MULLER GONE

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DoubleDeuce

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I will be at the game Tuesday. I understand the timing of and reason for the decision...no complaints. I will be standing and applauding Coach during introductions. Looking forward to the next era but respect Dan Muller for his love and devotion to this university.
 
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Birdfriend72

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SgtHulka said:
I hope we've all learned a valuable lesson here. When coaching positions open up, don't wish for an alum to come lead us to our glory. Jim Less was all I had to see to be convinced of that.
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Why? He is no different than any other hire. Dan knew going into the job he was either going to move onto bigger and better things or there was a possibility it wouldn’t work out. It’s a business- and I think it was worth the risk. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the job done. Good luck to him- and time to move on. There is nothing that says you have to coddle him because he played here.
 
Total Red

Total Red

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Coach Dan will leave here with a winning record and the 2107 MVC Coach of the Year award. The extension he was given at the end of that season was way too long but if he had left after 2017, I am sure there would have been plenty of posters ready to rake AD Lyons over the coals for being too cheap and letting a proven winner get away (104-65 career, 28-7 season with 17-1 MVC). No one will admit to that now, but I am sure it would have happened.

After that things fell off quickly. I thought Coach Dan recruited well but he had trouble keeping players. Some players got injured and more of them left us for other teams. One player that he convinced to stick around was later pronounced "uncoachable." Nothing seems to be clicking, so yes, we're ready for a change.

I do thank Coach Dan for having the courage to take the job. As Bird Friend reminded us, the Collins Family has avoided taking the HC position for fear of tarnishing their image. Dan Muller never backed down from a challenge as a player and he didn't as a coach. He left us with some wonderful memories in both roles. For me, nothing is tarnished. I was a Dan Fan then, I'm a Dan Fan now and always. Dan Muller deserves a standing ovation each and every time he is introduced at Redbird Arena.
 
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gobirds85

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In Dan's case it's the classic Catch 22. Only something bad will happen when a school brings back a "favorite son" to lead the program. First, if he is successful, he will move on to greener pastures and many will say he was ungrateful. Second, if it doesn't work out, like our current case in point, then he is unceremoniously fired. It just doesn't work.

I loved the decision to hire him. I was not so thrilled when the details of the contract extension came to light. There are no winners in this equation. Both parties need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and move forward.

Let's GO REDBIRDS!
 
FriscoBird90

FriscoBird90

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A class move on Brennan's part to make the announcement the afternoon of the Super Bowl when sports fans were focused on the Rams-Bengals game. The timing of the announcement should take a little bit of the P.R. sting out of it for Dan tonight and tomorrow. While in total agreement with the change, I wish our fellow Redbird alum good fortune as he finishes out the season and looks toward his future.
 
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Redbirdfan06

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isuquinndog said:
I mean the way people talked around here MILLIONS should be donated tomorrow, no?
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Yes. Millions of dollars should be coming from a message board because they wanted Dan Muller fired. It’s a damn message board where people are going to express their issues with the basketball program. I am sure that was figured into the decision to let him go.

Dan was the type of player you model your kid to be as a college athlete. And a hell of person and had outstanding character. But, they fired him when there was a strong base on this message board that felt like their was no way too. So the administration was fed up with him too, not just the message board.
 
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Redbirdmike

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Wish it could have worked out better for Dan. This is the right move for all. He was a great player for us and I’m sure he genuinely wanted ISU basketball to be on top. Keeping players in the program and “in game” management caught up to him. Wish him well on his next stop. Now to the business at hand - restoring a competitive winning program near the top of the MVC on a yearly basis. It’s not going to be easy, but it starts now with a new coach and a new culture. Go Birds.
 
CaliRdBrd

CaliRdBrd

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Total Red said:
Coach Dan will leave here with a winning record and the 2107 MVC Coach of the Year award. The extension he was given at the end of that season was way too long but if he had left after 2017, I am sure there would have been plenty of posters ready to rake AD Lyons over the coals for being too cheap and letting a proven winner get away (104-65 career, 28-7 season with 17-1 MVC). No one will admit to that now, but I am sure it would have happened.

After that things fell off quickly. I thought Coach Dan recruited well but he had trouble keeping players. Some players got injured and more of them left us for other teams. One player that he convinced to stick around was later pronounced "uncoachable." Nothing seems to be clicking, so yes, we're ready for a change.

