Fred Glass: Worst AD of the BIG10... or Ever?

[Hovadipo]

15 minutes ago, southernindianahoosier2 said:

Curt Cignetti has meetings with the DJ at memorial stadium on what to play more of, what to play less of, when to play it. etc. He at least noticed the small things in the torn banners and 1980's office. Those are just EXAMPLES of his approach.

You're missing the forrest for the trees here. What I am saying, and have been for years on this website is in order to run a championship caliber program, you need to root at complacency at every level, no matter what aspect of the program it is or how small the detail. This attitude helps get everyone on board working together towards a common goal. It's what IUBB has been lacking for 20+ years. 

Your larger point is fine, but every one of your examples is either something that hasn't improved or really doesn't matter, so sorry for the confusion I guess.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

IMO, athletics at IU has all been downhill since Myles Brand.  His successors Herbert and McRobbie pushed athletics in general down the ladder of importance.  As such, any AD was going to have an uphill battle in trying to get anything really positive done.  Now we've done a 180 with President Whitten but massive changes won't happen overnight.

[Magnanimous]

(Before getting silly here, can we please stop hating every individual who accomplished good things at IU, made a good faith effort to improve our university/AD, and in the grand context of things was not a deliberately incompetent POS, like some other ADs and university presidents around the country? [see Penn State, Michigan right now, the Ivy leagues the last few years…] Fred Glass was not the worst thing to happen to our AD and was actually part of a continuum of our AD trending upwards from when it was truly stuck in the past as Greenspan took over).

With that said…maybe I’m misremembering timelines, but I could have sworn that Tim Curley was Penn State’s AD while Fred Glass was ours…? Just for some perspective ;)

And as we’re patting ourselves on the back while lambasting trivial aspects of our university, I’d like to throw my name into the conversation by stating that between undergrad and grad school, I had season tickets for six seasons of dreadful IUFB and went to every game. So “if everyone was like me,” then IUFB would’ve turned the corner from a fandom perspective decades ago and likely would’ve pulled better coaches much earlier.

Just about every IU fan/alum (except me and probably 12 other posters on this site) is to blame for IUFB dogging it for decades, and when Cig came here and wanted to upgrade everything, from apparently our popcorn to toilets to our fans, he wasn’t talking about me! All I can say when looking at these young students and new fans enjoying the fruits of my apparent IUFB fan labor…

 

[Hovadipo]

3 minutes ago, Magnanimous said:

(Before getting silly here, can we please stop hating every individual who accomplished good things at IU, made a good faith effort to improve our university/AD, and in the grand context of things was not a deliberately incompetent POS, like some other ADs and university presidents around the country? [see Penn State, Michigan right now, the Ivy leagues the last few years…] Fred Glass was not the worst thing to happen to our AD and was actually part of a continuum of our AD trending upwards from when it was truly stuck in the past as Greenspan took over).

With that said…maybe I’m misremembering timelines, but I could have sworn that Tim Curley was Penn State’s AD while Fred Glass was ours…? Just for some perspective ;)

And while we’re patting ourselves on the back while lambasting trivial aspects of our university, I’d like to throw my name into the conversation by stating that between undergrad and grad school, I had season tickets for six seasons of dreadful IUFB and went to every game. So “if everyone was like me,” then IUFB would’ve turned the corner from a fandom perspective decades ago and likely would’ve pulled better coaches much earlier.

Just about every IU fan/alum (except me and probably 12 other posters on this site) is to blame for IUFB dogging it for decades, and when Cig came here and wanted to upgrade everything, from apparently our popcorn to toilets to our fans, he wasn’t talking about me! All I can say when looking at these young students and new fans enjoying the fruits of my apparent IUFB fan labor…

 

[HoosierMatty]

Glass was not a great AD by any means but I don't know if I would say he was the worst. It seems like the biggest issue is we had horrible presidents and board of trustees that has been our biggest problem. After Davis left it was Herbert that made Greenspan hire Sampson. Great coach but for ultimately a bad cultural fit. However I've heard things from Greenspan would have hired Beilen or Kevin Stallings if given his choice. So either a home run or a dumpster fire choice. I guess we will never know. Ultimately he was told to hire Crean after the Sampson debacle. The point I'm trying to make no matter how bad or good our AD's have been they have been micro managed by those far more incompetent.

