IU fires Kevin Wilson

Submitted by LS And Play on

IU fires Kevin Wilson. Stunning. Reports coming in that it may have to do with off-the-field stuff, because he signed a six-year extension less than a year ago. 

EDIT: Looks like Kevin Wilson is competent Tim Beckman:

Former Indiana player told ESPN on Thursday that he & at least 5 other IU players interviewed about Wilson's treatment of players

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) December 1, 2016
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reddogrjw

December 1st, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^

Indiana University officials have fired football coach Kevin Wilson and will announce his dismissal at a Thursday news conference, according to the Indianapolis Star and other media outlets. A former Hoosiers player told ESPN on Thursday that he and at least five current IU players were interviewed about Wilson's treatment of players in meetings with athletics department officials and university lawyers during the past two weeks. The university sent out a news alert on Thursday saying there would be a major news announcement regarding its football program at a 6 p.m. news conference.

Joined: 07/06/2016

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stephenrjking

December 1st, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^

This detail could be very interesting.

It could be the IU athletic department trying to justify a dumb decision, of course. But if there were real issues with how he treated players, well, it doesn't pay to wait around to do something about it.

Especially at Indiana, given who their basketball team used to be coached by.

Joined: 03/15/2012

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translator82

December 1st, 2016 at 3:43 PM ^

 

A former Indiana player's father told ESPN on Thursday that his son suffered a concussion in practice shortly before the 2015 season and was rushed back to workouts, causing his symptoms to intensify.

 

"He was out about a week and they started a normal concussion regiment, in which he was allowed to work out for about 20 minutes and gradually increase it," the former player's father said. "But after he worked out for 20 minutes, they had him run about six miles. After that, my son was feeling fine. But when he went home, he started throwing up and his symptoms went haywire."

 

Link to the story.

Joined: 10/16/2008

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stephenrjking

December 1st, 2016 at 4:07 PM ^

Did he? Wow. I wonder if that helped prompt this.

Come to think of it, there have been over the years an awful lot of guys transfering or leaving early. Like, susprising numbers of guys who were set to start or get serious playing time. And I hadn't even heart that Diamont had quit.

The picture is becoming clearer here. And it's not a good picture for Wilson. My guess is that Indiana will come out of this looking pretty good for taking action, and if anything the only questions may be why it took this long.

Joined: 03/15/2012

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MGoFoam

December 1st, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^

Not much info in the article. What's a "concussion regiment?" Is that part of the Army?

Player gets concussed, gradually resumes activities, does fine, but then feels worse later that night. Unless they made him continue to work more after return of symptoms, there is nothing to see here.

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Kevin13

December 1st, 2016 at 3:40 PM ^

They are going to their second consecutive bowl for the first time in 25 years and they fire their coach? There must be a lot to this story not getting here yet?

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stephenrjking

December 1st, 2016 at 3:45 PM ^

The "Rival is right" rule is usually a good barometer for this sort of thing. How do your opponents feel about this move?

As a Michigan fan, this is fantastic news. Maryland appears to be rising, Penn State is the reigning division champ, MSU has a terrific coach, and OSU is OSU... we need another weak team in the division to guarantee a W every year. Indiana under Wilson was not that team. Indiana under basically anybody else that they can actually hire will probably be that team. 

That football program is going to collapse. A team that scared the fire out of three teams in the top ten, beating a team that was in the playoff last year, with 2-star athletes everywhere. 

As a college football fan, this isn't good at all. Indiana had better have a really good reason for this move.

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mGrowOld

December 1st, 2016 at 3:54 PM ^

If the story breaking right now regarding him pushing a player with a concussion back to practice ahead of protocol is correct that is NOT good.  And my guess would be if that is true there is probably more stuff happening like that we havent heard about yet.

Great coach but if he did make a kid run 6 miles while still in concussion protocol I get why the University had to do something.  Especially if others were about to go public with stories like that as well.

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stephenrjking

December 1st, 2016 at 4:04 PM ^

Oh, if the pieces of information floating around do turn into a case of a coach abusing the players, I agree that he needs to be fired. And as information rapidly coalesces we are hearing stories of fireable offenses. If true, it looks like Indiana actually did a great job getting ahead of this and dealing with it.

Does not change the likely trajectory of the program in his wake. Wilson's ability to produce quality teams from poor recruiting classes, in a division that is turning into a monster, made him an ideal fit for a program in a school that does not prioritize football. Nobody will want that job.

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doggdetroit

December 1st, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^

As a B1G East fan, this is not good. Next year, the race for the East was shaping up to be very exciting. Meyer is set to have his best team next year at OSU. PSU is trending up. Michigan is probably rebuilding next year, but still is the 2nd most talented team in the league. MSU is going to bounce back. Indiana was trending up. Only Maryland and Rutgers were question marks but both figured to be better in year 2 under their respective coaches.

Now, Indiana is a major question mark.

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Ghost of Fritz…

December 1st, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^

Fleck has 4 seasons at WMU, and has done well to go from 1-11 to 12-0.  But...

He is only 36, admits he really is not an X and O guru, and was a position coach before Western (never a coordinator). 

Realistically, he qualifies for a bottom half of the power 5 conference job, or a job in the WAC, AAC, Conf USA.

I mean realistically, if for some reason (health or whatever) the MSU job or the Wisconsin job were to open up, Fleck would not get serious consideration for those jobs. 

He has to prove himself at a place like Purdue or IU first.

 

 

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morepete

December 1st, 2016 at 4:37 PM ^

He slaughtered Illinois on the road and handled Northwestern this year. I'm quite sure WMU would beat Purdue 10 times out of 10. He could easily become the best or second-best coach in the B1G West right now.

He's probably going to Oregon, though.

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lilpenny1316

December 1st, 2016 at 4:44 PM ^

Who has gotten serious consideration for bigger jobs at those schools? Joe Tiller came with a gimmicky offense and landed Drew Brees because no one else wanted him because of his size.  Without Drew Brees, he's Lou Tepper.  His one Rose Bowl appearance came because Lloyd sat on the f*&#ing ball in the second half up 18 points.

You're better off as a coordinator at a Power 5 school than being the HC at Purdue or IU.

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