There is only one category that matters to most Illinois fans that seem to have influence over this University - 1) Being an Ex Illini.
Proven success? Experience? At a Division I program? Let alone a P5 program? Not a concern for the Illinois administration or its local donors that simply long for the country club access the Guenther provided. Winning is of little or no concern. Access and saving money are.
I wouldn't be shocked if this search didn't include a single person that wasn't an Ex Illini. The candidate pool that they limited themselves to, has rendered the belief that a Division III AD that no one in St Louis could even name, is somehow a great choice. Good lord.
Now we're left hoping that a Division III guy is the diamond in the rough home run hire. Sure, I suppose he could be fine. He is clearly intelligent, he seems to have a good personality. Beyond that? Who knows. All I know is had Illinois performed an actual job search, instead of limiting their candidate pool to like 4 people, he'd appear like the small time hire of a University that hasn't, doesn't, and will not ever prioritize Athletics, that he is.
I guess Whitman he's the best choice, as Michael is light years behind Whitman in terms of any having any success, anywhere. And, if Larry Lubin was a legit candidate by anyone at Illinois, then my alma mater is even more screwed up and pathetic than I thought.
But the thing that drives me crazy is we could have hired Whitman 15 minutes after canning Thomas. And, we wouldn't have been stuck with Cubit for another godforsaken pathetic recruiting year. We didn't go outside the box at all for this job. It was always going to be George, Whitman, Michael, or some moronic choice of an Ex Illini. Why we waited 3 months and spent another $140K to do what anyone with a brain could have predicted this small time program was going to do anyway is baffling.
Illini gonna Illini.
Totally agree. I don't understand the fascination with hiring a UI alum. To me it's way down on the checklist. The most successful athletic program in the Big Ten is Ohio State, and their AD is a former Notre Dame football player who had demonstrated success as AD at Iowa St and Arizona St.