General Coach Candidate News

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,953]

Cronin is very comparable to Westerns. Hyped up, solid, but still not elite and in the end, kinda blah. 

[Pagoda 2,408]

12 hours ago, DLG3 said:

I know this isn’t more Stevens talk (though I love it), so I apologize in advance…

I’ve seen so many posts saying something to the effect of, “I completely trust Scott Dolson to get this right.” I want to believe that. I really do. 

But in my personal fandom experience, I feel like it’s mostly consisted of we can “no longer have nice things” as IU fans. Outside of a smattering of good memories  (Wat shot, Yogi against Iowa, beating UK in the tourney) the highlight for me was making the championship game in 2002. I was in 5th grade ha! My gut tells me we should finally be due for consistent success again. But how long have I been thinking that now.

I’m genuinely curious to hear opinions of why people trust Dolson so much, outside of the Cignetti hire. Maybe Chris or others could shed some light on this. For what it’s worth, I like the guy. But ya know, a blind squirrel and all that…What about Scott makes you trust him to get this right?

I'll give you my $0.02 to take or leave:

You have to factor in the Cignetti hire, the guy is who currently AP Coach of the Year.  Scott has been AD for five years and so far that was the only major hiring process he has run without interference.  The reason I back Scott, is he didn't just hire Cig, he is building up the entire football program from almost nothing, and that is really impressive and important to IU athletics' future.

Getting Cig was not easy.  At the end of the Allen tenure IUFB was literally in bottom few teams in the conference in NIL (like $2M, that's nothing), and of course we had barely any fan support and a history of being maybe the worst D1 program ever.  IUFB was a very tough sell.  But Scott raised $15M to buy out Allen and not give him another year, he raised money to increase FB NIL, he targeted Cig from many options, and he convinced him to come here.  Other schools like Duke were trying to hire Cig too, and Scott got him to come to all-time crappy IUFB.

Next, keeping Cig and his staff was not easy after a historic season like last year.  Scott got a commitment to football and to extend/pay Cig and his staff that is unprecedented for IU.  Cig is close to a top-10 paid coach and his staff budget is top-5.  That's hard to believe, but it's true.  All sorts of schools were poking around our coordinators/assistants and we only lost our QB coach who got a legit playing calling OC gig at UCLA.  Our QB coach replacement has an amazing resume.  And Scott has kept FB NIL going up.  I just watched IU sign a top-3 portal QB in Mendoza that Miami, Georgia, Mizzou, and other schools were after.  Since when has IU ever done that?  This is amazing.

Obviously, future IUFB seasons probably won't be like last year.  There will be ups and downs.  But it's pretty clear we are making a serious move to get out of the cellar of the B1G and become a midpack football program.  That is a huge deal and worth tens of million of $ per year to the athletic dept.  Maybe we can be even better than midpack, like top third or something.  Regardless, this is incredible progress and most of the credit goes to Scott.

As much as we like basketball, football is what drives the financials for the entire athletic dept.  It's basically the only sport that matters.  IU athletics has some challenges ahead, notably (i) funding the $22M per year rev share to players and keeping all our non-rev sports than lose $ going, and (ii) keeping our media rights in 2031.  As for the media rights, all athletic depts are under pressure with the rev share costs right now, and in 2031 it wouldn't be surprising if OSU, UM, and other big football programs that generate the big TV ratings that drive the big media deals ask for more of the media rights vs. the current even split.  Why should OSU get the same annual media rights money as programs no one watches like NW, PU, etc.?  We really want IU to have a case to keep our cut of the media rights, and football is like 80% of what matters for that.  Basketball is tiny.  This is also why what Scott is doing with football is very important.

Sorry that’s a long rant about Scott building the football program, but it shows he is competent and capable. 

On to basketball.  Well, we’ve sucked for 25 years, but everything pre-2020 is irrelevant.  That’s pre-NIL and the idiots that messed up all those hires aren’t in control now.  It appears the 2021 idiots that hired Woody probably aren’t materially involved this time around, thank god.

Assuming the hire is Scott’s call, it’s not a guarantee he gets it right.  He could screw up.  But I think there is a good chance he does get it right.  There is all the stuff he’s been doing right with football detailed above.  IUBB is an easier hire – top-5 resources is very appealing to coaches.  And Scott has been planning for the bball hire for years.  Woody was always a short-term solution and Scott must have known in year two or earlier Woody was a fraud – Scott was changing his buyout structure back in 2023.  And Scott has seen all our bad hiring processes and hires since Knight.

