Least Favorite Big Ten Coach and Why?

ChiefGritty · Thursday at 9:47 PM

Fighter of the Nightman said:
Regarding your last point, Mike Thomas reminds me of a saying that historians often use to describe early church history in Christianity - for every heresy, there is an equal and opposite heresy that arises in opposition.

Mike Thomas was the anti-RG, and that NECESSARILY meant changes for the better in some regards. As one example, I always felt RG had this weird view of Illinois like a private school rather than the flagship program for a diverse state of 13 million … Mike Thomas at least never engaged in that small-time “East Central Illinois” thinking. However, he was by all accounts an a$$ to the nth degree, and it turns out his hires were failures.

Thankfully, most Illini fans should be able to look at Josh Whitman and simply admit that both RG and MT were just SEVERAL classes below.

People in the know swear up and down that the State Farm Center sponsorship contract (which is a very strong financial deal for the DIA) was a done deal before Guenther left, not sure how much I believe that. The basic plans for SFC were definitely laid down during Guenther's tenure, but overseeing the project is a separate job which Thomas completed as well as one can.

And Guenther NEVER would have gotten rid of the parking spaces for his inner circle elite to create Grange Grove. I feel like that's Thomas' strongest legacy. He was the bad cop on a number of things like that which eventually allowed Whitman to play good cop.

It doesn't outweigh a couple of disastrous revenue sport hires, but I think that sort of reveals the critical distinction between RG and MT. RG was an era-defining figure whose long tenure during the transition to the modern era in college sports put his vision in every nook and cranny of the program. MT by contrast wasn't here very long and in the fullness of time just isn't very important now that Whitman has cleaned up his messes.

Thomas-ism is dead, if it ever even lived. But Guentherism still lurks in the shadows, of the media and fanbase almost more than the DIA per se.

SKane · Friday at 12:23 AM

Mr. Tibbs said:
he was

he was also a former football player who played a role on the team with Grange . I forget what that role & story was . something ironic

Mel Brewer is the slush fund person. Here is an article.

The Illinois Slush Fund Scandal of 1966-67

By Murry Nelson, Guest Contributor Murry Nelson is a Professor Emeritus of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the history of basketball, and is the author of Th…

ussporthistory.com

Below are the most relevant sentences. I am old enough to remember this.

"In the spring of 1966, the long-time athletic director of the University of Illinois, Doug Mills, who had served for more than 25 years, announced that he would be retiring from the university in the fall and there was immediate speculation on who would be his successor. After a lot of “jostling” the top candidates seemed to be Mel Brewer, the Assistant Athletic Director and Pete Elliot, the football coach, who had begun in 1960 and won a Rose Bowl title in 1963."

"In mid-December, 1966, it was an open secret that Elliott would soon be named the new A.D. Initially, he would also retain the head coaching position, but it was likely that his assistant would attend to the daily athletic department duties during the football season and he, Elliott would address the larger policy issues. Once this was apparent, Mel Brewer paid a visit to the office of the University of Illinois president, David Henry, where he, Brewer, dropped a enormous batch of files on Henry’s desk and asked Henry to examine them, at least preliminarily. They were the records of a “slush fund” that the athletic department had established five years previously and which had spent approximately $21,000 during that time. The funds came from various boosters and companies and were divided into three parts- football funds, basketball funds and athletic director funds. Brewer was the administrator of the slush fund and, when it became clear that he would not be getting the position of athletic director, he decided to become an “informant”."

Illiniguy74 · Friday at 5:14 AM

Bo Schembechler by a mile.. Arrogant a-hole. Looked down his nose at Illinois and my favorite coach Mike White.

Mr. Tibbs · Friday at 10:49 AM

SKane said:
Mel Brewer is the slush fund person. Here is an article.

The Illinois Slush Fund Scandal of 1966-67

By Murry Nelson, Guest Contributor Murry Nelson is a Professor Emeritus of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the history of basketball, and is the author of Th…

ussporthistory.com

Below are the most relevant sentences. I am old enough to remember this.

"In the spring of 1966, the long-time athletic director of the University of Illinois, Doug Mills, who had served for more than 25 years, announced that he would be retiring from the university in the fall and there was immediate speculation on who would be his successor. After a lot of “jostling” the top candidates seemed to be Mel Brewer, the Assistant Athletic Director and Pete Elliot, the football coach, who had begun in 1960 and won a Rose Bowl title in 1963."

"In mid-December, 1966, it was an open secret that Elliott would soon be named the new A.D. Initially, he would also retain the head coaching position, but it was likely that his assistant would attend to the daily athletic department duties during the football season and he, Elliott would address the larger policy issues. Once this was apparent, Mel Brewer paid a visit to the office of the University of Illinois president, David Henry, where he, Brewer, dropped a enormous batch of files on Henry’s desk and asked Henry to examine them, at least preliminarily. They were the records of a “slush fund” that the athletic department had established five years previously and which had spent approximately $21,000 during that time. The funds came from various boosters and companies and were divided into three parts- football funds, basketball funds and athletic director funds. Brewer was the administrator of the slush fund and, when it became clear that he would not be getting the position of athletic director, he decided to become an “informant”."

thanks

what was Brewers history as a player with Grange ? wasn’t he hospitalized at one point , ala Geo Gipp , but unlike Gipp , survived his sickness ?

Bucktown · Friday at 11:12 AM

Mr. Tibbs said:
thanks

what was Brewers history as a player with Grange ? wasn’t he hospitalized at one point , ala Geo Gipp , but unlike Gipp , survived his sickness ?

I believe this is what you are referring to:

Michigan game (Oct. 19th): 2:30pm CT, CBS

A heads up for anyone wanting to stay the night of the game that’s also into the credit card points game: the Hyatt downtown has some availability for 15,000 points (or $450 for those paying cash). Jump on it quick!

www.illinoisloyalty.com

Mr. Tibbs · Friday at 11:36 AM

Bucktown said:
I believe this is what you are referring to:

Michigan game (Oct. 19th): 2:30pm CT, CBS

A heads up for anyone wanting to stay the night of the game that’s also into the credit card points game: the Hyatt downtown has some availability for 15,000 points (or $450 for those paying cash). Jump on it quick!

www.illinoisloyalty.com

thank you .
that was it