they had an athletic program. If you're honest, I'll bet it's the same for you and just about everyone else on this board. ANY d3 or d2 school is SO FAR from a power 5 conference school it's ridiculous. Apples to Oranges, it's a silly argument.

It's a big step. No question.

I would just say that Wash U is actually a nationwide sports power, just in D3. My brother played D3 sports, so I know a little bit. That's a bigger deal of a job, and a more Illinois-like job than, say, McKendree or SIU-Edwardsville, to pick a couple of nearby "bigger" schools.