The Purdue game.

Purdue Boilermakers
2008 record: 3-8
2008 Sagarin: 76 (IU is #105)
2007 record: 8-5 (beat Central Michigan in Motor City Bowl)
2007 Sagarin: 57
Series: Purdue leads 62-36-6
Last IU win: 11/17/2007 (27-24 in Bloomington)
Last Purdue win: 11/18/2006 (28-19 in West Lafayette)
Last IU win in West Lafayette: 11/23/1996 (33-16)
TV: Noon, ESPN2

Both IU and Purdue have had horrific seasons, but one of the teams can take some solace with a win in the Bucket game. IU, in one of the few bright moments of the last 15 years, beat Purdue on a late 49-yard field goal by Austin Starr. It was unfortunate that the game came down to that--IU had a 24-3 lead in the third quarter before the awakening of Purdue's offense and some IU miscues and turnovers necessitated the heroics. Now, IU seeks its first back-to-back Bucket wins since 1993 and 1994 and its first win in West Lafayette since 1996, a game that was the last coached by IU's Bill Mallory and Purdue's Jim Colletto.

Both teams enter the game with identical records, although even Purdue's meager accomplishments look good next to IU's. Purdue's losses in the non-conference were to respectable Notre Dame and Oregon, while IU lost to two MAC teams--the two best MAC teams, but still MAC teams. In the Big Ten season, Purdue has been more competitive: only one of Purdue's 6 Big Ten losses has been by more than 20 points, while 4 of IU's 6 Big Ten losses have been by at least 27 points. Depending on the source, oddsmakers have made Purdue an 11 to 13 point favorite.

Curtis Painter, who actually entered the season with (incomprehensible to me) Heisman hype given his hard-to-figure place of prominence in the Big Ten and Purdue record books, has been horrid even when he hasn't been injured. He has completed only 58 percent of his passes and has thrown 11 interceptions to only 8 touchdowns. His two backups have been similarly unremarkable. The savior for Purdue's offense has been Cory Sheets, who averages nearly 5 yards per carry and has run for 1070 yards and 13 touchdowns. Purdue ranks 68 in total offense (IU is #62); 47 in passing offense (IU is #82); #86 in rushing offense (IU is #44); 72 in total defense (IU is #102); 40 in pass defense (IU is #104); ansd 96 in rushing defense (IU is #92). In short, they are two rotten teams, and Purdue has a slight edge statistically against a tougher schedule.

Still, this is an important game. A road win for IU would provide some reason for optimism among recruits and players. A win for Purdue would give them some momentum as Danny Hope takes over for Joe Tiller. Given Tiller's 9-2 record against IU, sending him home a loser in his last game would be nice. Finally, if IU wins this one, Purdue fans might have to admit that it counts. What do I mean? Take this, for instance, from Off the Tracks:

Both times it took extraordinary circumstances (an absolute monsoon and a coach’s death providing motivation) for Indiana to beat us.

The absolute monsoon was in 2001. I was at the game, and by my recollection, it was raining on both sides of the field (and was only drizzling in the second half.) I have always thought that games played in inclement weather counted, that it's part of the game, but Purdue fans have always disagreed about 2001. But I can let that go. Here's what I can't let go: I'm sorry that Travis, who I like and respect, is the one who has to bear the brunt of this, but I am completely fucking sick and tired of hearing about how the fact that our coach fucking died of fucking cancer was such a fucking advantage for the 2007 team. If you think it's so great, maybe someday your coach will die of fucking cancer and you can see how great it is. Go dig up some 2007 previews. The talking heads, the bloggers, the print journalists, and others were unanimous that Hoeppner's death would be a fatal blow to the fortune's of IU's 2007 season. The Hoosiers were supposed to finish in the basement. Instead, they managed to win seven games and play in a bowl game. They didn't do that because of a ghost. or because of any "win one for the Gipper" speeches. They did it because a) the schedule was easy; b) the Big Ten was down; c) we had a uncoverable wide receiver; d) we had two senior cornerbacks, including one who started in the NFL this year; e) Kellen Lewis was healthy and didn't miss spring practice.; f) and out-of-nowhere All-American performances from Greg Middleton and Austin Starr. We won last year because we had a better team than Purdue and because we were playing at home, and it shouldn't have been that close.

