8bucks

Crean was flawed and had very cyclical results. RMK had cyclical results too but at a higher level. Under RMK, every 4 years we won the BT and every 5ish years a national championship. The one exception to the title timing was when Henderson blew his knew but we still made the FF. Then under Davis, the team RMK had made it back again. Credit to both there. Crean's highs are better than everyone since RMK sans Kelvin but his lows were frustrating. I do wonder what he would be like with NIL and quick roster turnover (Perfect for creaning) but there may be a reason he is not coaching now.

His numbers suggest he should be a very high priority for teams right?

Take yourself to Irma’s tomorrow, get some lemonade (spiked if the car is still down) and enjoy. Always try to hit Irma’s when I am in town.

Anyone see that “King of Indiana” flyer the HH guys mentioned?

Saw this on the lids site though it was pretty pretty cool

I agree for the most part club soccer is where college coaches recruit but playing high school soccer seems to differ state by state. In Indiana several of the top girls played both and went on to play D1. The Girls Academy League which is maybe the 2nd strongest national division was formed to allow girls to play both. Coaching in Bloomington would allow you to live near Center Grove too if playing in HS mattered

South girls team was pretty good in 24 and if I recall correctly, they were not senior laden so they may be able to continue. There is another club over near the SE side of Indy (FC Pride) that used to be the best club for girls but they were not as strong when my daughter was playing. Things change pretty quick though with these clubs as the better coaches can bounce around some. Unless something has changed, the Cutters are not at the level where kids that play there go on to play college soccer. Indy Premier has an association with Greenwood, Columbus and that might still include Bloomington so all the good players from those areas left which is why the Cutters struggled. I did check the drive and it would be about 1.5 hours from Btown to the Carmel facilities, so it is doable. When my daughter played our drive was about an hour from our house and playing in Boston area may have been similar.

Why do you think they went with the "we are Massholes now" response? Seemed they could easily have said we are flattered but no. I think his daughter may only be a sophomore. Wellesley girls soccer plays Brookline in MIAA Division 1 Final 4 game (article from 11/24 refers to her as a sophomore). I wonder if that would keep the door closed 2 more years. If she is a D1 level player (which is possible since she mentions playing in nationals) then some skip playing HS soccer and focus more on national club level teams. Not all, and many in Indiana do not skip HS. The best state clubs are in the Carmel/Westfield area (Indiana Fire and Indy Premier) and would be quite the distance from Btown. There might be better options closer to Cincy or L'ville. Not saying he wont come but if his daughter is a sophomore, and wants to play club soccer Bloomington would require a lot of driving. My daughter played club up in the Carmel area and a couple of her teammates drove up from Columbus for the 3 times a week practice.

For anyone planning on going, is the best strategy to wait to buy tickets Sunday once the slate is locked? Better to get through IU or a ticketmaster type source? Any reason to think that it wont be very expensive ticket to get?

I would be stunned if he got back into college coaching. Seems guys like him are leaving the game (Jay Wright, Tony Bennett) and with the amount of recruiting time, NIL, I am just not sure why that would attract him. I might see him leave to take on a HC of the Olympic team role but knowing how much time college coaches have to give especially while his son and daughter will be playing collegiately just seems unlikely. Not saying the conversation did not happen. I would have loved to have heard it to see if he was serious.

I think they do care but completely misunderstood how much effort it takes. I think they felt Woody could attract talent based on his experience and grandfatherly way, which he has to some extent, but did not realize how much time was needed on the HS recruiting side of things. I also think they overlooked how you have to be a very good coach to excel. This is not an easy job. There are some really good coaches out there who can build a program, have resources and are great at Xs and Os. Woody just does not seem to have the stamina or acumen to excel here.

Sadly we kind of asked for it. Before he was a trustee we had the trustee's who did not want the basketball program to become to big post RMK. I remember many of us wishing a former player could become a trustee and help overcome this fear. Then QB came and we thought we had our problems solved. Then new problems came

Did you ever hear if Matta was a 2nd choice (2nd to BS) by Dolson? I was told by a Woodson connection that Matta's involvement was news to them and the source at least felt like Matta was a potential HC candidate vs just the AD assistant role. At that point news was starting to leak that Woodson may be the guy when we also started to hear about Matta. I think Goodman tweeted out something similar.

I think KW had that same swagger and certainly could have had a bigger impact but he seemed to have other demons that were bigger than his abilities to act on his goals/vision.

Yeah, it seems more of a tap the brakes, it is a process, we don't have good decision makers in the process .... She/he does seem a little more supportive of Dolson than when they posted before. I could be wrong, but I thought they indicated he should not be trusted yet to make decisions whereas now they admit that Dolson has a bit more momentum/leverage. Overall, I think it likely that the ADs office got word of the hysterics podcast or anger from the Bahama's play and sent someone out to try and temper the angst. Not to support Woody but calm the torch bearers for a bit.

Does the recruitment of Julian Lewis shed any light on what the staff might be thinking? Would Lewis have likely started next year? I think that a top portal QB pushed Tayven to consider a transfer more than the freshman. We will likely need more than 1 QB next year and it seems the coaches are able to stack talent so maybe they land a strong portal QB but Tayven still wins the job.

To be fair, I would prefer he be the guy. These stats help make the case that he could be. I am not auto-thinking he isn't the guy but rather challenging the auto-think idea that he is the guy. I think your post indicating we did not have a portal need at QB initiated this thought but that may not have been your intent. IF he can be the guy, bump up his completion % a little more, hit some of those tough throws that Rourke made all year AND combine that with his mobility I think he can be an incredible QB.

I think he has been good but in a previous post you mentioned he has been great this year. I just don't see that yet. He got a huge win vs Washington with was great but his stats that game were 11-19 for 124 yrds 1 TD, 1 Int. Those are good but not great numbers. Here are Rourke's stats before IU Here are Tayven's While Tayven's rate for '24 is strong his volume is low. As you plan for next year and you had Rourke like options do you go after them as the starter or roll with Tayven?

I think we have a hole at QB for next year. I do not think Tayven has produced to the level Rourke had at Ohio and while he has shown flashes, he is not proven. I do take some encouragement that this staff has developed QBs and am hopeful they will do that with Tayven but it will be interesting to see how hard we go after a starting caliber QB in the portal.

Is there anything of interest before the 30:45 mark or just them talking?

Yeah this echoes what I have been thinking plus Bball donors likely felt QB was a better source for basketball coach selection than Dolson. Now, given the football success and start to the Bball season the tides likely switch. Dolson has to have more pull now.

Very low.

What is his buyout

Background on Bucky https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky_McMillan if he follows with another strong year he will be a hot candidate. We often hear, let them go to a little higher level before being a serious candidate for us but timing makes that a challenge.

Dolson May have had a better option but did not have enough cred to overcome Quinn and or some boosters. Now with this start and the success of his football hire he may have that cred.