The Illinois AD Search

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#1,701      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
rdillini said:
Could not agree more. I love this university but it stinks from the top down right now. How this university can have a power vacuum at the top since August with no end in sight is ridiculous and embarrassing to the Illini Nation. We need leadership to right the ship on the university now. Then after you get that settled, you can turn your attention to athletics. As to the purported candidates who will get interviews and someone's comment that they are not a 4 or 5 star, I hate to say it but the lack of leadership in our university makes our university right now not a 4 or 5 star university or at least a place worthy of a 4 or 5 star athletic director. The fact that we hired a search committee and these are the names we have is another appalling waste of time and money for an administration seeking to cover their rear ends when they didn't know what to do. Don't get me wrong I hope we find a diamond in the rough but you have a better chance of hitting a home run with a top tier candidate who has had experience as an AD at a major university than hoping we get a winner from guys running departments at NIU, EIU, etc. Reminds me of the Bears always hiring as a head coach and hoping they will "grow" into the job. Or a certain "Large Midwestern University" hiring coaches for its "big time revenue producing sports" from the MAC. The University of Illinois need leadership to come in and right the ship and it has to be now or the university we all love, will continue its descent as an institution and as an athletic program.
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How do we really know what names are being considered though? If we are throwing out names, it is message board talk. I don't believe anyone from the search committee is posting here.

Regarding getting hired without knowing your boss thing, I've done it and as long as I did my job effectively, it never was an issue. If the new AD gets the FB (and potentially BB) hire/s right, no President in their right mind would replace him/her. And if they did, their reputation would be in tact.
 
#1,702      

jasonu

J
jasonu
Illwinsagain said:
How do we really know what names are being considered though? If we are throwing out names, it is message board talk. I don't believe anyone from the search committee is posting here.

Regarding getting hired without knowing your boss thing, I've done it and as long as I did my job effectively, it never was an issue. If the new AD gets the FB (and potentially BB) hire/s right, no President in their right mind would replace him/her. And if they did, their reputation would be in tact.
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I have to disagree with the lack of clarity on leadership being a 'non-factor' for this role. It's not like there are dozens of comparable AD position to move to if you end up looking bad in 3 years due to lack of institutional support. I'd want to know specifics on the amount of resources leadership is willing to commit to this rebuild, how much internal support will they provide, what's the timeline, how much do they value the effort/investment, etc.? And to know those factors won't all change in 12-18 months when someone new takes over.

I don't know your specific profession, but if you're being asked to build an entire department/program...and you're in a high profile, public position where there aren't many other comparable jobs to jump to if you aren't happy or succeeding in 2 years...and you want someone with a very valuable reputation to put it on the line with all of those unknowns?? Unlikely in my eyes.
 
#1,703      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
I think it's being overstated in both directions. First, we are a Big Ten school. There should be lots of quality candidates out there who will take a chance on who the next Chancellor will be for a $700,000 plus a year paycheck. Second, Killeen is the full time President so there is some certainty at the top. Third, if he understands the situation at Illinois, he'll know that whoever his boss is, he will be more interested in the academic side and will want little to do with athletics, which is generally considered a distraction. On the flip side, the biggest question I would have as an incoming AD is the University's commitment to excellence in athletics, especially admissions standards that put us on an even playing field within the Big Ten.
 
#1,704      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
rdillini said:
The fact that we hired a search committee and these are the names we have is another appalling waste of time and money for an administration seeking to cover their rear ends when they didn't know what to do.
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The search committee wasn't hired, it consists of faculty, staff, and students. We did hire a search firm, that's primarily to do background work on candidates and shield any conversations from FOIA requests, etc. Both of these are pretty standard procedures for an AD hire and a lot of this is also likely due to requirements of the process given that UI is a public institution.

