Will IU football ever return to glory? An interview with
head coach Gerry DiNardo
By Biff Stevens, THG Sports Editor
After a decade of respectability, including six bowl games under the leadership
of former coach Bill Mallory, Indiana University’s football program became one
of the laughing stocks of college football during Cam Cameron’s tenure. Now
Gerry DiNardo, a proven winner as a coach in three major college football
programs, just finished his second year in the process of rebuilding IU football
into one of the major players in the Big Ten Conference. Will he succeed? Here
is a transcript of a recent interview with Coach DiNardo by THG sports editor
Biff Stevens:
Biff Stevens: Coach, much has been made about the epidemic of binge drinking
occurring on college campuses around the country. Do you feel personally
responsible for the problem at IU for trotting out horrific teams that get the
bejesus beat out of them every week? Do you feel your team’s performance every
Saturday increases binge drinking, as students must use alcohol to cope with
watching your team?
Gerry DiNardo: Give me a break. College students will find any excuse they can
to drink. They party if we win and party if we lose. Our team has no effect on
the use of alcohol on campus, except among the coaches. After some of our games
I need to tie one on just to get through the weekend.
One of your policies upon taking the head coaching position at IU was to
visit every high school in Indiana to give IU an edge at getting the best
in-state prospects. You have accomplished this goal. On the other hand, it is
common knowledge that The Hoosier State is not a football hotbed. In fact, we
have some of the worst talent in the nation. Could you comment on the wisdom of
the policy when everyone knows there is no talent in the state? Wouldn't it be
better to visit every high school, in say Florida, Texas, or maybe even
Illinois?
After getting around to all the high schools, I realized my job was going to be
more difficult in a basketball state. It is not that there isn’t talent here;
it’s just that most kids who could play football on the Division I level all
think they are basketball players. Kids who are 6’3” and could be big time
football prospects have this misconception that they can all play basketball for
IU or Purdue, when most of them are going to be backups on some D-III squad.
Indiana had a nice field for a while. They had ripped out that terrible
looking artificial turf and replaced it with natural grass. Memorial stadium
looked decent for once. Then it was changed to Field Turf. As well as not being
aesthetically pleasing, it was a huge waste of money. What gives? Wouldn't you
want natural grass to complement your slow team? Wouldn't that money have been
better spent on--let's say--paying for some D-I caliber talent?
Like I said—this is a basketball state. People don’t really care much about our
football team, and when you haven’t had a winning season in ten years, you are
going to get the cheapest crap possible. I should have taken a job in the Dirty
South, where football is a religion.
Indiana has raised it's ticket prices to an astronomical $35-$40 per ticket,
with prices higher or lower depending on the opponent. The rationale from the
athletic department was that this brings IU into the middle of the pack in terms
of ticket prices in the Big Ten. This begs the question: when will we be able to
see a middle of the pack team? Was this a ploy by the A.D. to further diminish
the already pathetic football attendance?
Your guess is as good as mine. You would think that an athletic director would
know the laws of supply and demand. If no one is going to your games (low
demand), then higher prices will further drop attendance. I think we should just
give all the tickets away for free and cash in on concessions. At least this
would fill some seats and I don’t think we would bring in any less revenue. As
far as the team is concerned, we are improving every year.
Which is a better program: IU or Ball State?
Both are about even talent-wise right now, except at least we play in a BCS
conference. If Ball State goes undefeated they will still have to play in the
Poulan Weedwacker Bowl or some other cheesy bowl. We can go 6-5 and get a nice
bid.
Better program: IU or Indiana State?
Definitely IU. We beat Indiana State 33-3 this year. Even if they beat us ten
years in a row, we would still be the better program because we are not located
in Terre Haute. I went through that town when visiting all the schools in the
state, and it is one of the nastiest I have ever seen, and that includes the
worst outposts in the swamps of Louisiana I visited when recruiting for LSU.
Better program IU or Bloomington South?
It is hard to say whose better, since we can’t play one another. I will say they
are a great team, and we are lucky to have their former head coach (Mo Moriarity)
on our staff. We needed somebody besides me that knows how to win championships.
Obviously, IU's athletic department is not run by rocket scientists. This was
evidenced in the hiring of Cam Cameron. What is the rational of hiring a former
XFL coach?
I take offense to that question—don’t forget, I was an All-American offensive
lineman for Notre Dame and still have enough left to kick your little scrawny
ass. What were you? From the looks of you I would say a back up on the kickoff
return team in high school if you were lucky. It isn’t my fault that league
folded. When I take a coaching job, I just do the best I can with what I got. We
just had terrible talent to work with, kind of like when I first took this job.
Do you know of any major college campus that has worse stadiums than
Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium? If so, please tell us which campus
so our readers will know to never take in a game there.
Duh! I worked for Vanderbilt for four years. Our facilities are like the Taj
Mahal compared to there. They will spend half a billion on a medical research
facility but have one of the crappiest stadiums in big-time college sports. No
wonder people were ready to give me coach-of-the-year honors for going 5-6 with
them.
It the ten-year anniversary of the last IU team to go to a bowl game. We
don't need to comment further. No, seriously, the number of bowls has
proliferated since 1993. Coach, why can't we make a bowl game? Even the
Continental Tire Bowl or Forth Worth Bowl would be acceptable. For God sakes, a
Humanitarian Bowl appearance would be cause for the state to celebrate. What's
it going to take to get this mediocre point?
Once again, look at my record at Vandy. I won more games in four years than
other coaches had won in the previous seven. Winning five in one year at
Vanderbilt is like winning the BCS championship game to most others. Mark my
words--if they give me three more years, we will be playing on the blue turf in
Boise at the Humanitarian Bowl. This has been our team’s goal since the first
day I got here.
Ever think of joining the Mid-American Conference?
Our athletic department thought about switching football to the M.A.C., but
changed their minds when they saw how good some of those teams are. Marshall,
Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Toledo are all awesome year in and year
out. We are looking into the possibility of joining the Gateway Conference in
2006.
Coach, final question: What will you do with your free time after your
inevitable firing in the very near future?
I don’t plan on getting fired, but if I do, I would probably take over some
other garbage program. What is there to lose? Maybe Temple will have an opening
by then.
