77 Comments - A guy - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:00 pm: Coaching Major Sports at U of I; a great 2-3 year gig. - anonin' - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:02 pm: Bradley also dumped their coach and owe over $1 buckeroos It will all change as soon as the State Farm Center is ready - 47th Ward - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:03 pm: Meanwhile, the Illinois State University Redbirds take on Old Dominion tonight in the 2nd Round of the NIT. Go Redbirds! - Anonymous - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:05 pm: If the Illini don’t show some improvement Groce will probably be on the hot seat. As a fan I have mixed reactions to that. I want Illini to get better, I also respect what Groce has done with some trouble kids. Darius Paul had a couple run-ins with the law and despite being excused from the team he still had nothing but great things to say about Groce. I doubt Aaron Crosby will agree, but I’m confident that Groce handed that situation correctly (though we may never know). - Stones - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:07 pm: I’m definitely not a Fighting Illini apologist but I somewhat disagree with the statement “…if a team doesn’t play well together it’s the coach’s fault. Period” I played and watched basketball pretty much my entire life and I can recall many instances of teams with a good coach and talent who do not play well together. Some teams just don’t seem to gel for whatever reason and it’s not always on the coach. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest nobody beats Kentucky this year. - Apocalypse Now - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:07 pm: Interesting how none of the performance standards, include graduation rates by the players. Hmmm! - Captain Illini - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:08 pm: It’s all about recruiting; scouting for the best interim JC players, then coaching can produce results. So far he’s been a pretty good coach for less than stellar players, but recruiting from the motherland of Chicago hasn’t yielded the best results…YET. (Although Hill and Nunn had flashes of brilliance and come from the motherland.) As to the bonus…next year is the tell-all…if they go the big dance, he gets the cash, anything less, he gets to spend more time with his family… - Bogey Golfer - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:11 pm: @anonin’, assume you mean $1M buckeroos. But their home crowds were pathetic and hoops is their revenue generator. BU hired a new AD last week. You can sure he was told his first duty was to fire Ford and hire a new coach. - jerry 101 - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:15 pm: Say good bye to a bad hire. - JoanP - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:15 pm: $1.7 million for a basketball coach? Sounds like an excellent place for a budget cut. I see the football coach makes about the same. While the chancellor and the president make about a third of those salaries. Talk about priorities being out of whack! - LTSW - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:16 pm: Many Uof I fans need to go see the other facilities, both football and basketball, that are at the major schools. Most of the callers on local sports radio are delusional in thinking that Illinois is competing with the Dukes and Ohio States for talent. Getting the program to another level will take finding a diamond in the rough for a coach. It takes at least five years of successful recruiting to build a good team. They will never get there if coaches are changed every three years. Just look at how tough it’s been for Indiana bball to get back on top. - Precinct Captain - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:17 pm: ==Anybody wanna guess if he gets that $500,000 bonus?== He will. Groce wasn’t given a full cupboard to work with by Bruce Weber, so that takes some time to get over. He’s right in saying the Illini had a very tough season injury wise. Senior PG Abrams going down with an ACL tear in preseason and at one point for a few games the Illini had a 7 man rotation, forcing them to make the team manager a walk on. - TR - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:17 pm: There is a public policy aspect to this question — the NCAA is pumping an obscene amount of cash into the coffers of Division 1 schools. Most universities just keep this cash in the athletic programs, which is how you end up with big contracts for mediocre coaches. The TV revenue is getting so big, why not dedicate some of the funds to expenses outside the atheletic progams, particulary with the cuts to higher ed funding? This was brought up at a Senate Approp hearing last week and the U of I prez acted like it was a entirely foreign concept. - Holdingontomywallet - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:21 pm: “Go Rebirds”. 22-12 and just beat Wichita State a couple of weeks ago at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. U of I, stay away from our coach! - Sangamo Sam - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:21 pm: OK, maybe he should have taken the blame but look, the starting point guard (Tracy Abrams) was out for the year. Rayvonte Rice and Aaron Corby were suspended for several key games and Cosby ended up leaving the team. Darius Paul was expected to make big contributions this year but ended up playing at a prep school. And the salary and benefit thing is market driven, it’s what you pay for coaching talent in Division I and the taxpayers aren’t on the hook for it. When Illinois hired Lou Henson he told them he needed five or six years to get the program on track. His word was good. Groce deserves the same and yes, he will get the bonus. