All Things Possible For New IU Football Coach

For some, Kevin Wilson walks on water. He can do no wrong. He is Indiana’s latest football coaching Chosen One, the Right Fit who will lead the Hoosiers to the Promised Land and for now, it is all sunshine and rainbows.

There is nothing wrong with this. Wilson arrives from powerhouse Oklahoma bringing the hope that all things are possible. And maybe they are. This is the era where Temple, of all schools, wins big and if it gets screwed out of a bowl game, well, nobody said we live in a fairy tale.

Wilson looks like a football coach. He is stocky of build, square jawed of face. He talks of toughness, discipline and physical play. The goal is to build a championship program and you don’t do it by conceding.

He is asked about Nebraska, the team his Sooners just beat to win the Big 12 championship. It is a historic rivarly and, just a few weeks ago, one that Wilson would no longer be part of because the Cornhuskers have joined the Big Ten. But now he’s in the Big Ten and IU and Nebraska will play, although that won't happen for a couple of years.

Or will it?

“Now we can play them in the (Big Ten) championship game," Wilson said with a hint of a smile, "so if they are good enough to win their division, we could see them the next two years. So we’ll see if they can get there.”

Wilson implies the Hoosiers will win their division, finishing ahead of Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State.

Who needs reality when you have nearly 10 months of honeymoon bliss?

Except, of course, there is no bliss, although there is a seven-year, $8.4 million contract. Some fans grumble. A few see Wilson as someone who will join the long line of failed Hoosier coaches. They are unhappy with the way fired coach Bill Lynch was treated and the fact Wilson has never been a college head coach and lacks the defensive background crucial to turn Indiana into a consistent Big Ten contender.

They are the naysayers of a negative age, where anger roils just below the surface and you turn the other cheek only because somebody smacked it that way.

But at least some of those who played the game see it differently. Take Anthony Thompson, the former IU All-America running back who attended Wilson’s introductory press conference.

“You could tell by his body language there is a sense of toughness,” Thompson said. “He has a tough-guy demeanor, like Coach (Bill) Mallory, and I think the team will take on his personality. He talked about how we’re going to compete every day. I liked that because the kids get a sense of that.”

Athletic director Fred Glass got a sense of it during his coaching search.

“I needed to focus on guys who have done it on a big stage,” Glass said. “(Wilson has) done it in the Big Ten. He’s done it at a place like Oklahoma. I’m very confident that he’s ready for the top job.”

Wilson is an offensive coach who understands the important of defense, who pushes it from a high-scoring pedestal because that’s what Oklahoma does under coach Bob Stoops.

“Nine years of going up against Coach Stoops every day you learn that you’ve got to play great defense and you win the Big Ten and you win championships by being able to play ‘D,’” Wilson said. “We’re going to play some great defense. We’re going to be a team that plays hard, that plays smart, that plays disciplined. That doesn’t take a lot of talent, but that is the talent of winning. That’s what it’s going to take to win.”

Wilson talks about winning right away. That next year’s seniors don’t have time for a multi-year building program, and neither does he.

IU returns eight offensive starters and nine defensive starters, but it has a huge hole at quarterback and hasn’t shown it has the powerhouse offensive linemen needed for a consistently productive running game. An inexperienced quarterback and no running game -- we won’t dwell on the forever struggling defense -- suggest more struggles are coming.

But Wilson is an offensive guy who likes a multiple, diverse attack geared toward its players’ strengths. So maybe he can take what appears a weakness and make it a strength.

He has a background in recruiting football-rich Ohio (he coached at Miami of Ohio for nine years, much of that along with former IU head coach Terry Hoeppner). He will take the next few weeks to assemble a staff and set the course for a new Hoosier era. He might still coach the Sooners in next month's Fiesta Bowl, although that decision rests with Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

Wilson has paid his dues. He’s 49 years old, coached at two of the nation’s best conferences, thrived at one of college football’s traditional superpowers, been passed over for head coaching jobs a handful of times (Iowa State, Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State). He was voted America’s best assistant coach in 2008 after directing the most explosive offense in history, one that averaged 58.5 points and scored at least 60 points in five straight games.

That those Sooners lost to Florida 24-14 in the national title game is yet another indication that defense, rather than offense, wins championships.

Wilson gets that.

“I think it’s time,” he said about becoming a head coach. “I think it’s been time. It just hasn’t been the right place. For years it has been time. My job has been so good it has been hard to leave.”

