The Illinois AD Search

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#2,876      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
Wilson and company may be as incompetent as some here believe or they may be doing as well as anyone could based on the circumstances. We really don't know most of what is going on behind the scenes. I'll continue to give them the benefit of the doubt and judge them on the result. If they took their best shot at George and now Tiley (and everything seems to indicate that they did), then they did the most we could have expected of them. If both of those options don't pan out, and we hire Josh Whitman, I'm excited about the future. As I said earlier, I think it would have been very difficult to bring an outsider in given the way things went with Mike Thomas. As an outsider, you'd probably need someone with the stature of Jeremy Foley or the like.
 
#2,877      

IlliniBubba

I
IlliniBubba
South Farms said:
I'm not trying to defend the admin here , as I think they are a joke , but isn't it very plausible he told them last Dec he was interested in the opening , but it had to be all put on hold until after the Aussie Open and he would deny interest in the job if asked in public ?

Isn't that possibly how it went down ?

Then UI waited until discussions with RG were for sure terminated to restart them ? Tiley is not going to enter negotiations if UI is/was still pursuing RG . I know I wouldn't . I would say " get back to me when I am who you want and we will talk . "
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I think you're right.

Mid-Nov:
DIA rep or booster - Craig, any interest in the job?
Tiley - Perhaps, but I'm one month from the Australian Open and can't even think about this right now. If you're willing to wait until after the tournament, perhaps then we can talk. If you need an answer now, it has to be no.

Then my guess is no contact, not even back-door contact, while the George pursuit continues - up until this week or last week when George supposedly gave his final decision.

Now I suspect/hope there's some discussions - now that Tiley's done with the Open and the pursuit of George is no longer hanging out there. It's worthwhile for both sides to explore it - and either one may decide it's not the right fit. It's also possible the mid-November contact never even happened.
 
#2,878      

Cubby Blue

C
Cubby Blue
Flight 33 said:
The jury is out on that hire? Are you serious? Rick George walks on water at Colorado. He just built a massive new athletic complex that is as good as any in the country. He raised $85M+ in 2015, up from $11M/year from the prior guy. So far, he's been wildly successful.
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Our last AD was pretty good at getting things like that done too (see State farm Center). How did that work out for him? Let me know when George hires any coach and we will see how that goes. Note where the Buffs have finished in the big sports lately.
 
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#2,879      

Deleted member 569417

D
Guest
Deleted member 569417
Cubby Blue said:
Our last AD was pretty good at getting things like that done too (see State farm Center). How did that work out for him? Let me know when George hires any coach and we will see how that goes. Note where the Buffs have finished in the big sports lately.
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If we're judging ADs on hiring, then you must not be a Whitman fan, considering his one football hire, made in 2011 at UWL had 5 consecutive losing seasons and was finally fired this past December.
 
#2,880      

Deleted member 569417

D
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Deleted member 569417
Sorry, Matt is 100% correct. Retaining Cubit and then signing him to an idiotic 2 year deal is going to be a huge albatross around the neck of the new AD. The 13th out of 14 recruiting class this year foreshadows the future of this program. In 2017 the talent on this roster will be significantly "less than ideal". Letting the interim AD hire a new coach would have at least allowed them to start moving in the right direction.
 
#2,881      

Sybok

S
Sybok
It isn't like the interim AD didn't have experience hiring good coaches during his SIUC days either. It's a real headscratcher why they felt the need to punt.
 
#2,882      

UIGrad03

U
UIGrad03
JiroDreamsOfMcRibs said:
Sorry, Matt is 100% correct. Retaining Cubit and then signing him to an idiotic 2 year deal is going to be a huge albatross around the neck of the new AD. The 13th out of 14 recruiting class this year foreshadows the future of this program. In 2017 the talent on this roster will be significantly "less than ideal". Letting the interim AD hire a new coach would have at least allowed them to start moving in the right direction.
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No. Matt isn't right. He has an opinion and there is literally no way to know at this time whether or not kicking the can down the road with Cubit was a good decision or not in the long term.

How do you know Babers or any of our other would-be targets wanted to come to this dumpster fire not even knowing who their bosses would be? You don't. You gave zero idea. None. You guys act like we had Babers in the bag even after Thomas was fired which is complete ponies and rainbows BS. You guys are positing a best case scenario as fact.

If Cubit is a bad look, I can't imagine what would have happened if we moved on from Cubit and then missed on our top targets. Then what? Now THAT would be an "albatross around the neck of the new AD." Cubit isn't an albatross around anyone's neck. He's completely disposable. He knows it. The admin knows it. Everyone knows it except some message board posters and some sports writers that don't truly understand the situation. He won't even be around for next signing day, and had we signed Babers we'd have likely signed a very similar class as Cubit did regardless.
 
#2,883      

UIGrad03

U
UIGrad03
Sybok said:
It isn't like the interim AD didn't have experience hiring good coaches during his SIUC days either. It's a real headscratcher why they felt the need to punt.
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And when he hired them he was not an interim AD at a school with an interim Chancellor that had lots of tire fires to extinguish. The appeal of the UI football job in November was considerably lower than it was when two time AD of the Year Mike Thomas came out swinging and snared Tim Beckman. PK trying to make a competent hire in the midst of this crapstorm? Pllllleeeeease.
 