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:24 pm: Stones, I agree with the first part of your post. Anybody who has played or coached at any level realizes it is not 100% on the coach. What hurt the team, and the coach, was Groce’s insistence on playing a couple of guys major minutes. And those 2 guys were, uh, uh, not very good. Regarding Kentucky, they should get out of their region. Then they will face either Wisconsin or Arizona, good chance it is Zona. Down goes Kentucky!! - Ben - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:24 pm: Like it or not, football and basketball coaches are the face of most universities, not the chancellor. They are on TV and radio more and spotlight the good and bad side of any school. Can anyone name the chancellor of UCLA, Wichita St., Duke, Wisconsin or Michigan St.? - Stu - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:26 pm: Too many in-state recruits are slipping thru the Illini’s fingers. We need a reunion of Kris Kross wearing their backwards Illini jerseys to reignite interest… - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:29 pm: ===Anybody who has played or coached at any level realizes it is not 100% on the coach. === All losses aren’t on the coach. But if a coach can’t coach (meaning he can’t get his players to play to their highest levels individually and team-wise) then that’s on the coach. Period. It’s his core job. X’s and O’s are important, but first comes teamwork and individual excellence. - A guy - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:29 pm: Reminiscing to a time in the late 70s, early 80s where the Big Dance would include DePaul, Loyola, U of I, ISU, Bradley and Notre Dame. An occasional SIU. Man, you could fill a bar with angry alumni back then. lol - ChrisB - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:35 pm: Speaking of coaching, who do you all think will take the DePaul job? - Wordslinger - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:38 pm: Not only sans Illini but sans Illinois schools, two years in a row. Seems impossible, like the Cubs history. The best high school basketball in the country is played in Illinois. That’s why there are still so many Illinois players in the Sweet 16, year after year. Self could lock down Illinois players. So could Lou. So could Ray and Joey. This year, once again, the #1 NBA pick will be from Illinois. Once again, he wont have played at an Illinois school. He plays for another former Illinois high school player. At Duke. Look for Archie Miller, the coach at Dayton, to get the DePaul gig. He’s proven that he can win in March and recruit Illinois players. - Retired - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:38 pm: The best part of this NCAA tournament is that the last two Illinois coaches who abandoned the Illini to go to (gulp) Kansas, both lost. How sweet it is!!! - Downstate GOP Faithless - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:40 pm: DePaul could be Porter Moser…he is the right fit for that school. Also have to think Anthony Grant is near the top of any list. Look for Rob Judson to join McClain at UIC too. - Arthur Andersen - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:42 pm: TR, use the Google and search for Title IX before you go spouting off about the UI having excess funds in the DIA to divert to the Big U proper. The cost of funding men’s and women’s non-revenue sports in the Big 10 is huge. Like him or not, Groce is being paid the market rate. - Judgment Day - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:43 pm: “Groce wasn’t given a full cupboard to work with by Bruce Weber, so that takes some time to get over. He’s right in saying the Illini had a very tough season injury wise. Senior PG Abrams going down with an ACL tear in preseason and at one point for a few games the Illini had a 7 man rotation, forcing them to make the team manager a walk on.” ———— You lose your PG, life is hard. Illinois at different times was playing with 3-4 shooting guards, and no point guard. Illinois could just never get by that (distribution of the ball) - that’s why they need a point guard so badly. The result was you had 3 (sometimes 4) shooting guards all trying to win the game by themselves. Leron Black was terribly under utilized in the front court without an effective point guard. Groce is a good coach. But he needs a good distributor at point. - veritas - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:44 pm: Question: Highest paid public employee in each of the 50 states is a university basketball or football coach - true or false? - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:44 pm: === The cost of funding men’s and women’s non-revenue sports in the Big 10 is huge.=== Especially when you try like the devil to dump as much money as possible into the programs so you don’t look like you have any excess funds. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:47 pm: Sorry Rich, but sometimes, no matter how hard the coaching staff tries, players may not mesh or give 100%. These are college kids who are 18-22 years old. They may be having school issues, family issues, girlfriend issues or teammate issues. To lay it 100% on the coaches is off target, it just is. Whether they make $50K or $1.7 Mil. - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:52 pm: ===Sorry Rich, but sometimes, no matter how hard the coaching staff tries, players may not mesh or give 100%.=== Again, if you try hard and still come up way, way short, then it’s a reflection on you. