Athletic director Fred Glass is the best thing that has happened to Indiana University in a long while. He is a successful business man that is the right man for this job.
First and foremost, he is an Indiana guy that gets it.
A former partner at Baker & Daniels, Fred Glass has also been very active in the Indianapolis sporting community. Glass has served as Chief of Staff to then Governor Evan Bayh, and Chairman of then Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s transition team. He also was the volunteer president of the city’s Capital Improvement Board and the president of the City of Indianapolis’ 2011 Super Bowl Bid Committee.
Indiana has struggled with leadership and accountability in the past. But no longer. With Glass in charge, Indiana athletics are one of a handful of schools in the country not in a deficit.
Under his leadership, football attendance increased by 32%, the third largest one year percentage increase in average attendance in the country and the highest IU attendance since 1992.
IU has a quality president and athletic director leading the way. They boast a tremendous education, fantastic campus and top of the line facilities. Last season, Indiana opened the north end zone expansion to Memorial Stadium, featuring the country’s largest weight room. Add to that a top of the line academic center and support staff and its evident Indiana has a lot to offer.
And one cannot underestimate the importance of a Big Ten job which includes big money, automatic bowl bids, and county-wide exposure.
Sunday, Glass ultimately decided it was time for Indiana football to go in a new direction.
“My experience is that sometimes the right thing to do is also the hardest thing to do, and for me this is one of those times. I met with Bill this morning in his office, and during that conversation, I let him know that we were going to be going in a new direction with our football program.”
It makes sense. In the end, it ultimately comes down to wins and losses. The past three seasons, Indiana football has went 1-7 in Big Ten play, finishing last in the conference. 3-21 isn’t getting it done. There is no reason that this Indiana program cannot be successful.
“The bottom line is that three Big Ten wins in three years is not the basis for an extension and while it’s not an easy decision, I’m confident it is the right one,” Glass said.
Lynch’s salary is comparably low in the BCS conference. His yearly salary is last in the Big Ten at just over $660,000. Glass agreed that it’s time IU invested in a coach for this program pointing out that, “we are prepared to make available the financial resources to get the person or persons that we want.”
He also understands the importance of responsibility and doing what is right. His job is to be in charge of the athletic department and everyone on staff. Therefore it will no longer be unknown who does the hiring.
While he admitted there would be no formal search committee, Glass said, “while I look forward to soliciting and receiving input from a variety of diverse sources, I think it is important for people to know that selecting this coach will ultimately be my decision, particularly given some of the past confusion in that regard. The buck stops with me.”
As for when we may hear of a decision Glass believes, “it is more important that we do it right instead of doing it fast.”
Coach Lynch finishes his four year stint at IU with a 19-30 overall record.
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Chuck Neinas at Neinas Sports Service will help provide valuable insight to Glass and his transition team. Neinas is a very interesting man—see this interesting ESPN story.
More Fred Glass: “I have been fortunate to establish a relationship with those two (Bill Polian and Tony Dungy). That doesn’t mean that they will be the only two that I search out. It is probably comforting to you all to have some tried and true football people engaged in the process. While I have learned a lot since I have been involved, it is nice to have people like Chuck Nienas involved and Bill Polian and Tony Dungy.
“If I were to sit back and think about one guy that I would want to be advised by in the whole country, in terms of quality coaches in the national football level and college football level, it would be Bill Polian. I am fortunate in that I have a good relationship with him. He has been helpful and I’m sure he will continue to be helpful, and Tony Dungy as well.”