That's not to disagree with the idea that a lot of mistakes have been made, that's undoubtedly the case. Will have to wait and see who they end up with and judge after that happens. We could still get lucky and end up with a decent AD. :D
 
#1,705      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
ties will be resolved
Joel Goodson
BZuppke said:
I think it's being overstated in both directions. First, we are a Big Ten school. There should be lots of quality candidates out there who will take a chance on who the next Chancellor will be for a $700,000 plus a year paycheck. Second, Killeen is the full time President so there is some certainty at the top. Third, if he understands the situation at Illinois, he'll know that whoever his boss is, he will be more interested in the academic side and will want little to do with athletics, which is generally considered a distraction. On the flip side, the biggest question I would have as an incoming AD is the University's commitment to excellence in athletics, especially admissions standards that put us on an even playing field within the Big Ten.
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Well put. Lot of hyperbole in this thread. Let's see how this plays out.
 
#1,706      

Deleted member 4333

D
Guest
Deleted member 4333
BZuppke said:
I think it's being overstated in both directions. First, we are a Big Ten school. There should be lots of quality candidates out there who will take a chance on who the next Chancellor will be for a $700,000 plus a year paycheck. Second, Killeen is the full time President so there is some certainty at the top. Third, if he understands the situation at Illinois, he'll know that whoever his boss is, he will be more interested in the academic side and will want little to do with athletics, which is generally considered a distraction. On the flip side, the biggest question I would have as an incoming AD is the University's commitment to excellence in athletics, especially admissions standards that put us on an even playing field within the Big Ten.
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The admissions standard excuse just doesn't hold water. If you have the right people in place, you can have a highly successful program. See Northwestern, Stanford, Notre Dame. Northwestern is in the Big Ten, by the way. Sure, they're private schools, but they still have to follow the rules.
 
#1,707      

Bomb Squad 217

B
Bomb Squad 217
rbachhuber said:
The admissions standard excuse just doesn't hold water. If you have the right people in place, you can have a highly successful program. See Northwestern, Stanford, Notre Dame. Northwestern is in the Big Ten, by the way. Sure, they're private schools, but they still have to follow the rules.
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I disagree because there are only so many of those players to go around and really just ND and Stanford scoop them up. NW is fortunate at the moment but lets not act they are even remotely on the same level as those two.
 
#1,708      

Deleted member 4333

D
Guest
Deleted member 4333
Bomb Squad 217 said:
I disagree because there are only so many of those players to go around and really just ND and Stanford scoop them up. NW is fortunate at the moment but lets not act they are even remotely on the same level as those two.
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Northwestern is 60 - 42 over the last eight seasons with six bowl games. Illinois should be better than that. We don't have the right people in place. They do.
 
#1,709      

ColorMeBad

C
ColorMeBad
rbachhuber said:
The admissions standard excuse just doesn't hold water. If you have the right people in place, you can have a highly successful program. See Northwestern, Stanford, Notre Dame. Northwestern is in the Big Ten, by the way. Sure, they're private schools, but they still have to follow the rules.
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Disagree, as well. There is a handful of elite players that are going to put academics first when deciding on schools. Stanford, Northwestern and Notre e Dame are better options. Then you have schools like Michigan, Texas, UNC, etc... that will attract them with combination of academics and football. While NW is better than us currently, they are not what I hope our fan bases aspirations are for revenue sports. Give us a fair playing field in the B10, not NCAA minimums. That's all I ask.
 
#1,710      

AutoPoster 3000

AutoPoster 3000
AutoPoster 3000
rbachhuber said:
The admissions standard excuse just doesn't hold water. If you have the right people in place, you can have a highly successful program.
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Uh-huh. But what's the point of maintaining an elevated admissions standard in the first place. From an academic rankings standpoint, UIUC is not Stanford, Northwestern, or Notre Dame, and the fact we exclude a handful of elite athletes every year that walk right through the front door at Penn State or Ohio State has zero positive impact on the ranking (or perception) we do have.

To me this is a perfect example of why we need a visionary leader to come in and change the culture here, and eliminate obstacles to success that serve no good purpose.
 
#1,711      

SixthandWhite

SixthandWhite
SixthandWhite
jasonu said:
A friend of mine is in the industry, and he basically said no good candidate would ever take the Ilinois AD job because the AD's boss in also still interim (amoung other reasons). Why take a job when you don't see any stability or support above you. To me, that means it'll have to be someone getting the big raise to make the risk worth it.

Not Ideal...
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The chancellor position has been open for more that 5 and 1/2 months and the AD position is open for coming up on 3 months.