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:52 pm: And Word, the best high school basketball is not played in IL. Go look at the McDonals AA rosters and the USA list of best schools. There are great players from CA, Texas, Florida, NY, etc. And great teams! - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:53 pm: And Groce essentially admitted that his kids gave up on him in the second half of the season. What changed? It’s on him. - Give Me A Break - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:54 pm: I’ve see all the “Groce Ball” I care to. His swing for the fences approach to recruiting is not working and his game management leaves a lot to be desired. Thomas hired him due to one year run to the Sweet 16 at Ohio. Beyond that, nothing in is coaching resume should have made him the pick to replace Weber. - Anonymous - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:56 pm: This isn’t high school coaching where you play the hand you’re dealt. Coach Groce got to hand pick most of these players. this year the only pre-Groce guys left were Egwu & Abrams if Im not mistaken. Nobody will accuse Egwu of being selfish & Abrams didn’t play, so much of the blame does fall to Groce here. When recruiting there’s so much more to look at than talent and projectability. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:57 pm: Sheesh Rich, seriously man? It is probably always a reflection on the coach, but coaches usually get more credit than they deserve when the team wins and more criticism than they deserve when they lose. Injuries happen, another team has a hot shooting night, your star player gets called for a couple of cheapy fouls and has to sit, and on and on. LSU got beat in the tourney when the players missed 6 free throws in the final minute when they led the entire game. Coaches fault? - No Longer A Lurker - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:57 pm: To answer your question. Yes, he gets the 500,000 bonus. Abrams and Paul cost them 2 or 3 victories this year and probably a bid to this years dance. He needs a Dee Brown on his staff to help recruit those 5 star in state kids. I think they will make the tourney these next two years. - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 2:59 pm: ===seriously man?=== Yes, seriously. He admits the team fell apart in the second half. He blamed his players. Such a class act. So, he gets a bit of grief. So what? He brought it on himself. - Steve Reick - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:00 pm: He needs a point guard who knows how to penetrate and dish. And those of you in Springfield should look on the bright side, it’ll be a lot easier getting tickets for the 5 games they’ll be playing down there next year. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:04 pm: Uh, okay. I give up. - Give Me A Break - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:05 pm: The best part of this NCAA tournament is that the last two Illinois coaches who abandoned the Illini to go to (gulp) Kansas, both lost. How sweet it is!!! But one former Illini coach is still in: Lon has the Sooners playing their best ball of the year. - A guy - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:06 pm: When you miss Lou Henson, you know things have been tough. - Lefty Lefty - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:15 pm: Honestly have never paid much attention to Illini athletics (except when they lose to WI–Go Badgers!), but I did watch a similarly lame athletic program at UW go from similar doldrums to consistent excellence from 1991 to 2000. Yep, took about a decade. The school got rid of a bad AD and hired Pat Richter who hired Barry Alvarez. He also hired Dick Bennett from UW-Green Bay, who led the b-ball Badgers to the Final Four in 2000. All winners who demand excellence. U of I athletics just seems to be going through the motions, whether its the department or the coaches or the players. That has to change. - Filmmaker Professor - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:28 pm: His total compensation is $1.8 million. He got a $100,000K raise before the season. Interested in U of I sports and its finances? check out this video (https://vimeo.com/120305530/settings/privacy) and this website (www.loweruofituition.org) - Filmmaker Professor - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:29 pm: sorry. video link is https://vimeo.com/120305530 - Amalia - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:47 pm: every public university will come under increasing scrutiny for the payments to coaches since much of the funding comes from taxpayers. the amount raised from private sources does not come close to what they need to run these programs. would be interesting, since this is a discussion of a public university, for someone to come up with the balance sheet on the program. all revenues– tickets/tv/merchandise/donations vs. costs–the coaches, the tuition/ medical/ food/gear for the players public universities could hold down costs if taxpayers demanded it. the salaries at these universities are public information and it is rare that private school coach salaries are revealed. any numbers in public drive the market rate. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:47 pm: Professor, you should have become a college football or basketball coach, just as I should have. But tell me something Prof, if your students get C’s, do you get fired? How many hours are you in the classroom? How much time are you off between May and August? During Christmas break? Spring break? Weekends? The marketplace pays high D1 basketball coaches a LOT. Maybe the market pays filmaker prof’s a little less. - James - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:49 pm: I initially had hope for Groce, but I lose a little more each year, mainly because of the recruiting. He recruited the 2 Simeon soph guards and a third Simeon player, Williams, will be joining the Illini either next year or the year after. But I don’t believe the overall recruiting has improved since Weber. The Illini appear to be mired near the bottom of the league for the forseeable future. - Michelle Flaherty - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 3:56 pm: Groce seems like a good guy, but what are his teams known for? What’s his brand? What’s gonna make a kid want to come to Illinois? - forwhatitsworth - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:08 pm: All Groce has to do is out-recruit Kentucky and Duke for just a couple of those McDonald’s All-Americans and he’ll be fine. Kentucky doesn’t need 9 each year just for themselves! - Cook County Moderate - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:09 pm: Mike Thomas has to go! He’s been manning this sinking ship. - Anonymoiis - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:10 pm: ==Kentucky doesn’t need 9 each year just for themselves!