Wilson did leave. He doesn’t have to walk on water at Indiana. He just has to do what the Northwesterns and Temples do these days, what Bill Mallory once did while becoming the winningest football coach in IU history. What Bill Lynch, who did everything else right, couldn’t do.

Win.

New IU Football Coach -- Making it Official

IU officials have announced a 4 p.m. press conference at the Henke Hall of Champions at Memorial Stadium for a "major announcement regarding the Hoosiers football program."

That's when Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson will be introduced as the new coach. We will provide updates and comments as soon as possible.

Why Can't IU? Hooisers Brace For New Football Coach

Hoosier Deep Throat finally called.

“Where were you when I needed a scoop a couple of days ago?” I asked.

“Save the lecture,” he said. “We need to talk.”

I arrived at the parking garage by the Wells Library. It was cold enough to freeze DNA. It was just past midnight and nobody was out but me and a shadowy figure shivering in a dark corner next to a small pile of plowed ice.

“Maybe you should have dressed warmer,” I said. “Or maybe we could have done this at Nick’s.”

I was answered by the glowing end of a cigarette. I noticed the garage floor was littered with crushed cigarette butts. Hoosier Deep Throat had been here a while.

“Chain smoking doesn’t become you,” I said.

“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” he said, biting off the words as if they were gristle.

“You seem grumpy. What’s wrong? Fred Glass got his man. It’s Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. Barring something unforeseen, like a background checking finding he's a secret Boilermaker, it should be announced in a few hours. You should be excited. Now you can go back to whatever it is you do until the next Hoosier drama begins.”

Another cigarette hit the concrete. A large tennis shoe emerged from the shadows to grind it out. A brief flash of light showed nothing but the backside of a baseball cap. He’d lit another cigarette.

“You don’t like the Oklahoma offensive coordinator?” I asked. “He’s got impressive credentials.”

“So did every coach IU has ever hired. Look at how it always ends.”

“What’s wrong? Why all the negativity?”

Hoosier Deep Throat hesitated. “This guy hasn't been a head coach,” he said at last. “IU tried that with Cam Cameron and Sam Wyche. It didn’t work.”

“Wilson might be different. Everybody has to start sometime. Joe Paterno had never been a head coach before he got the Penn State job. That turned out pretty well."

Hoosier Deep Throat paced. His shoes squeaked on the ice-covered floor. Or was it his joints?

“I keep coming back to the same thought,” he said. “If Indiana is going to win, it’s got to play good defense. It’s got to be at least average in the Big Ten every year, and some years better than that. It hasn’t been good on defense since cell phones were a luxury instead of a necessity.”

“And your point is?”

“What does this guy know about defense?”

A car rumbled by, startling both of us. “Relax," I said. "His key is hiring good defensive coaches. Make that good assistant coaches, period. It sounds like IU will supply the money for that. If that happens, IU will be fine, because his offenses can score. The Sooners set an NCAA record with over 700 points two years ago.”

Hoosier Deep Throat crushed out another cigarette.

“Anybody can score when you have Sam Bradford at quarterback,” he said. “Last I looked, Sam wasn’t on the roster.”

“No, he’s not, but Dusty Kiel and Edward Wright-Baker are. And the Hoosiers have a pretty good quarterback commitment in Tre Roberson out of Indianapolis. Plus, they still have a good group of receivers.”

Hoosier Deep Throat lit another cigarette.

“IU can’t screw this up,” he said. “There’s been too much losing for too long. It’s time to get this right. Northwestern wins, for goodness sakes. Temple wins. Temple!If those guys can do it, why can’t the Hoosiers?”

And then he was gone and the question hung in the air like old cigarette smoke.

Why can’t the Hoosiers?

Beat The Buzz -- Coaching Search Heats Up, And More

Are you feeling the buzz that maybe, maybe, SOMETHING is about to happen with Indiana’s football coaching search and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.

First come reports that athletic director Fred Glass interviewed Wilson in Oklahoma on Friday. Then Sooners head coach Bob Stoops went out of his way to deny it. Then Wilson had a chance to put it all to rest after Oklahoma beat Nebraska to win the Big 12 championship. Instead, he talked all around it according to the Tulsa World.

“We’ll see. I don’t know. It’s the time of the year where you’re getting through the last game. Always this time of year maybe there’s a chance for something. But when you get into the postseason you don’t want to… The most import thing is winning … We’ll just see. I don’t really do a bunch of networking. We’ll see if anything happens.”

A gray area is whether Glass did, or didn’t, interview Wilson. Wilson kept that vague, but didn’t deny anything.

