OT: Illinois fires athletic director Mike Thomas
I haven't seen it on the board yet so here it is:
November 9th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
Mob mentality. Won't solve anything; Illinois will always still exist. Rabble rabble rabble.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
and oversaw turmoil regarding other coaches. I would say this is performance based.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
But there will still be bad coaching hires out there. Coaches will still make players play injured out there. Firing the AD doesn't solve any of those problems. So what's the point?
November 9th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
Sometimes you just gotta clean house to get rid of all the bad blood. We have seen it this past week Illinois, Missouri and the Lions. All different reasons in each case, but some things you can't fix with PR and heads have to roll.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
Excellent. When Michigan's biggest rival falls on hard times, all is well...
November 9th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
or does there seem to be more than the usual amount of athletic department turnoil this year?
The number of of coaches and AD's getting fired mid-season seems unusual.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
I would not be surprised if the AD thing is a small correction away from the 'corporate' athletics model a lot of colleges have started to impliment. Maybe seeing that college sports spectators don't want their teams run like a professional team? Also could be just be sports are becoming more and more profitable and the industry is more cut throat now. I don't know for sure. I think the coaches thing might just be a fluke. But could also be related to issues with AD leadership.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
Texas fits your first hypothesis, but I'm not sure Brandon or Patterson get the ax if not for their personality flaws. Or if their football teams were winning. I think they were on a shorter leash because of their corporate approach.
I don't think there's any connection to why Thomas was fired. That would have happened in a different time and place too. Same with what happened in Minnesota.
I think your main point is probably right, though. With the increase in revenue and AD salaries, there's more pressure and expectations. Make a couple of bad hires and you could be out,
November 9th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
Agreed, it seems a lot of people are turning on their ADs this year. That's too bad. I mean, if you can't be an athlete, at least be an athletic supporter!
November 9th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
I'm still here....
November 9th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
him for cause, I would guess. It would also appear to make Beckman unemployable, at least as a head coach.
http://illinois.edu/resources/FR_Athletic_Review_Report_Final_Public_11…
November 9th, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^
In fact, they fired Thomas without cause; the report actually cleared him of any misconduct or wrongdoing. See this more detailed article.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
Thomas hired Beckman. Legally speaking he may not have commited any wrong doing or misconduct, but he's certainly negligent and partially responsible for anything Beckman did while coaching at Illinois.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
Reported today that former coach Tim Beckman did not "believe" in hamstring injuries and called players pussies who couldnt play with one. General George Patton - Beckman also didnt believe in concusson protocal and tried to rush players back from that too.
Sorry Mike - when you hire somebody that stupid you get what you get.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/11/9/9696110/tim-beckman-…
November 9th, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
I have to believe he's in line to be VP of Marketing at ToysRUs.
"ToysRUs, where warning labels are for pussy infants."
November 9th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
He should be banned from coaching everything from Pop Warner on up!
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November 9th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
Just wow.
I desperately want to be the Red Cross worker sticking in the needle when Tim Beckman decides it's time to donate blood. I'll have a very difficult time finding the vein. Track marks everywhere.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^
This isn't even the worst of the stuff in that report, but yikes:
One one occasion, Beckman said, "I don't care if you're hurt, everyone is practicing when we get back. No one cares if you're hurt, I don't care. Your family may care. Northwestern doesn't care."
Yeah, I think that if you are an AD and you hire someone that -
A) Berates and debases injured players and while he may not believe in hamstring injuries, probably believes that trephination is a time-honored cure for ankle sprains, and
B) Has an irrational and vehement anti-Northwesten policy to a point that seems silly and animated
- you're probably not going to last terribly long as an AD once this becomes public.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
other than that it took this long. might be a sign of a thoughtful process to let him go that will segue into a well-conceived plan to hire his successor ...
Nah.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
they just beat Purdue?
November 9th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
If Illinois is smart, they'll go over to Northern Illinois and take their AD and Head Coach.
Their AD (Sean Frazier) was at UW for 7 years, so he knows the conference. The HC (Rod Carey) played at Indiana and all NIU does is win, just knocked off undefeated Toledo last week. If Ilinois is smart, they'd bring these two in and make the program competent again.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
Maybe Ron Zook is interested in taking over the entire AD? Would certainly make for some good entertainment.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^
Herman would be stupid to take either job. If he keeps winning at Houston, he might get a shot at the Texas job (especially if Strong gets fired after next season). Kirby Smart is not leaving Alabama unless the Georgia job opens up.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^
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November 9th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
PJ Fleck has proven nothing. I do not get the obsession with that guy. He's young and energetic and coaches at a school in Michigan...GIVE HIM EVERY JOB.
November 9th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
Is this a Michigan blog or is it our biggest rivals?
November 9th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
I'm just sick of it. Lately it seems that there are more threads about our biggest rival Illinois than about Michigan.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^
People are so afraid to title a post wrong around here that they just put OT to show they are making an effort. I've been coming to this blog since 2009 and if one thing is for certain its that formatting is more important than content.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^
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November 9th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Are the rumor's true that he was looking at Kyle Flood for their opening and the fanbase found out?
November 9th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
I really hate to see a rival struggle like this.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 1:24 PM ^
He gone.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
I, for one, want to see Justin Fuente hired into a B1G job. Anybody that can win at Memphis is a top tier coaching candidate. He might even be overqualified for Minnesota or Illinois to be honest. Maryland could be a good spot for him.
November 9th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 5:06 PM ^
November 9th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
I sure wouldn't trust him hiring another football coach. I also think they want to have someone in place so they don't have Cubit keep the HC job by default. Of course, this is all for naught if they pick another AD like Thomas. It will be interesting to hear what names get thrown out as candidates. We'll see how ambitious they get.
November 9th, 2015 at 7:44 PM ^
There is gonna be alot of pressure on John Groce now. They've been pretty mediocre under him.