Exactly how long does it take to hire these people, given that our chancellors and presidents having been turnstiles for the last decade or so?
 
#1,712      

SixthandWhite

SixthandWhite
SixthandWhite
AutoPoster 3000 said:
Uh-huh. But what's the point of maintaining an elevated admissions standard in the first place. From an academic rankings standpoint, UIUC is not Stanford, Northwestern, or Notre Dame, and the fact we exclude a handful of elite athletes every year that walk right through the front door at Penn State or Ohio State has zero positive impact on the ranking (or perception) we do have.

To me this is a perfect example of why we need a visionary leader to come in and change the culture here, and eliminate obstacles to success that serve no good purpose.
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Exactly right. There are a small number of recruits every year that fall between our minimum requirements and the NCAA minimum requirement. Admitting these 5-10 people out of a freshman class of ~7,000 will have no impact whatsoever on our ranking or perceived academic standing.
 
#1,713      

Deleted member 19448

D
Guest
Deleted member 19448
And in those 5 to 10 recruits lies the potential for great things. Only need a few difference makers especially in hoops
 
#1,715      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
Lake Camelot said:
But I think the hyperbole is well deserved. Not unwarranted.
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Illini Sports is living in hyperbolic times. But I hope and think that the football attendance this season is going to deliver a message to our new AD and Chancellor that all the angry message board posts could never manage.

A decision was made to take a season off from competing. Big Ten levels of fan support were taken as a given in that calculation. It's on us to clearly demonstrate the error of that assumption.
 
#1,716      

Sybok

S
Sybok
Second and Chalmers said:
Illini Sports is living in hyperbolic times. But I hope and think that the football attendance this season is going to deliver a message to our new AD and Chancellor that all the angry message board posts could never manage.

A decision was made to take a season off from competing. Big Ten levels of fan support were taken as a given in that calculation. It's on us to clearly demonstrate the error of that assumption.
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My kid and I wasted the OSU game watching the crappy offensive play calling. We won't be wasting our time and my money watching a Cubit called offense again.
 
#1,717      

rdillini

R
northbrook, il
rdillini
Illwinsagain said:
How do we really know what names are being considered though? If we are throwing out names, it is message board talk. I don't believe anyone from the search committee is posting here.

Regarding getting hired without knowing your boss thing, I've done it and as long as I did my job effectively, it never was an issue. If the new AD gets the FB (and potentially BB) hire/s right, no President in their right mind would replace him/her. And if they did, their reputation would be in tact.
Click to expand...

As to the names of the people I am looking at the reported names in the Tribune article.
 
#1,718      

bombayIllini

B
bombayIllini
BZuppke said:
I think it's being overstated in both directions. First, we are a Big Ten school. There should be lots of quality candidates out there who will take a chance on who the next Chancellor will be for a $700,000 plus a year paycheck. Second, Killeen is the full time President so there is some certainty at the top. Third, if he understands the situation at Illinois, he'll know that whoever his boss is, he will be more interested in the academic side and will want little to do with athletics, which is generally considered a distraction. On the flip side, the biggest question I would have as an incoming AD is the University's commitment to excellence in athletics, especially admissions standards that put us on an even playing field within the Big Ten.
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Things were a lot more predictable for the past two ADs and yet things did not work out. With more uncertainty the chances of someone taking a risk is much lower. Add to that the turmoil. Cannot expect a mature, highly experienced person to accept the role.

But, true, need to wait and see.
 
#1,721      

ILLINIShox24

ILLINIShox24
Orange Krush '04 & '05
ILLINIShox24
The Australian Open is officially over. Flight tracker views about to pick up.
 
#1,724      

PostersLastStand

P
Wayne County, IL
PostersLastStand
The University needs to get rid of the BOT and replace them with Illinois Loyalty members, seriously. And bring back the Chief.
 
#1,725      

PostersLastStand

P
Wayne County, IL
PostersLastStand
ILLINIShox24 said:
The Australian Open is officially over. Flight tracker views about to pick up.
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I have not been keeping up on this thread lately, but is the former Tennis Coach a real possibility? And how many candidates are left. Were not the Powers That Be supposed to have an AD in place by today?:confused:
 
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