#2,884      

Sybok

S
Sybok
UIGrad03 said:
And when he hired them he was not an interim AD at a school with an interim Chancellor that had lots of tire fires to extinguish. The appeal of the UI football job in November was considerably lower than it was when two time AD of the Year Mike Thomas came out swinging and snared Tim Beckman. PK trying to make a competent hire in the midst of this crapstorm? Pllllleeeeease.
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Babers was hirable. That kind of blows your sparky "plllllllllllllease" into the wind.
 
#2,885      

Cubby Blue

C
Cubby Blue
Sybok said:
Babers was hirable. That kind of blows your sparky "plllllllllllllease" into the wind.
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Some of us that watched Babers come and go at EIU wonder what defense is. :thumb: He came in at the right time with Tony, but defense was beyond pitiful.
 
#2,886      

cmore

C
cmore
Cubby Blue said:
Some of us that watched Babers come and go at EIU wonder what defense is. :thumb: He came in at the right time with Tony, but defense was beyond pitiful.
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I was ok with the results. Final fours are not abundant in charleston.
 
#2,888      

Flight 33

F
Flight 33
UIGrad03 said:
No. Matt isn't right. He has an opinion and there is literally no way to know at this time whether or not kicking the can down the road with Cubit was a good decision or not in the long term.

How do you know Babers or any of our other would-be targets wanted to come to this dumpster fire not even knowing who their bosses would be? You don't. You gave zero idea. None. You guys act like we had Babers in the bag even after Thomas was fired which is complete ponies and rainbows BS. You guys are positing a best case scenario as fact.

If Cubit is a bad look, I can't imagine what would have happened if we moved on from Cubit and then missed on our top targets. Then what? Now THAT would be an "albatross around the neck of the new AD." Cubit isn't an albatross around anyone's neck. He's completely disposable. He knows it. The admin knows it. Everyone knows it except some message board posters and some sports writers that don't truly understand the situation. He won't even be around for next signing day, and had we signed Babers we'd have likely signed a very similar class as Cubit did regardless.
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I'll agree with Matt - the 2 year Cubit hire was a terrible decision and will set the program back. It would have been much better to hire Babers or Fleck, frankly. I have heard both were interested. Maybe even very interested. I think Babers' class at Illinois would have been better than what Cubit signed, he would have kept some of the guys who left and added to the talent mix. He had a longer way to go at Syracuse and less time to do it than Cubit.
 
#2,889      

Flight 33

F
Flight 33
Cubby Blue said:
Our last AD was pretty good at getting things like that done too (see State farm Center). How did that work out for him? Let me know when George hires any coach and we will see how that goes. Note where the Buffs have finished in the big sports lately.
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Our last AD wasn't anywhere near George in fundraising or being seen as a superstar. And yeah, he hasn't hired a coach yet - his b-ball team is better than ours and his football team is improving, but he'll likely have to replace the coach next year. Overall, people feel things in Boulder are pointing up. Is that how they feel in Champaign these days?
 
#2,890      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
mattcoldagelli
UIGrad03 said:
You guys act like we had Babers in the bag even after Thomas was fired which is complete ponies and rainbows BS.
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- "Terrible decision looks and is terrible"

- "Our unprecedented move that not only will stunt our football program but also showed a total abdication of leadership and basic responsibility is actually our AD-hiring ace-in-the-hole"

One of these positions is certainly rainbows and ponies BS.
 
#2,891      

IlliniOX08

I
Bucktown, Chicago
IlliniOX08
So here's the thing - the Cubit 2 year deal was idiotic. There is absolutely no way around it. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

At this point we need an Athletic Director with actual authority. I want Tiley, I'm all in on Tiley. But he also needs to make up his friggin mind one way or the other. He's in or out.

If he's out then we've backed ourselves in to the corner of Josh Whitman. If that's the case then I'll hate it initially but get the guy friggin hired. This is an absolute joke and embarrassment. This place needs actual direction beyond Barb Wilson's front porch fire analogy. We already had a DIA that had a rep for being a clown show but this is a new low.
 
#2,892      

BWBW

BWBW
BWBW
I suspect Tiley will agree only if he gets to be a real AD as he defines the term. If the admin won't let him run the show without interference, then there is no reason for him to take the job. He would be ineffective and set-up to fail. If Tiley says no, we move on to whichever candidate is willing to take the job and make the best of it.
 
#2,893      

bombayIllini

B
bombayIllini
I think we get Josh Whitman as interim AD, until Tiley makes up his mind. IF Tiley comes, then Josh becomes Associate (whatever is next highest possible to AD) AD and if Tiley does not Josh becomes AD.
 
#2,894      

South Farms

S
near Ogden & Rt 83
South Farms
bombayIllini said:
I think we get Josh Whitman as interim AD, until Tiley makes up his mind. IF Tiley comes, then Josh becomes Associate (whatever is next highest possible to AD) AD and if Tiley does not Josh becomes AD.
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Why in the world would Whittman agree to that ??????
 
#2,896      

Flight 33

F
Flight 33
Lake Camelot said:
What will the new date be when the end of the month comes and goes? :)
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No kidding, I lack confidence in their ability to finalize something by end of month. We've seen other deadlines come and go and we seem further away today than we were a few weeks ago.
 
#2,900      

OskeeGirl

O
OskeeGirl
Whitman in the W Lafayette paper and FB chatter for Purdue. Didn't realize I lived in his hometown.
 
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