So, a win would be nice, but might be too much to ask from the 2008 Hoosiers. This team was bad before the injury problems began, but those injuries are unquestionably a factor now. IU has to win the turnover game. In 2006, Curtis Painter threw 4 interceptions, but IU couldn't take advantage. If anything of the sort happens again, hopefully IU will be ready.

Wisconsin ugliness.

Here's the box score, and like the MSU game, there aren't many or even any positives to take from yesterday. After spotting UW a 17-0 lead, the defense began to play better, but I don't know if that would have been the case absent PJ Hill's injury. Austin Starr has emerged as one of the best kickers in the country. Other than that, this was pretty ugly. IU lost the turnover battle 5-2, was outgained by 150 yards, clealry outpaced in yards per play (5.6 to 4.1), and really just couldn't get anything done. As I said last week, when a team has a chance to beat a marginally but not overwhelmingly better team, it's best to capitalize. Wisconsin played well, IU didn't, and now the Hoosiers have followed a 5-1 start with a 3 game losing streak. A few thoughts:

So, how is the bowl outlook after today?

• Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, and Wisconsin have seven or more wins. Illinois and Penn State are conditionally eligible with six wins. Penn State plays Temple, so they really have seven wins. Minnesota has eight losses.
• Michigan State is in trouble. The Spartans are 5-4 with games against Michigan, at Purdue, and at home against Penn State. MSU could win any of those games, but getting to six is no guarantee, and getting to seven will require a couple of significant upsets.
• Iowa improved its prospects with a win against MSU. Iowa is 4-5 with games at Northwestern, and then at home against Minnesota and Western Michigan. The Hawkeyes are substantially likely to get to six wins, but can they win out and get to seven wins? It certainly seems possible.
• IU, of course, has a must win against Ball State at home this weekend, and then plays at Northwestern and Purdue at home.
• Northwestern is 5-4 with Iowa and IU at home and Illinois on the road. NU certainly has a good shot at a seven win season, but certainly could lose all three.
• Illinois is an interesting case. The Illini have won six already, and play at dog-awful Minnesota this weekend. If the Gophers rise up and steal a Big Ten win, then the Illini have to travel to OSU, and then would be playing for quite a bit in their home finale against Northwestern. It seems overwhelmingly likely that Illinois will get to seven wins, but it's not impossible that they could stumble.

Of course, the Hoosiers' distressing trendline in recent weeks certainly has reminded IU fans that we have, in essence, an interim coach. I'm not going to engage in candidate speculation at this point. In part, it would be unfair to the team, which still has a chance to make 2007 IU's best season in ages. Mostly, however, it would be silly to speculate about a search that will be airtight. During his tenure at IU, Rick Greenspan has run two high-profile coaching searches: the 2004 football coaching search and the 2006 basketball coaching search. In each case, Greenspan kept his cards close to the vest. The news of Hoeppner's hiring leaked from Miami after he told his players that he was leaving. Similarly, none of the talking heads were mentioning Kelvin Sampson until the news broke that he would be hired. Anyone who claims to have any insight into the process probably doesn't.

Kravitz on Lynch.

I was ready to launch into an anti-Kravitz tirade after my first read of this article, but on second review, it's pretty good. Why waste a good anti-Kravitz rant when the upcoming months will provide so many rich opportunities? My initial reaction was to this anecdote:

We were sitting at the training table, Indiana football coach Bill Lynch pointing a visitor toward the sandwich line, when about half a dozen athletic-looking young women approached the table. They wore Cheshire smiles, the kind of smiles daughters whip out whenever they want something from daddy. "We just wanted you to know that our volleyball team is all going to be supporting you guys against Indiana State,'' the unofficial team spokeswoman told Lynch. "And we were hoping your team could come out and support us (at home Oct. 17) against Purdue.''
Lynch eyed his sandwich, then looked at the young ladies."What day is that?" "A Wednesday," she answered.Lynch said, "Let me check our schedule and see if it's something we can do." He wasn't short with them, very nice and sociable and to the point. But that moment illustrated the fundamental difference between the Hoosiers' late coach, Terry Hoeppner, and the good man replacing him, Bill Lynch. If that had been Hoeppner, it would have turned into a pep rally. Hoeppner would have called his secretary to get a schedule. The young women would have joined us for lunch or
at least conversation. Before long, everybody would be singing the IU fight song before walking off, arm in arm, to Memorial Stadium to watch the Hoosiers football team play its public scrimmage on Saturday. Hoeppner was that rare sports personality who had IT, that charisma, that ability to walk into a room and make it seem smaller because of his oversized presence.

