Wilson agrees to 6-year contract

[8bucks 6,341]

Hopefully the buyouts favor Indiana not the coach. If so, I am fine with the extension

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

Yes it does make it easier to go to 3mm down the road but we are tied-in for 6 years......the longest in the Big Ten.

We're tied in for two more than we had agreed to before he took us to a bowl game. I really don't think people are looking at this subjectively.

What was the better play?! Let him shrivel out at a lame duck? Keep paying him like a RB coach of mid-tier team?!

If we want to compete in the B1G East, we need to put our money into the program.

[DChoosier 7,756]

We're tied in for two more than we had agreed to before he took us to a bowl game. I really don't think people are looking at this subjectively.
What was the better play?! Let him shrivel out at a lame duck? Keep paying him like a RB coach of mid-tier team?!
If we want to compete in the B1G East, we need to put our money into the program.

I could be wrong but think we added 4, not 2, more years and doubled his pay.
No I would not let him shrivel but he is now tied with JH at Michigan for the longest guarantee in the BT.
I would think there was a little room in the middle.
Who knows....maybe someone was dangling big money for him to be an OC somewhere.

[johnsoniu 6,245]

Haven't seen the contract details yet (Marty?). But I would assume any buyout is structured so that if we fire him, any money he makes at his next gig will count against what we owe. He would be unemployed for about six seconds before landing a decent paying OC job.

[DChoosier 7,756]

Already seeing a lot of negative tweets about the annual amount but facts is facts.  If we don't up his pay he's gone.  It's just the sad part of college coaching that it's reached this point.  But if we want to remain a football school, it's what we have to do.
 
October 2015 USA Today report:
 
Michigan: Jim Harbaugh — $7,004,000
Ohio State: Urban Meyer — $5,860,000
Penn State: James Franklin — $4,400,000
Iowa: Kirk Ferentz — $4,075,000
Michigan State : Mark Dantonio — $3,671,520
Nebraska: Mike Riley — $2,700,000
Minnesota: Jerry Kill — $2,500,000
Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald — $2,490,858
Wisconsin: Paul Chryst — $2,300,000
Purdue: Darrell Hazell — $2,140,000
Maryland: Randy Edsall — $2,110,848
Indiana: Kevin Wilson — $1,312,277
Rutgers: Kyle Flood — $1,260,000
Illinois: Bill Cubit — $916,010

Yes he was on the low end of the pay scale but when I hear "pay up or he will leave" does that mean the worry is that he will get big coin as an OC?
If people are afraid he will go to another Power conference team , as a HC, for more money my question is where would he go?
Years 2/3 he was 5-11 in conference. Years 4/5 he was 3-13 with his guys. Who in the BT, ACC etc is throwing money after that?

[DChoosier 7,756]

Haven't seen the contract details yet (Marty?). But I would assume any buyout is structured so that if we fire him, any money he makes at his next gig will count against what we owe. He would be unemployed for about six seconds before landing a decent paying OC job.

Good point

[Old Friend 8,389]

Very happy for him and for the program.  We don't need to start over again, and this man has shown he wants to be here, which is fantastic.  No reason we can't go to 6-7 bowls every 10 years.  No reason we can't play with the big boys most of the time, even if beating them is a rarity.   His recruiting is much better than IU's used to; and stability in the football program is not something we've had since Bill Mallory; and firing him when they did remains a huge mistake.

 

Personally, I'm thrilled, and look forward to many more fun seasons.  Yes..and lots more frustration.  That comes with Indiana football.   But good for him.

[bleedhoosier 3,627]

Props to Wilson. Team was crazy fun and maddening to watch.

[Alford Bailey 12,349]

Well this is obviously not a popular opinion, as he was called a "tool", etc., but I am with Justin...6 years at 2.5 per after beating 2 1-7 BT teams...WOW.
I get being competitive , and enjoyed watching us A LOT, with good teams this year but after 5 years I say C+. Sorry for saying it again but we have won 3 BT games in two years and 2 of the wins were against two of the worst PU teams ever. In years 2/3 his Big Ten record was 5-11. In years 4/5 it was 3-13.
Without Suds, a couple of the OL guys and a few of our defensive departures I am afraid we will regress next year.
Hopefully the contract will draw more recruits this year, we win 7 next year and I will eat my words.
I am very pro-IU and really hope I am wrong about my concern that we will regret the size and length of this in a couple of years.
I think he should have been retained but 6 @ 2.5 seems like a stretch.