Anyways, this is just one anon’s perspective.  I don't know Scott and he doesn't pay me.  If people want to be skeptical of Scott that’s fine.  But I am 100% positive he is the only person at IU who has a good chance to make a good hire.  No one else in the athletic dept has hired a BB/FB coach, Pam hasn’t hired a BB/FB coach, and I don’t think we want to tap the incompetent BoT/old guard again lol.  We aren’t firing Scott and even if we did his replacement would be worse.  So, in conclusion, we’ve got a competent AD for once and I think he can get this right.  Fingers-crossed and knock on wood…

[68Hoosier 926]

6 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

I'll give you my $0.02 to take or leave:

You have to factor in the Cignetti hire, the guy is who currently AP Coach of the Year.  Scott has been AD for five years and so far that was the only major hiring process he has run without interference.  The reason I back Scott, is he didn't just hire Cig, he is building up the entire football program from almost nothing, and that is really impressive and important to IU athletics' future.

Getting Cig was not easy.  At the end of the Allen tenure IUFB was literally in bottom few teams in the conference in NIL (like $2M, that's nothing), and of course we had barely any fan support and a history of being maybe the worst D1 program ever.  IUFB was a very tough sell.  But Scott raised $15M to buyout Allen and not give him another year, he raised money to increase FB NIL, he targeted Cig from many options, and he convinced him to come here.  Other schools like Duke were trying to hire Cig too, and Scott got him to come to all-time crappy IUFB.

Next, keeping Cig and his staff was not easy after a historic season like last year.  Scott got a commitment to football and to resign Cig and his staff that is unprecedented for IU.  Cig is close to a top-10 paid coach and his staff budget is top-5.  That's hard to believe, but it's true.  All sorts of schools were poking around our coordinators/assistants and we only lost our QB coach/co-OC who got a legit playing calling OC gig at UCLA.  Our QB coach replacement has an amazing resume.  And Scott has kept FB NIL going up.  I just watched IU sign a top-3 portal QB in Mendoza that Miami, Georgia, Mizzou, and other schools were after.  Since when has IU ever done that?  This is amazing.

Obviously, future IUFB seasons probably won't be like last year.  There will be ups and downs.  But it's pretty clear we are making a serious move to get out of the cellar of the B1G and become a midpack football program.  That is a huge deal and worth tens of million of $ per year to the athletic dept.  Maybe we can be even better than that, like top third or something.  Regardless, this is incredible progress and most of the credit goes to Scott.

As much as we like basketball, football is what drives the financials for the entire athletic dept.  It's basically the only sport that matters.  IU athletics has some challenges ahead, notably (i) funding the $22M per year rev share to players and keeping all our non-rev sports than lose $ going, and (ii) keeping our media rights in 2031.  As for the media rights, all athletic depts are under pressure with the rev share costs right now, and in 2031 it wouldn't be surprising if OSU, UM, and other big football programs that generate the big TV ratings that drive the big media deals ask for more of the media rights vs. the current even split.  Why should OSU get the same annual media rights money as programs no one watches like NW, PU, etc.?  We really want IU to have a case to keep our cut of the media rights, and football is like 80% of what matters for that.  Basketball is tiny.  This is why what Scott is doing with football is very important.

So, sorry that’s a long rant about Scott building the football program, but it shows he is competent and capable. 

On to basketball.  Well, we’ve sucked for 25 years, but everything pre-2020 is irrelevant.  That’s pre-NIL and the idiots that messed up all those hires aren’t in control.  It appears the 2021 idiots that hired Woody probably aren’t materially involved this time around, thank god.

Assuming the hire is Scott’s call, it’s not a guarantee he gets it right.  He could screw up.  But I think there is a good chance he does get it right.  There is all the stuff he’s been doing right with football detailed above.  IUBB is an easier hire – top-5 resources is huge and rare.  And Scott has been planning for the bball hire for years.  Woody was always a short-term solution and Scott must have known in year two or earlier Woody was a fraud – Scott was changing his buyout structure back in 2023.  And Scott has seen all our bad hiring processes and hires since Knight.

Anyways, this is just one anon’s perspective.  I don't know Scott and he doesn't pay me.  If people want to be skeptical of Scott that’s fine.  But I am 100% positive he is the only person at IU who has a good chance to make a good hire.  No one else in the athletic dept has hired a BB/FB coach, Pam hasn’t hired a BB/FB coach, and I don’t think we want to tap the incompetent BoT/old guard again lol.  We aren’t firing Scott and even if we did his replacement would be worse.  So, in conclusion, we’ve got a competent AD for once and I think he can get this right.  Fingers-crossed and knock on wood…

Or we can get Farm Bureau and

 

 

Sorry Pagoda I had to, lol.

 

 

[68Hoosier 926]

8 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

I'll give you my $0.02 to take or leave:

You have to factor in the Cignetti hire, the guy is who currently AP Coach of the Year.  Scott has been AD for five years and so far that was the only major hiring process he has run without interference.  The reason I back Scott, is he didn't just hire Cig, he is building up the entire football program from almost nothing, and that is really impressive and important to IU athletics' future.