My initial reaction was that Kravitz was knocking the guy for being polite to his lunch guest--Kravitz. Upon further review, however, he was plenty fair to Lynch, and he's right. Lynch is never going to match Hoeppner's public charisma. Still, it's worth noting that Hoeppner's popularity was based in part on personality, but to some degree he did provide tangible results. Even in year one, with a 4-7 (1-7) record, Hoeppner broke a long losing streak against Kentucky. In year two, IU managed its best Big Ten record in five years, upset then #13 Iowa, and whipped MSU. My point about Hoeppner all along coincides with what Lynch says later in the article:

The Indiana people saw so much of the buzz and the salesman (Hoeppner was), but they never really got to see the great coach that he is. . . . If I'm going to put any stamp on this program, I want it to be for people to understand just how great a coach he was and what he's been building here the last two years.'' Year three is a restless time for rebuilding programs. Fans expect to see progress in year three.

Clearly, the illness and death of Hoeppner have nullified any standard program timeline, but as I have said before, salesmanship only goes so far. Although he is gone, Hoeppner increased interest in IU football and established a solid foundation within the program. Lynch isn't Hoeppner, and doesn't have to be. While Hoeppner may be best remembered for his persona, he was a good coach. Had he lived, and had he gone 4-20 in 2008 and 2009, he would have been under pressure.

Big Ten media days, day 2.

Some decent IU coverage, unsurprisingly focused on the team's reaction to the death of Terry Hoeppner, here, here, and here, among other places . Here's some particularly poignant stuff from James Hardy (via the Gary Post Tribune). It sounds like his background was rougher than I realized.

Hoeppner's death impacted all-Big Ten receiver James Hardy really hard. "They had a great relationship," Lynch notes, stopping just short of calling Hoeppner a father-figure. "They trusted each other and Hep helped him through some tough times a year or so ago."
Hardy still refers to Hoeppner as IU's leader. "I've been pretty much on my own since I was 13," he says. "Coach Hep used to say, 'Have a plan and stick to it.' " The 6-7 junior's plan is to help underprivileged kids. Having abandoned his flirtation with basketball -- he dropped out after appearing in 23 games during the 2004-05 season -- Hardy has narrowed his focus. By concentrating on football during the offseason Hardy can refine his considerable talent. Now he's spending more time in the weight room to boost his already unlimited potential. "I'm working on my weaknesses," says Hardy, who has racked up 112 receptions, 20 for touchdowns, in two years. "I'm like a sponge." Somewhere, Hoeppner is soaking it up.

Also, expanding a bit on my discussion of the Teddy Greenstein article from day one of the media days, am I imagining things, or was there a discussion a few months ago about moving the last week of Big Ten games not to Thanksgiving weekend, but the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend (i.e., nine days after Thanksgiving Day)? I haven't been able to find anything on that issue, but I'll keep looking. It seems to me that such a move would be a nice solution and a compromise between those who want a bye week and those who want to allow the players to go home for Thanksgiving. That is, of course, the weekend of the conference championship games, but the last week of Big Ten games, particularly the crown jewel, Michigan-OSU, typically are day games, so I can't see a huge television conflict. Such an arrangement would result in two bye weeks, actually (instead of having 12 weekends to play 12 games, teams would have 14 weekends to play with). I presume that the Big Ten would move its conference schedule back a week, such that the eighth week of games (there are nine weeks to the Big Ten season) occurred the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Schools could approach it in a variety of ways: teams that wanted to play on Thanksgiving weekend could schedule a nonconference game for that day and take two by weeks later in the season. Others could take one bye during the heart of the season and one on Thanksgiving weekend. Others could elect to start the season a week later instead of on Labor Day weekend. I can see the merits of both sides. Being home for Thanksgiving is nice (still, is this feature giving the Big Ten a recruiting advantage over the conferences that play over Thanksgiving break? I doubt it). Playing 12 weeks in a row is grueling. Also, playing on Thanksgiving weekend is no fun. Certainly, schools like OSU and Michigan and Penn State will continue to fill their stadiums no matter what. As for IU, in the last 15 years I can recall two years, 1995 and 2001, when the Big Ten played games after Thanksgiving. Those two Bucket games, both in Bloomington, were the only poorly attended Bucket games I have seen. Even if well-attended, such scheduling affects students negatively, athletes and non-athletes alike, particularly those from afar. Should a New Jersey kid who is a freshman at Michigan or IU or Iowa have to decide between seeing his family on Thanksgiving or staying around to see the biggest rivalry game of the year? I do think the first weekend of December is the way to go. Plus, that may be the only way to see my dream come true--the Old Oaken Bucket game in the snow!