== The ones they recruit this year will be gone the next, so they almost do - forwhatitsworth - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:15 pm: The best part of this NCAA tournament is that the last two Illinois coaches who abandoned the Illini to go to (gulp) Kansas, both lost. How sweet it is!!! If you go back one more former Illini coach, Lon’s in the Sweet 16 !! - St. Louis Bob - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:17 pm: I was sad to see Weber leave. I thought he ran a clean program, but was encouraged to recruit top talent that he couldn’t manage. I liked the motion offense and it worked well as long as he had unselfish players. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:40 pm: STLBob, so you think Weber should have been encouraged to recuit mediocre talent he could manage? Weber’s recruiting and throwing players under the bus publically did him in. It will be his undoing at KState(it already is, he finished 15-17 and didn’t even make the NIT) Those unselfish, talented players were Self recruits and that was ten years ago. He failed to capitalize on the run to the title game with his recruiting and it was time to part ways. - Filmmaker Professor - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:41 pm: Anon - I get fired if my research is not at a high enough level of accomplishment and productivity, judged over a 6 year period by 5 - 7 of the leading scholars in my field, as selected by the university. so, both the coach and I are judged based on our accomplishments in our fields. the difference is, I would have to work for 60 years to earn what he earns in 3. So what’s your point? - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:52 pm: Didn’t answer my question Prof. But, is it fair that MLB players make $10-$20 mil a year? Actors get $25-$50 mil a film? It’s called capitalism and what the market will pay. Top CEO’s make tens of millions every year and get highly criticized. If it is so easy, and top coaches, actors, baseball players and CEO’s are unjustly paid, go become one of those people. FWIW, many think professors are highly paid, for the time they put in. Ever consider that? - WW - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:55 pm: – TR — Arthur Anderson — Rich – Check out this Sun-Times Op Ed piece from a few weeks ago: http://chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/7/71/419899/cut-tuition-u-espn Don’t know if this writer’s numbers check out, but thanks to the new ESPN contract which is funneling 7 Billion Dollars — that’s billion with a “b” — to division one schools, each Big Ten university is going to see their television rights fees double next year from around 25 to 50 million dollars. That should mean a few left over bucks after Title 9 requirements are met in Urbana. This definitely calls out for more discussion. Are any reporters or legislators asking questions about this given the budget cuts U of I is facing? - Ugly Rumours - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 4:58 pm: He may not get the bonus, but what’s the pension on a $400,000.00/year salary? - Filmmaker Professor - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:01 pm: Not sure which question I didn’t answer. No, I don’t get fired if my students get Cs. Neither does the coach. so what’s your point? My problem with coaches’ salaries and benefits is that students and taxpayers are forced to subsidize them. If the coaches pay was earned exclusively from ticket sales, I couldn’t care less what they were paid. I don’t care about how much baseball players are paid, but I do have a problem with public money subsidizing stadiums ala Reinsdorf. - Filmmaker Professor - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:04 pm: Pension on $400,000 salary depends on several factors, including choice of plan and the number of years worked. If Groce is on the Portable Plan, he gets 8% of his salary per year contributed to his pension account from taxpayers ($32K per year), which he can keep if he leaves before retiring — although I think he has to last 5 years to get to keep it. - OldIllini - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:12 pm: ==FWIW, many think professors are highly paid, for the time they put in. Ever consider that?== It’s called capitalism and what the market will pay. - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:14 pm: ===FWIW, many think professors are highly paid, for the time they put in. Ever consider that? === The trouble with your logic is that universities are supposed to be, you know, professoring. Sports? Not so much. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:24 pm: How much revenue do you generate Prof? And, if the players play at a C level and don’t win(which will happen) believe me, the coach will get fired. Do the names Zook, Weber and Law ring a bell? Sports at high D1 schools is big business. Go back and look at donations to the U of I after the 2005 title game run. Look what having successful sports teams does foer the economy of CU and for school apps. Look at the macro picture. Sorry you chose the field you did. - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:26 pm: ===How much revenue do you generate Prof?