Getting Cig was not easy.  At the end of the Allen tenure IUFB was literally in bottom few teams in the conference in NIL (like $2M, that's nothing), and of course we had barely any fan support and a history of being maybe the worst D1 program ever.  IUFB was a very tough sell.  But Scott raised $15M to buyout Allen and not give him another year, he raised money to increase FB NIL, he targeted Cig from many options, and he convinced him to come here.  Other schools like Duke were trying to hire Cig too, and Scott got him to come to all-time crappy IUFB.

Next, keeping Cig and his staff was not easy after a historic season like last year.  Scott got a commitment to football and to resign Cig and his staff that is unprecedented for IU.  Cig is close to a top-10 paid coach and his staff budget is top-5.  That's hard to believe, but it's true.  All sorts of schools were poking around our coordinators/assistants and we only lost our QB coach who got a legit playing calling OC gig at UCLA.  Our QB coach replacement has an amazing resume.  And Scott has kept FB NIL going up.  I just watched IU sign a top-3 portal QB in Mendoza that Miami, Georgia, Mizzou, and other schools were after.  Since when has IU ever done that?  This is amazing.

Obviously, future IUFB seasons probably won't be like last year.  There will be ups and downs.  But it's pretty clear we are making a serious move to get out of the cellar of the B1G and become a midpack football program.  That is a huge deal and worth tens of million of $ per year to the athletic dept.  Maybe we can be even better than midpack, like top third or something.  Regardless, this is incredible progress and most of the credit goes to Scott.

As much as we like basketball, football is what drives the financials for the entire athletic dept.  It's basically the only sport that matters.  IU athletics has some challenges ahead, notably (i) funding the $22M per year rev share to players and keeping all our non-rev sports than lose $ going, and (ii) keeping our media rights in 2031.  As for the media rights, all athletic depts are under pressure with the rev share costs right now, and in 2031 it wouldn't be surprising if OSU, UM, and other big football programs that generate the big TV ratings that drive the big media deals ask for more of the media rights vs. the current even split.  Why should OSU get the same annual media rights money as programs no one watches like NW, PU, etc.?  We really want IU to have a case to keep our cut of the media rights, and football is like 80% of what matters for that.  Basketball is tiny.  This is also why what Scott is doing with football is very important.

Sorry that’s a long rant about Scott building the football program, but it shows he is competent and capable. 

On to basketball.  Well, we’ve sucked for 25 years, but everything pre-2020 is irrelevant.  That’s pre-NIL and the idiots that messed up all those hires aren’t in control.  It appears the 2021 idiots that hired Woody probably aren’t materially involved this time around, thank god.

Assuming the hire is Scott’s call, it’s not a guarantee he gets it right.  He could screw up.  But I think there is a good chance he does get it right.  There is all the stuff he’s been doing right with football detailed above.  IUBB is an easier hire – top-5 resources is very appealing to coaches.  And Scott has been planning for the bball hire for years.  Woody was always a short-term solution and Scott must have known in year two or earlier Woody was a fraud – Scott was changing his buyout structure back in 2023.  And Scott has seen all our bad hiring processes and hires since Knight.

Anyways, this is just one anon’s perspective.  I don't know Scott and he doesn't pay me.  If people want to be skeptical of Scott that’s fine.  But I am 100% positive he is the only person at IU who has a good chance to make a good hire.  No one else in the athletic dept has hired a BB/FB coach, Pam hasn’t hired a BB/FB coach, and I don’t think we want to tap the incompetent BoT/old guard again lol.  We aren’t firing Scott and even if we did his replacement would be worse.  So, in conclusion, we’ve got a competent AD for once and I think he can get this right.  Fingers-crossed and knock on wood…

Honestly, I believe Scott is the right guy.  Based on what others have said and what I read if he is allowed to run the show, I think he gets it right this time. 

[Chris007 53,202]

11 hours ago, Motley's said:

All you need to know about them:

"Danny Ainge went to Brad Stevens and he said, 'Hey, you know, I want you to coach the Celtics. I've always been a big fan of yours,'" Holley told host Chris Forsberg. "Brad talks to Tracy and says, 'Oh man, this is great. Wow, the Boston Celtics! This is great, but no.' He turned him down. He turned it down initially."
 

. "So (Tracy) went to Brad and -- this is like poetry. She said, 'You'll never be as good as you can unless you're uncomfortable.' Like, hey -- 'We love Butler, Butler's been great to us. We got a lifetime contract here, but you know what? You got to push yourself. Go to the NBA. Do it.' And that's what made him change his mind."