Memorial service coverage.

Busy day, so no time for thoughts today. I would refer you to a thread on the Rivals forum from MyWifeRocks containing lots of video from the Hep memorial service.

The Star did a nice job on the coverage. Even Kravitz was tolerable.

Could IU's naming policy be an obstacle?

One thing to consider as some folks (including me) advocate naming the new end zone building after Terry Hoeppner is that IU's naming policy may make that impossible. I'm somewhat embarrassed that I didn't think of it before.

The policy distinguishes between Commemorative namings and Administrative namings and further sets forth a difference between naming of minor spaces (reading rooms, etc.), which can be approved by the university vice-president, and major administrative namings. Such major decisions require approval by the president, the board of trustees, and, a body you may not have known existed, the All-University Committee on Names. Cutting to the essence, here's the five year rule:

In general, for major facilities, there will be a five-year waiting period after the death of any individual before considering his or her name for commemoration in naming a major facility. The five-year delay was instituted by Dr. Wells to ensure that buildings were not precipitously named in the first emotional outpourings after the death of a public figure. He preferred a more contemplative process to safeguard the reputation of both the individual and the institution, and to eliminate overlap and duplication of namings. At his request, this rule was observed in the naming of the Herman B Wells Library. (Image of Herman B Wells Library courtesy of Indiana University).

Perhaps that is why Rick Greenspan has been non-committal on the issue. While I don't think calling the new building the Hoeppner Center would seem like a rash decision five years down the road, if the university wouldn't make an exception for Herman Wells, I'm guessing that they won't for Hep, if this policy applies.

That is, it appears, a big if. The article doesn't say either way, but it doesn't seem that the athletic department has followed the five year rule. For instance, the soccer stadium was named after now-deceased IU Foundation president Bill Armstrong years before he died. The field at Bill Armstrong Stadium now bears the name of recently retired soccer coach Jerry Yeagley. The soon-to-be-replaced weight room bears the name of retired coach Bill Mallory. Certainly, the weight room might fall into the minor category and outside the authority of the Committee on Names, but the soccer field and stadium would seem sufficiently major. Again, the policy, based on my quick reading, doesn't seem to mention athletic facilities but also doesn't seem to specifically except them.

Finally, every time the five year rule comes up, someone says, "but what about Mellencamp Pavilion?" Even if the five year rule does apply to athletic facilities, clearly it's different when someone is writing checks, and the policy says as much.

EDIT: In a sure sign that I have taken one too many "Hutch got scooped again!" cheap shots, Terry Hutchens beat me to the punch on the naming policy issue.

Thoughts on Coach Hep from around the country.

There have been some nice articles written about the late coach around the country today. A sampling, most of which I cribbed from posters on the Rivals IU football board:

From Tom Archdeacon of the Dayton Daily News, some wonderful anecdotes from Hep's days as a "Yankee" high school football coach in South Carolina:

He was called "The Yankee Coach" and before the season, he said one booster, looking over the many black players, asked: "Coach, how many white boys we got on the team?" Hoeppner shrugged: "I have no idea. When everybody puts on those blue helmets, I can't tell." For someone, that was the wrong answer. Two weeks later, the school burned down after an arsonist poured gasoline in the coach's office and lit a match. But Hoeppner didn't melt, and by the third year, he said he had believers: "We ended up 8-2 and what made it special was that after such a horrible beginning, they needed what I had to offer."