 

[newcastle12]

11 minutes ago, HoosierMatty said:

Glass was not a great AD by any means but I don't know if I would say he was the worst. It seems like the biggest issue is we had horrible presidents and board of trustees that has been our biggest problem. After Davis left it was Herbert that made Greenspan hire Sampson. Great coach but for ultimately a bad cultural fit. However I've heard things from Greenspan would have hired Beilen or Kevin Stallings if given his choice. So either a home run or a dumpster fire choice. I guess we will never know. Ultimately he was told to hire Crean after the Sampson debacle. The point I'm trying to make no matter how bad or good our AD's have been they have been micro managed by those far more incompetent.

 

That is the bigger point, really when everyone is talking about mismanagement they are primarily talking about basketball, and those decisions have rarely been left to the AD.  Tom Crean told the story recently that Steve Ferguson was in the hotel room when he had his first meeting with the school.  

[TheWatShot]

6 hours ago, HoosierMatty said:

Glass was not a great AD by any means but I don't know if I would say he was the worst. It seems like the biggest issue is we had horrible presidents and board of trustees that has been our biggest problem. After Davis left it was Herbert that made Greenspan hire Sampson. Great coach but for ultimately a bad cultural fit. However I've heard things from Greenspan would have hired Beilen or Kevin Stallings if given his choice. So either a home run or a dumpster fire choice. I guess we will never know. Ultimately he was told to hire Crean after the Sampson debacle. The point I'm trying to make no matter how bad or good our AD's have been they have been micro managed by those far more incompetent.

 

The phrase "a fish rots from the head down" comes to mind. 

[Old Friend]

On 12/15/2025 at 9:10 PM, southernindianahoosier2 said:

I want to say that people gave me crap on here for years because I said in order for IUBB to be a national championship caliber program, we would have to analyze every single aspect of the program: From uniforms, to music, to concessions, to practice facility etc.

It seems like Cignetti embodies what I was preaching for years. Glad we have him, and hope Cig opens everyone's eyes on how to build a championship caliber program by being hyper vigilant at every aspect of the program.

 

To your point and maybe to counter it..sort of?  Because we struggle in the music department...   The Indiana Marching Hundred pre game show at football games is the most putrid, fabricated, cringe-worthy thing I have ever seen.  NOW it's time for ZOMBIE NATION!   NOW it's time for HOOSIER WIPEOUT!  NOW get your hands in the air and make some noise for the BISON MAFIA!!!   I mean.....God. Awful.  Amateur hour.  NOW it's time for everyone to line up for the bathroom!!!   NOW it's time for....Good God.  Can we just stop being so incredibly .....awful.  We have a fantastic music school and THAT is the best we can do??

[HoosierMatty]

18 hours ago, newcastle12 said:

That is the bigger point, really when everyone is talking about mismanagement they are primarily talking about basketball, and those decisions have rarely been left to the AD.  Tom Crean told the story recently that Steve Ferguson was in the hotel room when he had his first meeting with the school.  

Let's also be clear that we still have problems with BOT members like Buckner and money people like Ferguson. Remember Dolson wasn't even allowed to make his own hire the first time around because people's personal vendettas and emotional attachments. They forced Woodson but stayed out of his way with Cignetti. When it became clear Woodson wasn't going to work they finally relented. I would argue since Sampsons firing, Woodson has possibly caused the most damage since he left. They forced us to have to eat one of our own, someone who should have never been considered by any sane AD. It further hurt our brand image and we missed our chances with better options and now these same people like Ferguson have closed their wallets because they butt hurt about it. They are 100 percent responsible for this.You guys broke everything the last 20 plus years take ownership. Now shut up get out of the way and just hand over the money if you actually care about this program. Just because you know how to make money and become rich doesn't mean you know the first thing about selecting a coach and running an athletic department