A little history lesson for all of you who "just" want to be Wisconsin. It was a long difficult climb for Wisconsin. It took a lot of patience for them to get where they are now. Wisconsin's renaissance began with the hiring of athletic director Pat RIchter in 1989. His first big hire was football coach Barry Alvarez. Alvarez record in his 1st 3 years: 1990 1-10, 0-8; 1991 5-6, 2-6; 1992 5-6. 3-5. Three year total 11-22, 5-21. He turned it around after that and finished with a 65-60-3 record in the B1G.
Richter's basketball coach was Steve Yoder. Here is how he did: 1990 14-17, 4-14; 1991 15-15, 8-10; 1992 13-18, 4-14. He then hired Stu Jackson who left after two seasons. 1993 14-14, 7-11, 1994 18-10, 8-10. Richter then hired Stan Van Gundy, who was fired after his first season. 13-14, 7-11. Richter then hired Dick Bennett who took the team to a Final Four (37-43 B1G). When Bennett retired Richter hired Bo Ryan (2001) who took the team to 2 Final Fours (172-68 B1G).
It took Alvarez until his 15th season to finally have a winning career B1G record.
His first 4 Basketball coaches had losing B1G records. Two of whom coached in the NBA.
It took 9 years until football was consistently good and 11 years for basketball to become consistently good. Lovie won as many B1G games in his first year as Alvarez won in his first 2. Yet posters are concerned that Lovie is not the right guy, and that he should fire his offensive coordinator.
Some posters have become fans in the '90s when times were relatively good for Illini fans, and they think it has always been that way. I have been a fan since the '60s and have seen how difficult it is to turn around the program when it is down. What Weber and Tepper did to Illini athletics ( I know they are good men) can take a generation to repair.
Firing and hiring may feel good to fans, but it takes good hires and patience to make lasting progress.
Richter's basketball coach was Steve Yoder. Here is how he did: 1990 14-17, 4-14; 1991 15-15, 8-10; 1992 13-18, 4-14. He then hired Stu Jackson who left after two seasons. 1993 14-14, 7-11, 1994 18-10, 8-10. Richter then hired Stan Van Gundy, who was fired after his first season. 13-14, 7-11. Richter then hired Dick Bennett who took the team to a Final Four (37-43 B1G). When Bennett retired Richter hired Bo Ryan (2001) who took the team to 2 Final Fours (172-68 B1G).
It took Alvarez until his 15th season to finally have a winning career B1G record.
His first 4 Basketball coaches had losing B1G records. Two of whom coached in the NBA.
It took 9 years until football was consistently good and 11 years for basketball to become consistently good. Lovie won as many B1G games in his first year as Alvarez won in his first 2. Yet posters are concerned that Lovie is not the right guy, and that he should fire his offensive coordinator.
Some posters have become fans in the '90s when times were relatively good for Illini fans, and they think it has always been that way. I have been a fan since the '60s and have seen how difficult it is to turn around the program when it is down. What Weber and Tepper did to Illini athletics ( I know they are good men) can take a generation to repair.
Firing and hiring may feel good to fans, but it takes good hires and patience to make lasting progress.
