Least Favorite Big Ten Coach and Why?

#54      
GatorMcKlusky
ChiefGritty said:
As Beckman said publicly at his introductory presser (not a smart thing to do of course), the plan was to bring Campbell with him, he was a core part of what they were hoping to build at Illinois. They didn't anticipate that Toledo would make him the youngest HC in Division 1 after two years as a coordinator. Toledo took a risk and it paid off.

Everybody, most of all Beckman himself, recognized what a talent Campbell was.

As it happened, Beckman compiled a very strong staff full of guys who have continued to have strong careers at major college programs and in the NFL. A good eye for assistants was always part of his sell.

But you could have given him 11 Nick Sabans as a staff and it wouldn't have made any difference at the end of the day. The problem was not that there was secretly "the good one" elsewhere on his Toledo staff, the problem was not that his record at Toledo wasn't good enough, nor that the defenses weren't good enough or the MAC wasn't good enough, it was never hiding in plain sight on the resume. The problem was that Beckman was and is a buffoon. His objectively strong resume and reputation in the business circa 2011 is just one of life's mysteries.

Mike Thomas' reputation among Illini fans is distorted through all sorts of Guentherite propaganda. But it's a fact that he sat in an interview with a moron and decided to stake his tenure and reputation on him. You don't survive decisions like that.
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The most wanted audio recording in the history of coaching interviews
 
#55      
aaeismacgychel
For football it feels wrong not to put a Michigan coach. I used to hate football coaches, but Tim Beckman put everything in perspective for me. I've never hated a coach even half as much as I hated him, and I likely never will. For current coaches, Walters has attempted to damage us the most, so it almost has to be him.
 
#56      
aaeismacgychel
GatorMcKlusky said:
The most wanted audio recording in the history of coaching interviews
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I can't even imagine what that interview sounded like. I mean I sort of can based on Beckman's truly awful and completely uninspiring pressers, yet at the same time I just see him making a lot of choo choo noises then taking a bunch of office supplies home with him after the interview while screaming I'm a winner. Then seeing Mike Thomas say, "Damn, he just walked out of here with $3.89 worth of post-its. If I don't hire him that's a negative return on investment and sunk cost."
 
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#57      
LFOD
aaeismacgychel said:
I can't even imagine what that interview sounded like. I mean I sort of can based on Beckman's truly awful and completely uninspiring pressers, yet at the same time I just see him making a lot of choo choo noises then taking a bunch of office supplies home with him after the interview while screaming I'm a winner. Then seeing Mike Thomas say, "Damn, he just walked out of here with $3.89 worth of post-its. If I don't hire him that's a negative return on investment and sunk cost."
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That's a great image of that whole ridiculous hire!

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#61      
TheDrinkinLincoln
Illini2010-11 said:
I was in Minneapolis this week for a conference, and it doesn't seem they like him there much either. His persona just rubs people the wrong way (even if he is successful there).
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He as a coach definitely has a shelf life. For better or worse they are stuck with him until the bottom falls out. I don't think he has room to move to a bigger program.
 
#63      
SixthandWhite
Fickell and Walters are tier 1. Fickell for blatantly cheating and cheering getting away with it, Walters for trying to backstab BB>
 
#64      
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiefGritty said:
Jim Tressel actually.

And of course the biggest mistake of all in that process was that Thomas interviewed Pat Narduzzi, who he had worked with at Cincinnati and liked, and who was eager for the job, but Thomas had the misbegotten idea that head coaching experience was a necessity for the position. Terrible process.

Also, you know who this thread really misses? Fitz. What a great villain that guy was.
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And this dynamic was only amplified when we would hear literally EVERYONE ELSE in the college football world never shut up about what a great guy he was, lol.
 
#65      
Navy_illini
What if you expand the question to all time and have to pick one. To me the current Big Ten coaches really havent been there long enough
 
#67      
Battle89
Navy_illini said:
What if you expand the question to all time and have to pick one. To me the current Big Ten coaches really haven't been there long enough
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Well I had an immediate response when the question was first proposed, but I thought that since the thread was in the football section answers should be limited to that sport. Seeing as how we have recently veered into other sports, the correct answer is and should always be Bruce Pearl.

Career-long liar and cheat, convicted and repeat offender, and single-handedly did more damage to our basketball program than any other person living or dead.

2nd place goes to the coach (our own!) who turned us in for the slush fund, there have been recent discussions here about him but his name escapes me at the moment.
 
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