Pat Forde of ESPN.com had this to say:

It will be a challenge for the Indiana players to sustain that momentum after this tragic loss. It will be a challenge for interim coach Bill Lynch -- a former head coach at Ball State from 1995 to 2002 -- to sustain Hoeppner's grand plans and great enthusiasm. If ever there were a schedule tailored for a breakthrough season, this is it. The Hoosiers play neither Ohio State nor Michigan, and could go undefeated against a nonconference schedule of Indiana State, Western Michigan, Akron and Ball State. In fact, IU has a shot at a 4-0 start for the first time since 1990. The Hoosiers certainly have a memory to rally around. But inspiration can be fleeting, and it's a safe bet that Indiana will miss Terry Hoeppner badly -- this year and for several years beyond. He was the rare right fit at a school that rarely gets it right in football.

This AP article looks at the loss from a Miami perspective. The Cradle of Coaches has lost three former leaders in the last year Hep, Randy Walker, and Bo Schembechler.

Pete DiPrimio of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel agrees with me:

Let’s not waste any time. You know that soon-to-be-built Memorial Stadium north end zone facility that has the sleep-inducing early tag of Hoosier Education and Performance Center? Name it after Terry Hoeppner. Call it the Hep Center for short, and move on to bigger things.Indiana University athletic director Rick Greenspan says he likes the idea of naming the $25 million addition after the former football coach, but it’s too early to make a definitive decision. So wait a day, and then make it.

Nice thoughts from Terry Hutchens.

Had this blog been around in the last year of Mike Davis's tenure, readers would have concluded that I wasn't a big fan of Terry Hutchens. And while I didn't like the way he covered (for) Davis, he always has seemed like a wonderful guy, and he has a nice reflection on Coach Hep on his Hoosier Insider blog.

Groundbreaking.

At the request of the Hoeppner family, the show went on today. IU broke ground on the north end zone expansion of Memorial Stadium today. The H-T's Hoosier Scoop blog live-blogged it. Memorial Stadium will go from this:

To this:

Until told otherwise, I will refer to the north end zone building as the Hoeppner Center. In various forms and levels of detail, this project has been on the drawing board for years. It is no coincidence that this expansion moved beyond the idea stage during the Hep era.

Hep's finest moment at IU.

I'm going to try to avoid the flowery prose today. For every writer who does it well, there are 20 who come across as schmaltzy and insincere. I'm no professional. I think the best tribute that I could give to Hep is to recall what I consider his defining moment as IU's coach, last season's game at Illinois. When superficially reviewing IU's three Big Ten wins last season (not overwhelming, but IU's highest total since 2001), the two that jump out are the home wins over Iowa and Michigan State. But for the Illinois win, however, it's hard to say whether the two later wins ever would have happened. IU began last season with a comfortable home win over Western Michigan and followed with a comeback win at Ball State. Then, Hep went on his second leave of absence, and IU lost close, winnable home games to Connecticut and Division I-AA Southern Illinois. Entering the season, and even after the close call against Ball State, 4-0 looked possible. Instead, IU limped out of the nonconference schedule 2-2 and then took a beating at home from Wisconsin. IU's next game was at Illinois. Despite the Illini's lackluster performance in recent decades, IU had not won at Illinois since 1979. Early in the second quarter, it appeared that yet another IU season was heading straight down the crapper. After an early 7-7 tie, Illinois pulled ahead 25-7 (it would have been 27-7 but for some Zookery regarding two point conversions).

Now, it helps to understand the psyche of the IU football fan. Those of us who invest emotionally in this program do so not because we are gluttons for punishment, but because we really believe that IU can achieve at least moderate success on the football field. Clearly, anyone who follows IU football closely cannot be described as a fair-weather fan, but we all have our moments. Every person has his limits. As I watched this game in my living room, when Illinois scored to make it 25-7, I was deep in the woe-is-me, this-is-supposed-to-be-fun-but-I-need-a-new-hobby-because-IU-football-is-taking-years-off-my-life mode. At that point, however, the TV cameras caught Terry Hoeppner dressing down every offensive,defensive and special teams player, coach, and waterboy. We've all seen coaches who lose control, but this wasn't that. Hep was simply insisting that the Hoosiers win this game. They stayed strong, came back, and eventually won the game on an Austin Starr field goal as time expired.

