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!

1730391340131.png
 
#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.
 
#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.
 
#69      
RJK01
Battle89 said:
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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I thought the guy that turned the university in to the NCAA was an associate AD that got passed over.
 
#70      
Mr. Tibbs
RJK01 said:
I thought the guy that turned the university in to the NCAA was an associate AD that got passed over.
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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
 
#72      
PNWIllini
BretMyBeachHouse said:
I saw the first press conference for Groce and I was pretty pumped. I got why the hire was made.

I saw the first for Beckman and like thousands of other fans went WTF?
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Groce was and is a good guy who unfortunately cannot recruit at this level.

Beckman is just a garbage pile.
 
#73      
Fighter of the Nightman
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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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.
 
#74      
ChiefGritty
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.
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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.
 
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