“Now that the season is over if there’s an opportunity … I’m just lucky I get to work with some great kids and great coaches. If anything happens, it does. I’m excited and happy to do what I do. It’s a great gig.”

It sounds like Wilson was trying to cooperate with the media and still be discrete, which is hard to do.

Wilson directed record-setting offenses at Oklahoma in 2008 and Northwestern in 2000.

Then there’s Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren. He’s directed some of the Big Ten’s best defenses the last couple of years and heaven knows IU can use all the defense it can get.

Don’t forget Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell who’s in charge of the Big Ten’s most diverse offense.

The one thing is that none of these guys has ever been a head coach, but then, that was once true of Joe Paterno and he turned out okay.

Now that the regular season is over, expect to see the search pace accelerate. Glass wants to make a hire as soon as possible, but his No. 1 priority is to get the right guy. It seems likely he will – sooner rather than later.


*****

Scrap the plans about seeing Notre Dame -- or anyboby -- join the Big Ten. The league is out of the expansion business -- at least for now.

That was the word coming out of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors meeting in Park Ridge, Ill. Apparently landing Nebraska, which is set to join the conference next season, is enough. The Big Ten won't seek to add any more new members.

IU President Michael McRobbie said that after a year, "The (expansion) process has reached its natural conclusion."


*****

While the football coaching search has taken up most of the attention, the current team and coaches had one last gathering with the team awards banquet. The big winner was quarterback Ben Chappell, who got 2010 Anthony Thompson MVP Award.

Chappell finished as the most accurate quarterback in school history. This season he threw for a school-record 3,295 yards, plus 24 touchdowns against nine interceptions. He led the Big Ten in passing.

Also, an anonymous donor gave $100,000 to name the defensive linemen meeting room at Memorial Stadium in memory of Bill Phillips Sr. His son, Paul, is a freshman tight end for the Hoosiers. Bill Phillips died in a plane crash in Alaska earlier this year.

Hoosier Buzz -- Football, Basketball, Volleyball and Ronald Reagan

Indiana football coaching buzz had us calling Hoosier Deep Throat for answers, but he wasn’t answering his phone. Athletic director Fred Glass wasn’t answering coaching questions.

Coincidence?

We think not.

Glass was at IU’s victory over Savannah State instead of hitting the road searching for a coach. Did that mean the search was over and an announcement was imminent? Rumors swirl that something could happen by early this week; that Glass’s efficiency was making a mockery of a long search.

Not that we’re pushing rumors.

ESPN reported that, as sure as Ronald Reagan is carved into Mount Rushmore, Glass met with Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. Except Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops denied it -- really, really emphatically.

Consider, for your perusal, that an Oklahoma coach was coming to IU. Are you kidding? Does that freeze your blood? Didn’t the Hoosiers try a Sooner once before with basketball-ruining consequences?

Wait. Wilson is no Kelvin Sampson. He keeps his phone calls under control. He is a highly regarded offensive coordinator of a powerhouse program that just won the Big 12 title game. He’s won awards as the nation’s top assistant coach. In 2008 his offense scored an NCAA record 716 points with Sam Bradford as the quarterback. He also was the offensive coordinator at Northwestern and Miami of Ohio. He might not be THE guy for Indiana, but he represents the kind of guy IU is likely to get -- talented, hungry and eager for a challenge.

The new coach will get all the challenges anyone could want at Indiana.

Glass mentioned that one of those challenges would not be a lack of in-state talent, and he’s right. Indiana high schools will never surpass Florida and Texas for superstar numbers, but the quality has improved. You can win if you get some of the top in-state players each year. The key is getting them, plus some strong players from the Midwest.

In fact, it might be a good idea to at least target Wisconsin for offensive linemen. That seems to work for the Badgers.

Anyway, ESPN.com also tossed out names we’ve heard before -- Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst and Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell. Treadwell produced the Big Ten’s most balanced offense with tailback Edwin Baker (No. 3 in the Big Ten with 1187 rushing yards) and quarterback Kirk Cousins (No. 4 in the Big Ten with 2,705 passing yards). Treadwell also was the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati and Ball State. Treadwell has been a finalist for MAC jobs. Chryst, who ran the offense that ran up 83 points on IU last month, was a contender for the Purdue job that Danny Hope got.