For those who live in Indiana but don't follow IU football closely, the main memory of Hep will be as a salesman. "Coach Hep Wants You!" "Defend the Rock!" "The Walk." Indeed, many opposing fans and even some IU fans dismissed Hep as a Lee Corso-style huckster. He wasn't. While he understood that selling the IU program was an essential part of the job, he was an intense, dedicated, and demanding coach on the field. Unlike Corso, who humiliated his players by having someone take a picture of the scoreboard when IU took the lead against some prominent program, Hep expected to win every game. For all of the fun-loving, gregarious stuff off the field, I think I'll remember Hep the most for his intense sideline demeanor, especially in that Illinois game. For all of his self-deprecating charm, this is a man who desperately wanted to win football games and did a wonderful job of passing on his passion to his players, the fans, and everyone associated with the IU program.

Terry Hoeppner, RIP.

Words escape me this morning. Rest in peace, Coach, and we will never forget your brief but enjoyable tenure at IU.

(Image courtesy of Indiana University).

Coach Bill Lynch.

Lynch brings 14 years of head coaching to the job, including eight years at Ball State in Division I-A. He coached Butler from 1985 through 1989, Ball U from 1995 through 2002, and Division III Depauw in 2004. Butler was in Division II until 1992, when the NCAA prevented schools from competing in different divisions in football and basketball. So, BSU was Lynch's only D-I job, and that's where we will focus.

Unfortunately, HTML is not my friend. I had hoped to post a table with Lynch's record, but it wasn't to be. Check out College Football Data Warehouse's page with Lynch's coaching record if you want it in front of you. Lynch was 37-53 at Ball State, but his career really can be divided into three parts. Lynch went 20-14 in his first three seasons at Ball State, 1-21 in years four and five, and 16-18 in his last three seasons. Certainly, the concerns with Lynch's record start there. The Cardinals lost 21 games in a row and had the nation's longest losing streak before beating, of all teams, Terry Hoppner's Miami Redhawks. Dave Letterman had quite a bit of fun with his alma mater's futility, and the BSU program became something of a national laughingstock. Still, Lynch rallied to post decent records in his last three seasons.

In his second season, 1996, BSU went 8-1 in the MAC and lost to Nevada in the Las Vegas Bowl. In 1997, BSU fell to 5-6, but won its last four games after a tough start. In 1998, it got really ugly. The Cards beat Northern Illinois on October 13 for their only win of the season and didn't win again until October 7, 2000. BSU did win five of its last seven that season and finished a respectable 4-3 in the MAC. His last two seasons were mediocre, and that was that. Despite the awful losing streak, Lynch was over .500 against the MAC in his last three seasons (combined, not individually). According to Lynch's IU bio, Ball State won the MAC West in 2001.

So, there it is. Clearly, this isn't the resume of a coach who typically ascends from the MAC to the Big Ten. Still, the resume is not without success. Lynch has been to a bowl game more recently than IU. Lynch has nothing to lose. As I have said on many occasions, this season's schedule is bowl-ready. If he doesn't get IU to a bowl game, he's no worse off. If he does, then he will likely have a shot at a long-term deal if Hoeppner does not return.

On a side note, I wondered how IU would finesse the website. Well done, IU athletic department. Hep is listed at the top but with no title. Lynch is listed as head coach/offensive coordinator/tight ends coach.

Lynch to coach Hoosiers in 2007.

While not the worst news possible, it's still bad news. Terry Hoeppner will not coach IU in 2007, and Bill Lynch will be the head coach this coming season. I'm in between work and a family function, so I don't have time to consume much media. I don't know if Mrs. Hoeppner was present at the press conference or why she, rather than Hep, made the statement. I hope it isn't as it looks, and I hope Hep is back to lead the team through the tunnel at the expanded Memorial Stadium in September 2008. In any event, at least we now know how to picture the 2007 season. Bill Lynch, despite a less than stellar record as a I-A (er, Bowl Division) head coach and an 0-2 record as an interim coach last year, is respected in the football world and has been a trusted confidant to Hep and Bill Mallory, IU's two finest coaches of the last quarter century. For now, that's good enough for me. This team isn't going to go 12-0, but for the first time in my recollection, I wouldn't be shocked by a win in any single game. Hep or no Hep, we can go bowling, and there wouldn't be a better tribute.