Completely agree. I get not wanting to start over ( though lots of programs do every year rather smoothly) but just give me a winning season before you go big long term contract.

[Alford Bailey 12,349]

We're tied in for two more than we had agreed to before he took us to a bowl game. I really don't think people are looking at this subjectively.

What was the better play?! Let him shrivel out at a lame duck? Keep paying him like a RB coach of mid-tier team?!

If we want to compete in the B1G East, we need to put our money into the program.

Why not give him 2 more years(total of 4) with a raise and let him prove he can get us to a winning record with all these recruits we have coming in? Then go long term if he accomplishes something.

[323SGrant 1,176]

Completely agree. I get not wanting to start over ( though lots of programs do every year rather smoothly) but just give me a winning season before you go big long term contract.

[323SGrant 1,176]

Yep. I'd take a 7-6 record at this point.

[GnarlyTimGarl 1,425]

I'm not exactly FOR as big of a contract that is 6-years and 2.5 million, but I'm not necessarily against it, either. Here are a few of my thoughts...

 

1) Lynch did not have this program going in the right direction. We were fading fast and Wilson had to pretty much scrap it when he got here and start from scratch. He's built it on his own, HIS way. And he's done alright. We're competitive. And that's what most said they wanted five years ago.

 

2) Wilson's teams have an identity. High-tempo, fast-paced, high-scoring offense. That's right, IU Football has an identity. And it's not that we stink. Is our defense still atrocious more often than not? Yes. And that needs addressed for further improvement. But at least we have SOMETHING to hang our hats on. For so many years, we pretty much had nothing.

 

3) People say "we're only beating bad teams." But at least we're not the worst in the Big Ten anymore. We've won multiple Big Ten games in 3 of his 5 years here. Guys, that means something. In the nine years prior to Wilson (2002-2010) we only won multiple conference games in 2 of those 9 years. The rest of those years were 1-7 records. I know this standard is not very high, but we're making strides.

 

4) We're beating Purdue. Yes, they have stunk lately. But you know what? Save for a handful of years in the Tiller era, Purdue has never been the powerhouse program some of their fans think they have been. Yet we have always struggled to beat them. From 1997 to 2006, we won the bucket once. ONCE. Out of ten tries. Now we have beaten them three times in a row. We're becoming a better football program than they are and that means something for leverage in this state.

 

5) If you don't want to provide Wilson that money/contract, then who do we get? We see coordinators from OSU and Michigan getting Big Ten jobs at that price. That's the caliber of coach we might be in the running for. Is that what we want? Would they have come here (a historically bad program) instead? Would they be better than Wilson? Would a fresh start with them equal more success than with the continuity that Wilson brings? It would be a shot in the dark at best, and everyone here knows it.

 

(EDIT: I also understand the thought-process of not giving Wilson as many years of an extension, or not as big of a raise.Those are valid points. But honestly, I think the perception is that, had we not given this amount of an extension, the perception is that IU is still not invested in football. And in some ways, it would only be a step up from what Illinois is doing with Bill Cubit.)

 

Let me clearly state I am not a HUGE Wilson fan. I'm really not. And I have my reasons, many of them have nothing to do with football games. But as far as being the Head Coach of Indiana University, I think he's doing alright. He's grown as a head coach and that's clearly apparent. We're competitive. We're fighting (save the Rutgers game 4th quarter.) Our program is slowly and steadily improving. And Wilson clearly takes pride in it and cares for it.

 

Glass is obviously hoping for a similar situation here like David Cutcliffe has done at Duke. I think there are some similarities and it's reasonable to believe Wilson has us on track to achieve similar successful results. Therefore, this contract extension is reasonable in my eyes.

[incrediboy 922]

While I have no problem with the extension, I don't foresee IU on a par with OSU, Michigan or MSU anytime soon (if anytime period). I wish we'd tried for someone like Mark Richt before Miami scooped him up. 

 

Still, it could happen that we have one of those years where everything falls into place on the wheel of fate (like 1967;

[RBB89 3,497]

While I have no problem with the extension, I don't foresee IU on a par with OSU, Michigan or MSU anytime soon (if anytime period). I wish we'd tried for someone like Mark Richt before Miami scooped him up.

Still, it could happen that we have one of those years where everything falls into place on the wheel of fate (like 1967;

Mark Richt would've laughed in our face, and then flown down to Miami to get his first check.