=== LOL. Sports generates tons of revenue, but the sports departments never share that revenue with the rest of the university, so your argument is worthless. - anon - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:26 pm: So Rich, are you advocating eliminating all sports programs in college? - Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:27 pm: No, anon. I’m advocating eliminating all morons from the blog. - Skirmisher - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:31 pm: I have been pretty upset over proposed further cuts to higher education, but now I see where several $million can get the axe without impacting the quality of education one iota. Public universities paying this much for a sports coach?? A travesty. - LTSW - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:38 pm: amalia @ 3:47 There is enough money from broadcasting fees to fund the athletic programs without any subsidization. At most of the D1 schools, football is the only sport that generates a profit. Men’s basketball breaks even or makes a little with a good NCCA Tourney run. Those football profits are what pays for the rest of men’s and women’s sports that do not generate any broadcast revenue. In the end, I believe those massive broadcast fees and high coaching salaries are what will force the D1 schools to give the revenue sport players more than a scholarship. At Illinois the school used to absorb the tuition cost of the athletic scholarships, but the Athletic Department had to provide the cash for the room & board and books that the athletes were provided. - Wordslinger - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 5:54 pm: Guy, Lou is the winningest coach in Illini history and one of two to take them to a Final Four. Those facts might have come in handy if you were attempting an informed opinion. - illini - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 6:01 pm: Way to many threads and posts for this Alumni and admitted fan to comment on. Many pointed and pertinent comments on both sides of this issue - and not something I want to venture into at this time - - but lets talk about what will be happening to the GA funding for the ACADEMIC programing and support of a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - what is happening is a shame……. - Amalia - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 6:10 pm: @LTSW, I think that is actually not true. there is not enough money from broadcasting fees to fund athletic programs without any subsidization at most universities. seem to recall some study that showed how many football programs were in the black…answer not many…so this means the entirely of athletics is further in debt. most sports take in revenue and the tv revenues are not just for football and men’s basketball. the tv revenues for,say, the B1G Network have a complex mix of sports, including women’s sports, that are shown during the full programming year. more to the point, there should be balance sheets at public universities to show the actual costs and revenues for how these programs are run. - Amalia - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 6:14 pm: @ LTSW, also, “revenue” sports should be the term used for any sport that takes in revenue. this means tickets, merchandise fees, portion of tv rights. there are a great many cases floating around the legal world across the U.S. on the issue of players and money. But Title IX is often left out of the equation when this is discussed. it’s not just about a sport that perhaps operates at a profit (although that is questionable) but equality. And that is a big deal in education. Revenue sports is a term that is without real meaning. - CapnCrunch - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 6:37 pm: “I get fired if my research is not at a high enough level of accomplishment and productivity, judged over a 6 year period by 5 - 7 of the leading scholars in my field, as selected by the university…..” Any idea of how many tenured professors have been fired for the above reason? - Give Me A Break - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 7:09 pm: Prof not discounting your value but when is the last time 15,500 people paid money to watch you teach one class? - lost in the weeds - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 8:28 pm: Two players were suspended, one captain of the team. That is unusual to have the captain suspended. During the suspension the team played better. - east central - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 8:41 pm: Seriously folks. When I view the University of Illinois, I see an institution with professors who are so uniquely talented that they may cure forms of cancer or who may produce inventions that transforms society. Basketball or football are fun. Academic research can be priceless. Some perspective is in order. - EX-FED - Monday, Mar 23, 15 @ 11:21 pm: Illinois State had the best basketball team this year in the state (highest RPI)and the highest ranked Football team, end of the season ranking of all Division 1 football programs 42nd in the nation and football team played in a national championship game, not that anybody else in the state was looking, but hey they were seconds away from winning. Loyola has the best basketball team in the big city and both next year will be better than the crushed orange and blue. Illinois State will also have the best football team next year, first victim will be Iowa in Iowa City to start the season. GO Birds!!!!!!! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.