SIU fires coach

meganeck · Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:17 pm

Today Tommy Bell dismissed the football coach at Southern Illinois - be interesting to see who he gets.

Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:30 pm

Yea, that's kinda a surprise. Most people that I'd seen comment on it said that they wouldn't likely get rid of him until his contract was up (to avoid a buyout). Apparently they found the money.

Lennon was 51-42 overall at SIU, but 31-37 after his first two years. Most people credited the success of his first two years (MVFC champion/co-champion w/ 2 playoff appearances) with carryover from having Coach Kill's players. The following 6 years, he had 2 winning seasons and no playoff appearances.

sealhall74 · Mon Nov 30, 2015 5:32 pm

ST_Lawson wrote:Yea, that's kinda a surprise. Most people that I'd seen comment on it said that they wouldn't likely get rid of him until his contract was up (to avoid a buyout). Apparently they found the money.

Lennon was 51-42 overall at SIU, but 31-37 after his first two years. Most people credited the success of his first two years (MVFC champion/co-champion w/ 2 playoff appearances) with carryover from having Coach Kill's players. The following 6 years, he had 2 winning seasons and no playoff appearances.

If you cant come up with 55K to rejuvenate a major program, you are in a world of hurt.

Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:01 pm

sealhall74 wrote:If you cant come up with 55K to rejuvenate a major program, you are in a world of hurt.

If Western spent $55k to get rid of a coach, there would be protests and pitchforks.

Neckfansince71 · Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:20 pm

Tommy knew that the SIU AD's job could be prickly in regards to both football and basketball. Tough decisions that need to be addressed.

jc

Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:33 pm

Neckfansince71 wrote:Tommy knew that the SIU AD's job could be prickly in regards to both football and basketball. Tough decisions that need to be addressed. jc

Absolutely, he's a smart guy. He knew what he was getting into...has a long positive history with the school, and likely wanted to be a part of bringing them back to greatness. It helps that he didn't hire those guys either. Now is when he earns his big money...picking the right coach for the job.

And I'm not saying you're wrong (about being able to come up with money to buy out a contract), but given the current climate around here, if Western had to do that for some reason, there'd be a huge uproar about it.