The release does not describe Lynch as the interim coach. As a practical matter, he is, but it would appear that he is "Indiana football coach Bill Lynch." Despite the non-application of the interim label, expect many articles discussing whether Lynch has done enough to remove the interim tag or some such thing.

I'll have a look at Lynch's record in the next couple of days.

Some sort of word on Hoeppner today.

All indications are that IU will be making some sort of announcement today concerning Coach Hoeppner. Doug Wilson of the Herald-Times seems to be the only mainstream media source reporting this (Hutch scooped again! Shocking!) with some message board scuttlebutt as well. No one, from Wilson to mac624 to anyone else, seems to know what is going to be announced. It's hard to know what all of this means. The timing of the announcement would suggest a return, but IU is being so tight-lipped about this that it's hard to think it will be good news. These words from Wilson are interesting:

athletic director Rick Greenspan and president Adam Herbert will hold a
press conference, probably Friday afternoon, regarding Hoeppner.

Does that mean Hep won't be there? It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't be there if it were good news. In any event, I will be away from the computer for most of the day but presumably I'll have something to say about this tonight.

More on Coach Hep.

Here's a post on Coach Hep from a blog called Cobra Brigade, which seems to be something of a general interest/Chicago Cubs blog. Overall, a well-written and well-reasoned piece. I'm a little uncomfortable with the degree of medical speculation there, particularly with the rather explosive notion that Coach Hep knew there was more than scar tissue after last fall's surgery. It's certainly possible, but if that's true, that goes well beyond privacy protection and into out-and-out lying. Again, it's possible and to some degree understandable that Hep's public pronouncements were intentionally inaccurate, but I wouldn't be comfortable going there based on speculation. Still, some nice work there, and hopefully Cobra Brigade will have more to say about IU football in the months to come.

IU football recruiting blog.

Even at the early stage in the life of this blog, I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not much of a recruitnik. Certainly, I pay attention to the big ones, particularly on the basketball side, such as Eric Gordon and Devin Ebanks. Football recruiting just involves too many names for me to really follow. So, while I will try to touch on all newsworthy IU-related topics, this blog will never be the first stop for recruiting info. So I point you to mac624's blog. Mac624 posts under that handle on the Rivals IU football forum and seems to have some nice connections inside the football program. The current posts include discussion of various offers to recruits and some discussion of the Coach Hep saga. Check it out.

Excellent article on the Hep situation.

In contrast with the recent AP reporting, here's a really nicely done article by Pete DiPrimio of the Fort Wayne News Sentinel. DiPrimio, many IU fans will recall, wrote for Inside Indiana for many years.

Bad publicity begins to mount.

The Terry Hoeppner story is beginning to get some national media coverage, and the quotes that generated interest in Indiana are now beginning to get some coverage nationally. An Associated Press article appears in various sources under headlines to the effect of: Hoeppner's Contract at Indiana Could Be Voided. MSNBC really lays it on thick: Indiana might void ailing coach's contract. The article is based upon Hep's contract, which the AP obtained with an Open Door Law request and contains provisions that the article suggests are standard in coaching contracts. The AP then quotes a bunch of people saying that none of the steps set forth in the contract have gone forward. A couple of AOL bloggers, Brian Grummell and Brian Cook (the latter best known for mgoblog) describe IU as "cold" and "heartless," respectively, for the way they have handled things this week. Cook notes that Greenspan moves directly into a discussion of how Hep's situation affects marketing. Here's the full quote from the Q&A:

Question: Is there some point, or some date, when you have to make a
decision about Hoeppner's future as the IU football coach?
Answer: "The way I'd answer that is that we want to do something at the right point. That would be the right point for our university, the right point as we approach the season, and the right point as far as the feedback and the sense of health and well being and rest and recovery and capability from Hep. Where those exactly intersect I don't have a date that's etched in stone, but we're certainly getting to be within two months of freshmen reporting for football. It's closer than it was in March. At that point we were obviously very hopeful that he would be back by now. It is a concern, that's the best I can say."
Q: Coach Hoeppner has been the visible face of IU football. Has his absence affected your market strategy?
A: "It affects our marketing strategy in the sense that Terry has been appropriately very well received by not only our fans but people around the state. It doesn't affect our energy, our need, our requirement, our sales desires and all the rest of those kinds of things. But in terms of Terry being able to be out there as he has the last few summers, certainly it impacts us not having his personal presence. We've said this and we'll continue to say it, we're not standing still. We had what I thought was a good strong, solid and healthy spring football season. We've got a lot of kids on campus either at summer school, or working or whatever, getting stronger. So, we're certainly by no means on a treadmill, but Terry has been both a face and a leader of this team. And so, in terms of his personal visibility and what that means to us, yeah, we'd love to have him out there."