Wait. Now comes word that it wasn't Chryst, but Wisconsin defensive coordinator David Doeren who Glass supposedly visited after flying to Madison this past week. This is equal opportunity at its best because the one area Indiana has to improve upon if it wants to win is defense. Either the head coach has to be a defensive coaching stud, or the new defensive coordinator has to be. And then he has to recruit defensive studs. We can’t state that more strongly.

So where are we in this search? Still in limbo. The sooner IU names a coach, the sooner the new guy can start recruiting the players already committed, going after new players, and convincing the current Hoosiers that the program is in good hands.

Glass wants to be fast, but he also wants to be right. The last thing he and the program need is a coaching dud.

Oh, to be clear, Mount Rushmore does NOT include Ronald Reagan.


*****

Is Indiana ready for Kentucky? We’ll know that next Saturday when the 7-1 Hoosiers head to Lexington’s Rupp Arena. For now we know they were plenty ready for Savannah State. They won 79-57 with efficient offense and stifling defense.

They are 7-0 at home, 0-1 on the road. But that loss at Boston College should steel them for what they’ll face at Rupp Arena. Kentucky, it should be noted, is not the powerhouse it was last year. It lost at North Carolina, which has been a disappointment this season to follow last year’s disappointment. What this means is Kentucky is not the unbeatable foe. IU has a week to prepare. So we shall see.


*****

In case you missed it, Indiana’s volleyball team is making history. It’s in the NCAA tourney Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. The Hoosiers (23-11) won a pair of five-set matches to advance, including Saturday’s thriller over No. 19 Tennessee. They won the fifth set 15-13. They will travel to Dayton to play either USC or San Diego.

Guy Has a Hoosier Future; IU Aims For Savannah State

So Guy-Marc Michel can practice with the Indiana Hoosiers after all. The NCAA offers concession, if not a heart.

For now, that will have to do.

Coach Tom Crean has just wrapped up a practice session. He has seen what the 7-foot Michel can do and knows what he could have done for the Hoosiers. He is the team’s best rebounder, the coach says, and it is not close. He is a hard worker and a future pro. IU coaches will work with him to prepare him for that. They will not give up on him or toss him aside like unwanted trash. That is not the Indiana way. It is not Crean’s way.

“I’m glad he stayed with us because this is his family now,” Crean says, “and we want him to be very successful moving forward. We have to make sure he has a future.”

Michel is forever ineligible to play at Indiana for two reasons. One makes sense in a by-the-book, rule-is-a-rule kind of heartless way. One does not.

In 2006 Michel started taking college classes, which started the five-years-to-play-four-years clock. That was in France where the rules of amateurism and college eligibility are different. Michel took those classes while he was a high school senior. In fact, he took them in the same building. There was no intent to actually enroll in college, but the NCAA saw it differently. That means Michel’s eligibility window ends next spring.

The other main factor was that Michel, while playing for a club team in France, signed an agreement to move up to the club’s high-level squad if asked to do so. Which he was, which meant he played with and against pro players. That’s a NCAA no-no.

But the biggest thing was that the NCAA viewed that signed agreement as if it was a pro contract, even though Michel received no money and wasn’t trying to trick anyone. It would seem to fit no common sense definition of a pro contract, but common sense is not an issue here.

So Michel cannot play and that’s a shame. It limits his ability to improve and hurts IU’s prospects all because, when it comes down to it, he did nothing wrong.

“It’s very disappointing to say the least,” Crean says. “We want to make sure Guy has a chance, has a future. He’s going to be a student assistant coach for us. Our plan from there will be to help him become a professional. We would like him to get his degree, certainly. He’s doing an excellent job in school.”

The NCAA sometimes gets an unfair rap. It does not make the rules. Member schools do, often because some coach has pushed the boundaries of what is, and isn’t acceptable. The NCAA enforces the rules and, as Indiana basketball has discovered, this can be a tough process when you do something wrong.

In this case, though, wrong didn’t happen. Yes, this ticks Crean off.

“I have trouble with seeing any wisdom in the decision. It’s an unfortunate situation. It’s extremely disappointing that there wasn’t any leniency given at all.”
Michel will continue practicing with the Hoosiers. That will make his teammates better as well as himself. Crean says Michel is the second-hardest working big man he’s ever had. The hardest was Robert Jackson, a forward on Marquette’s Final Four team a few years back.

“Everybody works in practice,” Crean says, “but I’m talking about the desire to be better and to do extra things all the time. He’s going to continue to learn about the game. We’ll help him with that. He’s going to continue to be a huge part of the program. He’ll be with us every step of the way.”