The family vote took place when he was offered the IU job not the Celtics job. When he was offered the Celtics job his kids were like 6 and 3. I don't think they got a vote that young LOL

[pumpfake 4,099]

9 hours ago, rcbowla said:

I also think the Stevens belief has skewed a lot of people's perceptions of what a good hire would be. I get the impression many Stevens believers wouldn't be happy with a Drew, Beard, Otz, McDermott, you name him. That's because now nothing will hit that dopamine the same as a Brad hire.

This.

I'd be a bit disappointed BUT I would still consider any of those 4 as great hires and be fully on the bandwagon soon thereafter. 

[Chris007 53,202]

10 hours ago, rcbowla said:

I also think the Stevens belief has skewed a lot of people's perceptions of what a good hire would be. I get the impression many Stevens believers wouldn't be happy with a Drew, Beard, Otz, McDermott, you name him. That's because now nothing will hit that dopamine the same as a Brad hire.

I would not be happy with Beard, or Brownell so far from the ones I've heard. Cronin would grow on me.

[Motley's 226]

5 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

The family vote took place when he was offered the IU job not the Celtics job. When he was offered the Celtics job his kids were like 6 and 3. I don't think they got a vote that young LOL

Thanks for stating the obvious that has nothing to do with my post

[coonhounds 10,027]

I would not be happy with Beard, or Brownell so far from the ones I've heard. Cronin would grow on me.

But we don't have to worry about anyone else yet. Correct?

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

[Chris007 53,202]

10 hours ago, HinnyHoosier said:

Neither are as connected at IU as they want to be although one will try to tell you otherwise. Trilly he seems to hear a lot of stuff on the college front in general based on a broad array of sources and I find it odd he hasn't heard a single thing, were it to be a current college coach.

I'm surprised this isn't a bigger deal for some. Trilly who is connected with every agent hasn't heard of Indiana reaching out to anyone right now, Rabby who is pretty much just connected to agents and AAU people and hasn't heard much, just soft chatter. Both have said they have heard things for other openings but not ours. For the life of me I just can't figure out why :-)

[HoosierInParadise 873]

All this time we've been worried about the wrong word in the Goodman statement. He's not "a" candidate because he is "the" candidate....how subtle.

[Stuhoo 85,099]

1 hour ago, Chris007 said:

I'm surprised this isn't a bigger deal for some. Trilly who is connected with every agent hasn't heard of Indiana reaching out to anyone right now, Rabby who is pretty much just connected to agents and AAU people and hasn't heard much, just soft chatter. Both have said they have heard things for other openings but not ours. For the life of me I just can't figure out why :-)

I will say this; Trilly has plenty of sources and is quite good at developing more sources. If someone like Drew or Cronin was already heavily in the mix I'd expect that he'd have a little vibe by now.

That could mean a few things. That the identified candidate is doing a hell of a good job of keeping it quiet. That the identified candidate is not currently a college coach. Or finally, that the identified candidate hasn’t actually been identified yet!

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,953]

Just now, HoosierInParadise said:

All this time we've been worried about the wrong word in the Goodman statement. He's not "a" candidate because he is "the" candidate....how subtle.

Cold

"I was not the candidate at that point, I'd already accepted the job"

[Stuhoo 85,099]

Not very hung up on a vague Goodman tweet. All he has to say is "That was my take when I said it. Things must have changed."

That doesn't make Stevens any more or less likely, but Goodman's tweet isn't especially relevant to me.

[HoosierInParadise 873]

Not very hung up on a vague Goodman tweet. All he has to say is "That was my take when I said it. Things must have changed."
That doesn't make Stevens any more or less likely, but Goodman's tweet isn't especially relevant to me.

I'm not hung up on it either...just having some fun with words and made-up or precieved intent. Coaching searches are fun!

[Mopladysman 748]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

Not very hung up on a vague Goodman tweet. All he has to say is "That was my take when I said it. Things must have changed."

That doesn't make Stevens any more or less likely, but Goodman's tweet isn't especially relevant to me.

“That was before dolson took me to the breaking bad set, did some meth, got that tasty chicken and went through the car wash”

[OliviaPope40 7,032]

[GP711 631]

6 minutes ago, Mopladysman said:

“That was before dolson took me to the breaking bad set, did some meth, got that tasty chicken and went through the car wash”

As he should to close brad

[RoadRage 2,656]

31 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

I would not be happy with Beard, or Brownell so far from the ones I've heard. Cronin would grow on me.

Kind of like a fungus……..

[Hoosier1984 1,581]

13 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Not very hung up on a vague Goodman tweet. All he has to say is "That was my take when I said it. Things must have changed."

That doesn't make Stevens any more or less likely, but Goodman's tweet isn't especially relevant to me.

Exactly and his tweet says he isn’t a candidate, which could be true. Technically Coach in waiting!