I do thank Coach Dan for having the courage to take the job. As Bird Friend reminded us, the Collins Family has avoided taking the HC position for fear of tarnishing their image. Dan Muller never backed down from a challenge as a player and he didn't as a coach. He left us with some wonderful memories in both roles. For me, nothing is tarnished. I was a Dan Fan then, I'm a Dan Fan now and always. Dan Muller deserves a standing ovation each and every time he is introduced at Redbird Arena.
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Having the courage to take the job? They paid him $600,000 to win games.
In ten years, this type of reminiscence will have you wanting his statue next time Robinson’s.
He was a tenacious, great player. He was a horrible coach and ran this program into the ground.
I’ll applaud the player, but draw a hard line there. It’s ok to separate the two
 
SgtHulka

SgtHulka

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Birdfriend72 said:
Why? He is no different than any other hire. Dan knew going into the job he was either going to move onto bigger and better things or there was a possibility it wouldn’t work out. It’s a business- and I think it was worth the risk. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the job done. Good luck to him- and time to move on. There is nothing that says you have to coddle him because he played here.
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Who said anything about changing to coddle anyone? I've been coddling you over this subject for 10 years. The reason is emotions. Every opening here leads to landslide of names of former Birds we should consider, no matter how obscure or if they're even actually coaching. Rob Judson was ready to become the next head coach until someone with deep pockets thought with their Emotions and stepped up and offered $ if we hired Dan at 11:59. Emotions got in the way when contract negotiations got underway. Emotions got in the way with some defending him longer than they would with an outsider. Emotions got in the way of those ready to move on sooner in blaming the situation we found ourselves in on who the coach was.

I'm sure we have alum who would make worthy head coaches, but I would prefer they do it elsewhere. What benefit is there to hiring alum? Are the x% more likely to win, lose...because they care more? His hire gave most people a warm fuzzy feeling, but it gave me the willies. And I've been living with them for 10 years. I see the odds of that situation as been high for eventual failure, and low on potential return.

You're just hoping we hire an alum so you can rip on the Kool Kids on the Block for being (insertnamehere) lovers.

Dan, you're a great alum.of the program, I'm sorry it didn't work out. I hope the next phase of your life ends more satisfactory than this one did. And don't think we won't cheer for you the next time you're on campus and are announced to the crowd. We will.
 
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DBird

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SgtHulka said:
From the panty article out now it was because they had to give him 30 days notice
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If they know they needed to give 30 days and had someone in mind better do it now instead of wait till seasons end . Might loose said coach if they have to wait longer because they had to wait 30 days from seasons end instead of 30 days from Feb 13.
 
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dpdoughbird06

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CaliRdBrd said:
Having the courage to take the job? They paid him $600,000 to win games.
In ten years, this type of reminiscence will have you wanting his statue next time Robinson’s.
He was a tenacious, great player. He was a horrible coach and ran this program into the ground.
I’ll applaud the player, but draw a hard line there. It’s ok to separate the two
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Muller is not Geno Ford or Barb Smith. Let’s separate another two: the first seven years (we played Loyola on Sunday in 2018 and fell into 7-seed in 2019 due to a pair of ridiculous last-second shots and the resulting 9-9 tiebreakers) and the last three. The former built up to a season like we hadn’t seen in a long time before returning to mediocrity.

Since 2017 we’ve endured: three med-shirts/retirements (Madison, Bruninga and Chastain) and two surprising one-and-dones (Elijah goes Euro-pro after one year and Keith Fisher returns home to be a father) that were not typical transfers, and then losing Sy.

Muller’s downfall lies in failing to overcome these challenges; either the “next man up” wasn’t good enough, or we kept playing as if our roster was still intact.

It was time for a change, I agree, but let’s not forget that Muller brought us multiple signature wins: @Northwestern, @Dayton, Wichita multiple times when they were dominant. He was always one win - often one shot - away, but just didn’t get it done.
 
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DaveBird10

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This had to happen, I wish nothing for success for Dan and his family and will never celebrate tarnishing the legacy of a great player. Dan did some great things as others have said and I will always cheer him on.

-2015 run as a 4 seed knocking off Wichita State and almost UNI was a great run
-2017 Coach of the year
-Most wins vs top 25 teams in school history (@Creighton, Dayton, Wichita Sate)
-Most wins in school history in a season
- 2017 Regular Season Champs

This is a day that had to happen with the way the season was going, Redbird Hoops needs a reset for a fanbase and a fresh start in a lot of ways. I will cheer Dan on because a lot of our good memories are with him as a Redbird. I remember being a 14yr old kid jumping up and down when he made the shot vs Tennessee in the 98 NCAA Tournament, he's one of my favorite Redbirds. I'm sure it's going to be hard for him to come back after this, but hopefully in the future he can and will come around for as a Redbird great. Until then I will cheer him on the last 3 weeks of the season.

Thanks coach, but now it's time to get Redbird Hoops back where it belongs at the top of the MVC standings.
 
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