Greenspan finished an answer to one question and then answered the next question, which specifically addressed marketing. I'm not sure why Greenspan, whatever the mrits of the first answer, is to blame for the content of the next question. It doesn't seem so bad to me. Further, we don't really know whether Greenspan set out to put pressure on Hoeppner or if this was simply the direction a routine interview took. The second batch of articles arose from the AP getting a copy of Hep's contract and included not a single substantial quote from an IU official. It's early June. None of IU's teams are practicing or playing. IU officials can't comment on basketball recruiting. That makes Hep the most significant story on which Greesnpan could comment. To the extent that Hep isn't keeping IU officials in the loop, I don't think a little pressure is so bad. I don't view any of Greenspan's comments as trying to force Hep to make a decision. I don't think forcing Hep out helps anyone. Even if Hep is permanently unable to return and announces as much in the next week, IU isn't likely to hire a long-term replacement at this time of year. It seems to me that either Terry Hoeppner will return or Bill Lynch will be the interim coach.

Football miscellany.

The good and the bad. First, the good: I happened to be in Bloomington yesterday and took a look at the north end of Memorial Stadium, the site of the stadium expansion. Nothing by way of true construction activity seems to be ongoing, but as has been noted in other sources, the rickety end zone bleachers are gone. There are stakes all over the north embankment foretelling some sort of work. The footprint of the new project seems to be bigger than I realized.

I drove up the road that runs along the north side of the stadium--not the asphalt path that runs right behind the scoreboard, but the north part of the oval shaped road that encircles the entire stadium. There were green paint marks all over that road and some stakes on the north side of the road. There has been some debate about whether IU should have enclosed the south end, but considering the location of the practice fields, it especially makes sense when standing right there.

On the bad side, we have yet another article quoting Rick Greenspan on Terry Hoeppner. The quote most interesting quote was this one:

Q: Do you still talk to coach Hoeppner regularly?
A: "To the degree that I
can without bugging the family. I talk to (his wife) Jane and I talk to Terry,
but I've tried to the best of my ability to be reasonably informed and yet not
be invasive. I'm just trying to keep a balance."

Again, I won't speculate on Hep's condition, but I had assumed that the AD was in the loop. It sounds like he knows a bit more than those of us on the outside, but not much more.

Coach Hep update

This isn't much of a feelgood story for my triumphant return, but there is an update on Terry Hoeppner. Not much of an update, really, other than to make clear that it's going to be a while before we know whether Hep will coach the team in the fall. Over on the Rivals board, folks are making much of the following quote from AD Rick Greenspan:

"I love what Terry did for our program," Greenspan said. "It needed the adrenaline rush he gave it. Wins
and losses are one thing, but we needed to re-establish credibility with our
fans, and he has helped us do that." (emphasis added).

I don't put much stock in the past tense. Hep has enhanced IU's fan support, but Greenspan isn't necessarily saying he won't bring that again in the future. We can hope, at least.

As I said weeks ago, I'm not going to speculate about Coach Hep's health, and I don't consider the following to be such speculation. Regardless of what anyone associated with IU says or doesn't say, rumors will fly during the recruiting process. Hell, the rumors were flying in recruiting circles long before anyone knew that Hep was going to miss spring practice. Still, would it be worthwhile for IU to announce that in the event that Hep's absence becomes permanent, Bill Lynch will be the new coach (i.e., not an interim coach)? It's probably not worth it. They guy had a pretty ordinary record at Ball State. He started well, dipped to an 0-11 season, and finished with a couple of 5-6 seasons. Such a move would cut off the uncertainty a bit, but perhaps the uncertainty is better than locking in an unfit successor.