The next step comes at Assembly Hall against a bad Savannah State team, although when you have won just 16 games over the previous two seasons, as the Hoosiers have done, there is no such thing as a bad opponent, only big opportunities.

Savannah State is another one of these struggling non-conference teams designed to build confidence for a program that can use it.

But the Hoosiers are winning, and while their 6-1 record does not leave people confusing them with, say, top-ranked Duke, they are leaving an impression. Sports Illustrated, for goodness sakes, in this week’s Drew-Brees-As-Sportsman-Of-The-Year issue, lists the Hoosiers -- and we are not making this up -- as one of eight Big Ten teams that “should” make the NCAA Tournament.

Perspective would suggest that’s a little ambitious, that a more likely scenario is a NIT bid that will jumpstart the Hoosiers for years to come.

But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. For now the focus is on Savannah State, bouncing back from the Boston College loss and learning to guard the dribble better.

“We have to make sure we continue to execute on offense and show improvement in the areas that we weren’t as good in the other night,” Crean says. “It’s getting ready for a game in a short period of time, but it’s also making sure we eliminate game slippage as much as possible.”

Figure the Hoosiers will do that against Savannah State. They just won’t do it with Guy-Marc Michel.

The Game Begins – What’s Up With The IU Coaching Search

We’re not gonna do it.

We refuse to dip into name-a-coach speculation that is so rampant in these who-will-Indiana-hire days.

As sure as there’s a BRADY HOKE (a Ball State grad and former Michigan assistant coach with a program-resurrecting resume) at San Diego State, we’ll take the high road.

We respect the privacy that Indiana seeks in its search, and we absolutely won’t stoop to tossing out names as if we were throwing darts at a dart board made up to look like Navy’s KEN KIUMATALOLO (three years, 26-12 record).

It’s about professionalism, you see. Really, what in the name of Temple’s AL GOLDEN (17-7 over the last two years at a perennial loser) do we really know about athletic director Fred Glass’ search? Privacy is so valued he’s not even risking a search committee, as if we would stoop to trying to get a search committee person to break by playing, say, the best of Air Force’s TROY CALHOUN (33-18 over the past four years) coaching clips.

So let the other guys mention Northern Illinois’ Jerry Kill (127-71 record, 10-2 this year) or the Indiana ties of Houston’s Kevin Sumlin (a three-year record of 23-16, an Indianapolis native).

Let somebody else speculate about major college assistants such as Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio (perhaps the most intense offensive line coach IU has ever had) or Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst (was it his idea to run up the score against the Hoosiers?) or former Bill Mallory man Scott Shafter (the Syracuse defensive coordinator and ex-Hoosier grad assistant).

We are above all that.

Okay, basketball coach Tom Crean was asked about Jim Harbaugh. Tom is married to Jim’s sister, Joani. Jim is the successful coach at Stanford, which is 11-1 and a top-5 team. Tom said he won’t comment. He is friends with Bill Lynch. He recognizes the important of the search. That’s about it.

Glass knows he has to hire the right person, although a cynic would say there is no right person. This will be the sixth coach in the last 14 years. The Hoosiers have not had a coach finish with a winning record since Bo McMillin retired in 1947.

But Indiana has improved its facilities. It has the largest weight room in the country. It was one of the best academic support centers in America. It has a gigantic scoreboard. And, it seems, it has enough money to pay for a top-level coach and his staff.

How much is that? Lynch was the lowest paid football coach in the Big Ten at $658,750. Ohio State’s Jim Tressel makes the most at $3,722,000. Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz is at $3,024,500. Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez is at $2,251,000. Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio is at $1,811,260. Illinois’ Ron Zook is at $1,505,000. Wisconsin’s Brett Bielema is at $1,481,056. Penn State’s Joe Paterno makes $1,097,767 not counting outside income. Purdue’s Danny Hope is at $825,000, not counting outside income.

Crean, in case you’re wondering, makes about $2.2 million.

As it is, this decision will likely set the program back a year or two as the new coach implements his new system and brings in his players and staff. Glass will allow returning players to offer input on the coaching search, although what that means remains uncertain. He will tap into the expertise of nationally known consultant Chuck Neinas, who was a factor in Urban Meyer going to Florida, Mack Brown to Texas, Bob Stoops to Oklahoma and Les Miles to LSU.

Glass told the players he will move as fast as he can while striving to get the right guy.

And if that right guy is, say, TODD GRAHAM (42-23 record, 9-3 this year) at Tulsa, you didn’t hear it from us.