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Dan Muller fired- steps down immediately

Da Coach

Da Coach

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Dan Muller has been given notice that he will not be retained as head coach after this season ends.
ISU Athletic Director Kyle Brennan made the announcement publicly a short time ago-
https://twitter.com/Pantagraph/statu...86462593294340

Illinois State athletic director Kyle Brennan announced Sunday that Dan Muller has been fired as the Redbirds' head basketball coach effective at season's end.
Muller, who is in his 10th season as head coach at his alma mater, will coach the team through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which goes from March 3-7 in St. Louis.
"Announcing a head coaching change during a season is a difficult decision I don’t take lightly, especially with a coach who has given so much of his life to ISU and Redbird Athletics with integrity, passion and commitment," said Brennan in a statement. "I believe this is what is best for our current student-athletes and the future of the program.
“We have not been performing at a consistent level and we have not seen the continued growth needed to get back into contention in the Missouri Valley Conference.”
Muller has two years left on a seven-year contract he signed after the 2016-17 season. Per Muller's contract, ISU will have to pay him a $1 million buyout, or $500,000 for each remaining season. ISU said it will honor the commitments of Muller's contract.
Brennan said a comprehensive, national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
“Given the contract requirement of 30-day notice, it was imperative to make a timely decision to begin the search process for a new coach. This will allow us to find the best candidate and provide them with the time necessary to recruit prior to the upcoming April signing period,” Brennan said. “On behalf of Redbird Athletics, I want to thank Dan and Melissa for their service to Illinois State, wish them well in the future, and know they will always be Redbirds."
 
I have no love for ISU but it has to be with mixed emotions as they have to fire an iconic ISU player/coach. And always tough when anyone gets fired even when you understand the reasoning.
 
And this probably gets even more difficult with the portal/immediate eligibility. It is easier for your better players to leave. Maybe that is part of the drive to announce now and hope to hire a replacement quickly before the better players find another home.
 
houstonbrave said:
And this probably gets even more difficult with the portal/immediate eligibility. It is easier for your better players to leave. Maybe that is part of the drive to announce now and hope to hire a replacement quickly before the better players find another home.
Click to expand...

ISU had to give Dan a 30 day notice according to the Pantagraph so they got a jump on it.
 
Muller is one of the best players in ISU history but that doesn't mean you'll be a good coach. His career record is 167-150. The first 5 years he was 104-65 with the high water mark being the 16-17 season when he won his only MVC regular season championship at 28-7, 17-1 in the MVC, but they failed to win the MVC Tournament championship. Never got into the NCAA tournament. Did make 3 Tournament Championship games with the last one being in 2018. The last 5 years ISU has gone 63-85 and just haven't been competitive. And there were all of the "Questionable characters" who have played for him. It's just time.
 
Dan was highly praised as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for 12 years (2001-2012), working under his former head coach at ISU Kevin Stallings. Vandy went to the NCAA Tournament 5 of the last 6 seasons Muller was an assistant there. Maybe it was a coincidence, but right after he left in 2012 to take the ISU job, Vanderbilt went downhill quickly and Stallings was fired 4 years later. Muller will get $1 million bucks paid out over the next 2 years (the remaining amount of his contract), so maybe he won't be desperate to get another job right away. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him land somewhere as an assistant in the future.

Muller just landed verbal commitments from a couple 2022 recruits from South Carolina-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...494#post501494
Tough break for those two kids. But at least they got a free recruiting trip to Normal, Illinois out of it.

There is always a lot of roster turnover with a coaching change, so expect some players to start looking into transferring.
I suspect their leading scorer Antonio Reeves is already getting text messages.
 
Da Coach said:
Dan was highly praised as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for 12 years (2001-2012), working under his former head coach at ISU Kevin Stallings. Vandy went to the NCAA Tournament 5 of the last 6 seasons Muller was an assistant there. Maybe it was a coincidence, but right after he left in 2012 to take the ISU job, Vanderbilt went downhill quickly and Stallings was fired 4 years later. Muller will get $1 million bucks paid out over the next 2 years (the remaining amount of his contract), so maybe he won't be desperate to get another job right away. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him land somewhere as an assistant in the future.

Muller just landed verbal commitments from a couple 2022 recruits from South Carolina-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...494#post501494
Tough break for those two kids. But at least they got a free recruiting trip to Normal, Illinois out of it.

There is always a lot of roster turnover with a coaching change, so expect some players to start looking into transferring.
I suspect their leading scorer Antonio Reeves is already getting text messages.
Click to expand...

Wasn't Porter Moser let go by ISU years ago?
 
Muller said he would finish out the season, but apparently has had a change of mind.
This evening he announced he will step down immediately.
That's probably the best decision, IMO.

Associate Head Coach Brian Jones will take over as Interim Head Coach.
https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status...82489339015170

Here is Brian Jones' bio-
https://goredbirds.com/sports/mens-b...ian-jones/1546

He spent 17 seasons as head coach at North Dakota University, and has been an assistant at Iowa, Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State), and Nebraska-Omaha. He played at Northern Iowa from 1990-94, and prior to that, he played at Rockford Alleman HS.
 
It was odd to say the least for the contract to require a 30 day notice to terminate. Nobody wants the program run by a lame duck whose days are numbered. In other situations a few weeks notice makes sense but not that one.
 
On paper UNI should whip an ISU team in disarray tonight. Let’s see what transpires.
 
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