Also, what do you consider on par? We lost to two of those teams on the last play of the game, and trailed MSU 31-26 in East Lansing with 5 minutes left. We will never catch up in terms of tradition, no.

[RBB89 3,497]

Albers is normally full of crap, but he's right on this one. Hopefully we can keep scheduling 4 wins and not blow any of them, because Big Ten wins are still going to be hard to come by.

By the way, we no longer play 4 non conference games.

[incrediboy 922]

Mark Richt would've laughed in our face, and then flown down to Miami to get his first check.

Also, what do you consider on par? We lost to two of those teams on the last play of the game, and trailed MSU 31-26 in East Lansing with 5 minutes left. We will never catch up in terms of tradition, no.

 

I consider "on par" as beating these teams half the time, winning at home 75-80% of the time. All three of your examples were home games that we lost. On the road we would not have played them closely. 

 

I agree that Richt would have ultimately refused any offer from IU. I've met the man and can safely say he's far too much a Christian gentleman to laugh in anyone's face. But if we had at least made an effort it would have shown IU was serious about being a national contender. Again, I have no quarrel with keeping Wilson, but if there's a significant upgrade available -- an upgrade to a coach that year-in, year-out has a 10-game-plus-winning team in a power conference -- and he's "out there"  then we should pursue him.

[RBB89 3,497]

I consider "on par" as beating these teams half the time, winning at home 75-80% of the time. All three of your examples were home games that we lost. On the road we would not have played them closely.

I agree that Richt would have ultimately refused any offer from IU. I've met the man and can safely say he's far too much a Christian gentleman to laugh in anyone's face. But if we had at least made an effort it would have shown IU was serious about being a national contender. Again, I have no quarrel with keeping Wilson, but if there's a significant upgrade available -- an upgrade to a coach that year-in, year-out has a 10-game-plus-winning team in a power conference -- and he's "out there" then we should pursue him.

MSU game was in East Lansing. It was 31-26 with 5 minutes left, then, yes, all hell broke loose. As for playing on the road against UM or OSU, you have to go all the way back to last year to find us competing at Ohio Stadium. And that was a team led by Zander Diamont at QB.[attachment=3197:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1452625135.988456.jpg]

[incrediboy 922]

MSU game was in East Lansing. It was 31-26 with 5 minutes left, then, yes, all hell broke loose. As for playing on the road against UM or OSU, you have to go all the way back to last year to find us competing at Ohio Stadium. And that was a team led by Zander Diamont at QB.ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1452625135.988456.jpg

Very nice. That 6-point loss made us 0-6 in the B1G.

 

How many of those referenced games did we win? When we are winning these games, we can talk about being on a par. I'm not saying we haven't improved, nor am I saying we're not competitive, but we haven't taken the step to WIN against good competition, let alone ranked competition. I've seen this "rise to being competitive from the ashes of being a doormat" at IU more than once, but it never seems to go beyond that level. Wilson may get it done, or he may not. We have seen the "reasons for optimism" for decades without clearing the hurdle. I understand it's difficult to catch up from behind. With a coach with the stature of Mark Richt, I think we would have been far better positioned to take that step.

 

I reiterate my opinion (and that's all it is) that a championship-level coach was available and I think IU should have pursued him and chose not to do so. Until Wilson proves we can rise above mediocrity of a 6-6 bowl season, I will continue to feel that way.

[RBB89 3,497]

Very nice. That 6-point loss made us 0-6 in the B1G.

How many of those referenced games did we win? When we are winning these games, we can talk about being on a par. I'm not saying we haven't improved, nor am I saying we're not competitive, but we haven't taken the step to WIN against good competition, let alone ranked competition. I've seen this "rise to being competitive from the ashes of being a doormat" at IU more than once, but it never seems to go beyond that level. Wilson may get it done, or he may not. We have seen the "reasons for optimism" for decades without clearing the hurdle. I understand it's difficult to catch up from behind. With a coach with the stature of Mark Richt, I think we would have been far better positioned to take that step.

I reiterate my opinion (and that's all it is) that a championship-level coach was available and I think IU should have pursued him and chose not to do so. Until Wilson proves we can rise above mediocrity of a 6-6 bowl season, I will continue to feel that way.

OK, but a coach with the stature of Richt is not coming here, and I was responding to your post where you said we would not have "played them closely" on the road. So I addressed that.