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Muller Worst Ever in RedbirdLand?

LittleBrave

LittleBrave

Well-known member
Can't believe they didn't let this guy hit the road last season after the season went to shambles.
This season not any better - probably worse.
I enjoyed watching Muller at ISU when he played, but he's just not doing diddly squat with the squads the past few seasons.
He seems to get halfway decent talent, but their dynamics just are not there.

As much as I love seeing us pound the Redbirds, would like to see the program get back to respectable status in the next couple seasons.
But I'm not feeling sorry (yet) for them, as we had our rock-bottom seasons not too long ago!

Now we're back on the map thanks to some much-needed changes!
 
LittleBrave said:
Can't believe they didn't let this guy hit the road last season after the season went to shambles.
This season not any better - probably worse.
I enjoyed watching Muller at ISU when he played, but he's just not doing diddly squat with the squads the past few seasons.
He seems to get halfway decent talent, but their dynamics just are not there.

As much as I love seeing us pound the Redbirds, would like to see the program get back to respectable status in the next couple seasons.
But I'm not feeling sorry (yet) for them, as we had our rock-bottom seasons not too long ago!

Now we're back on the map thanks to some much-needed changes!
Click to expand...

There are 2 factors that kept ISU from a coaching change last year, and will prevent any change this year, too.
1) It's always very hard to fire a former beloved Hall of Fame player after he's been hired to coach the team. Only an AD (or President) with no conscious, a cold heart, a big ego, and a lot of support from the big donors would do so for fear of offending the fan base, alumni, and donors. It happened at Bradley in 2011, and there were many angry fans, alumni, and donors and a sudden severe drop in attendance and revenues. We all witnessed the devastating fallout that came from that move.

2) $$Money. Illinois State signed Dan Muller to an almost unheard-of 7-year contract extension in 2017 for about $600,000 per year.
https://goredbirds.com/news/2017/8/2...ough-2024.aspx
That means his contract runs through 2024, and ISU would have had to come up with about $3 million if they fired him last season (5 yrs x $600k). It would still take about $2.4 million to buy him out after this year, and that probably isn't going to happen. ISU, like all the state schools except U. of Illinois, run on a tight budget and are not rolling in money. It is made worse by the big drop in attendance, and probably a drop in donations, as well.

Muller has been at ISU since 2012, and he's never had a losing season. In 2016-17, they went 28-7 and 17-1 in the MVC (which prompted the huge contract extension). Unfortunately they tied with Wichita State for the MVC Regular-season title, then lost to them in the championship game of the MVC Tournament. So they lost the auto-bid, and because of a pretty weak non-conference schedule, they essentially had an at-large bid stolen from them, too. And, since then, they have gone downhill and underperformed each year. Here are their records for each season-
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...llinois-state/

They went from 17-1 in 2016-17 to 10-8, then 9-9, and now 3-12 this season, and there are a lot of unhappy fans.
I do not know everything about the finances and donor support at Illinois State, but I'd guess they'll give Muller a couple more seasons before being able to buy him out.
 
Speaking of MVC coaches on the hot seat, I wonder if any other coaches might be let go after this season. As I posted above, I don't think Dan Muller will get fired, even though he may deserve it and many fans want a change. It would be probably more costly than ISU can afford.
As bad as Evansville has been, they just hired Todd Lickliter. And despite the fact Lickliter is 0-9 so far, he is safe.
There are only 2 other possibilities that I see.
Greg Lansing is not well liked by fans at Indiana State. But he has actually had a pretty good year this year. Indiana State is 15-11 overall, and 8-7 in the MVC and tied with Drake for 5th place. They have the 4th best NET at 107. His contract is now at a more reasonable buyout level, but the prospect of his first winning season in the last 7 years could make it harder for their new AD to pull the trigger. Here are Lansing's past records-
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/indiana-state/

Matt Lottich is in his 4th season at Valparaiso after taking over for a legend in Bryce Drew. Lottich had a 24-win season in his first year with mostly Drew's players, including Horizon League Player of the Year Alec Peters. But in his 3 seasons in the MVC, Valpo has really struggled to stay competitive. They finished 15-17, 6-12 and 10th place in 2017-18 and 15-18, 7-11 and 9th place in 2018-19. So far this season they are 14-14 and 7-8. He is well liked and his salary is only $225,000. I think it is unlikely, but If they lose another couple games and flame out in the Thursday play-in round, maybe he could be in jeopardy.

So I don't think it is likely we'll see anyone fired. Could the MVC lose a coach to a better job somewhere? Ben Jacobson might get offers, but he seems pretty dedicated to UNI. Same with Porter Moser at Loyola. I actually am a slight bit concerned that Brian Wardle might get interest, especially if Bradley makes it back to the NCAA Tournament. As much as I want to see BU in the MVCT again, I hope it doesn't lead to that.
 
Instead of asking if ISU Red can afford to buy out Muller, they should be asking if they can afford NOT to. Another poor season or 2 will kill attendance, donations and enthusiasm. They need to work those phone lines to see if there’s any way they can scrounge up the funds necessary. Because if you’re talking long term damage $2M could look like chump change.
 
Geez. Absolutely NO bad feelings for what is going on in Normal. In fact, I am enjoying every minute of it. Don’t forget, a majority of that fan base absolutely delighted in the fact of how bad Bradley was during the Ford era, and we were the butt of many jokes and insults. I really don’t care about the competitiveness of the rivalry at this point. I’m more than happy to pick up a couple of cheap, easy wins in the conference every year :-P
 
Dub said:
ISU should 100% keep Dan Muller. Dan is the man!
Click to expand...

ROFL! YES!

DAN FOR LIFE! I hope I die with him still being the coach of the ISU Redturds.
Disclamier: I attended ISU (I wasn't smart enough to go to BU) and am not proud of that fact. My dad was a BU grad and that's who I grew up rooting for, so don't hold it against me.
 
Da Coach said:
So I don't think it is likely we'll see anyone fired. Could the MVC lose a coach to a better job somewhere? Ben Jacobson might get offers, but he seems pretty dedicated to UNI. Same with Porter Moser at Loyola. I actually am a slight bit concerned that Brian Wardle might get interest, especially if Bradley makes it back to the NCAA Tournament. As much as I want to see BU in the MVCT again, I hope it doesn't lead to that.
Click to expand...

I agree I don't see those coaches leaving soon, both of them would have bailed already after their NCAA runs. I could see Wardle leaving for a P6 school assuming we make it back to the NCAA tournament, especially if we make a run. He seems like the type of guy who wants to go as high as he can, I don't see Bradley being his "dream job". He is still relatively young and in my opinion his coaching has improved a lot since he first came here (but there is still room for improvement). He has also shown he can completely rebuild a program with his own players and become successful. I sure hope he stays for at least a couple more years though, I'm excited for the talent we have coming in and for hopefully a stronger MVC.
 
There is one job I am pretty sure he'd leave for, the Marquette job. This is head coach Steve Wojciechowski's 6th season at Marquette, and he has only made the NCAA Tournament twice and never won a game in the tournament.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/marquette/

Their fans are not happy, but his overall record has been good, and this season Marquette has been in the top 25 all year. But the Big East is so tough they are just 7-7 in the league. My guess is Marquette will be staying with Wojciechowski.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/standings/_/group/4
 
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