Now that they're awake, Hoosier fans want more

First appeared on September 24, 2014
in The Lebanon Reporter

The state of football in Bloomington and West Lafayette is exceptionally unclear. And by “exceptionally unclear” here we mean something on the level of the leader of a world power admitting to his constituency that he doesn’t have a plan for one of the largest threats currently facing the world.

And while ISIS has been busy conquering land in the Middle East few cared about or lived on anyway, Darrell Hazell and Kevin Wilson seemed to be in a footrace for the unemployment line. All this changed Saturday when Wilson’s Hoosiers upset nationally ranked Missouri on the road. One win a job doesn’t save, but it does buy him a heck of a lot more rope and propels Hazel into a clear lead. And while it’s a race Darrell Hazel doesn’t want to win, at this point he seems willing and able to take a win wherever he can find it.

The Hoosiers should be 3-0. Instead a disappointing loss at Bowling Green sends them into Big Ten play with a 2-1 record. And while they won’t play Wisconsin this year (this is the point in the column where Badger fans will pause to lament waiting another year for their chance to set an NCAA single game rushing record), the Big Ten schedule won’t be easy either.

Still Indiana will play two programs, Ohio State and Michigan, which appear to be in full-fledged free-fall mode. Throw in North Texas and Hazell’s Boilermakers and what you have is a group that seems to offer three winnable games for the Hoosiers. Especially if their defense is going to consistently perform at the level they reached Saturday.

And while Kevin Wilson seems to have several arrows aligned, there still remains little to no buzz surrounding his program. This likely speaks more to the coach than his football team. In the 21st century a head coach, especially one daring enough to wade into college athletics, needs to be have an enormous business card.

They’re expected to have more than just a great mind for the game. They need to be charismatic masters of time management. They need to be innovative and creative, well schooled in their discipline as well as polished speakers and, in what few hours are left in a day, attempt to be a father figure to dozens of young men. They are one part expert in their sport, three parts used car salesman.

By setting 22 school records in three short years, Kevin Wilson has proven himself an offensive genius, but he falls well short of the mark in salesmanship (see asking the band to stop playing during offensive possessions). He rode the wave any coaching change creates, but has done little to endear himself to Hoosier fans since. Of course, winning changes everything; especially when nationally ranked teams are involved.

Still, this is Wilson’s first major win in three years which is why Hoosier fans still can’t be certain what they have. The elephant in the room has long been defining success for football in Bloomington. Wilson’s teams have been ultra-competitive with the best in the conference (the lone, glaring exception being Wisconsin), but they’ve also looked disconnected and disinterested against teams they should beat by 30.

In the end, all Saturday likely did was stir drowsy Indiana fans from their slumber. And now that they’re awake, they’re left to decide if posting 500 yards and 6 touchdowns in a three point loss is enough to keep them coming back. Or do they long for more? And if it’s more they want, is Kevin Wilson the man for the job?

© 2014 Eric Walker Williams