Requiem for a College Football Coach
2007-07-04
Posted by: badanov
We were as shocked a Indiana football fans at the passing of head football coach Terry Hoeppner. It was clear last March going in however that Hoeppner's health was becoming secondary to IU administrations concern about the effect Hoeppner's three medical leaves would have on recruiting.
Hoeppner was in the process of dragging IU up from the basement when he died last June. Hoeppner won nine games his first two years as head coach, something that hadn't been done since the late eighties. Also, Hoeppner was scoring some important coups in recruiting. He made himself the issue for his recruits, and as a result brought in some very talented and badly needed help.
Seaching Yahoo! Sports news archives, we could not find any references to the story that Indiana University officials, on hearing that Hoeppner would go in for surgery for a third time, expressed concerns about the effect his absences would have on recruiting. We don't know if it was a story strictly local to Indiana or it was a story taken from university sources speaking on background. It certainly didn't register so much as a blip on regional or national sports news.
We heard about it from sports talk radio last March, and the sentiment was that since spring football was already gone with Hoeppner on leave that would be bad for IU football recruiting. Hoeppner's medical problems would hurt recruiting simply because the man like to have his hands on things; it was what was bringing the Hoosiers out of the basement. University officials like the increased stature of the football program, but like a bitter wife fearing a divorce from her newly rich hisband, university officials let it slip about their concerns on recruiting and made Hoeppner himself the issue.
It was the wrong focus to have, in our opinion.
The better college athletic programs in the country have a tight clamp on news, good or bad, about interactions between the athletic department and university administration, and it is certainly unheard of for a university official to leak information about the athletic department. This tidbit was in our view a shot across the bow against Hoeppner and the football program and could eventually serve to undermine the program, given that recruits get a close look at how the university handles conflict, and won't like what they see. It could be a deciding factor for a real bluechipper.
This news leak problem, if that was what it was, goes straight to the top. These types of shenanigans reflect the nature of the university president and its officers and it shows, as in this case, the university is out of control, and not just with the athletic department. We know of a number of other instances about academic scandals apparently being ignored by the university leadership, which are chronicled at FrontpageMag.com.
The linked article is about interim Indiana head football coach Bill Lynch and the story was Hoeppner's illness didn't affect recruiting. Obviously this was intended for Indiana University football fans, players and recruits, and the statement in a concise and public manner, spells out what Hoeppner's staff's thinking was. Whether this will aid recruiting won't be seen for several years, but you can't help but appreciate the subtext: that university officials were wrong when this story leaked then and they are wrong now. And they won't undermine Hoosier football.
It's just not enough for us to be a Hoosier football fan.
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