Indiana University Athletics
Sept. 12 Press Conference Transcript
9/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 12, 2006
Indiana Athletics Director Rick Greenspan
"First and foremost, on behalf of the IU family, our student-athletes, our coaches and administrators, all of our support will go to Terry and his family. They're a wonderful family. I've been privileged to get to know them over the last two years, and I'm sure that all the support in the world will come his way, not only from his family but from all of us. Second, I appreciate Bill Lynch. Bill has earned his keep in many, many ways. He's somebody that joins us with previous head coaching experience, somebody that our assistant coaches and our student-athletes have great confidence in, so Bill, thank you, and I appreciate your stepping in on this short-term basis. And lastly, to Terry specifically, our prayers and thoughts are with you for a full and speedy recovery. We'll be there for you in any way that you need."
Head Coach Terry Hoeppner
"I can't thank Rick enough for his continuing friendship. When he hired he said that he was looking for a partner. Unfortunately, I've been testing this partnership here, but he's never wavered. He's a rock, and I value his friendship, his guidance, his support. I spoke with (IU president) Dr. (Adam W.) Herbert today and echo those comments for him, so I've got support from the very top of the university, from the top of the athletic department.
I had the surgery Dec. 27. I'd never really been through it before, so I really didn't know what to expect. From everything I was told, things were going well. I've had occasional check-ups, meetings with doctors, scans. I'm an expert on MR scans. I can do them with my eyes closed. Well, that's how I do them, with my eyes closed. I took one last Friday morning, and there's been some change in the area, and my team of doctors got together over the weekend - they didn't want to bother me, they knew I had more important things like a football game at Ball State to take care of - but Monday morning I got a call saying, "Look, we need to talk." I was presented with some options, and I'm deferring to their expertise. I said, "How about can we wait until February or March?" They concurred that that was probably not the smartest thing to do. I feel good. I am, in medical terms, asymptomatic. I feel great. But I think Dr. Poor, I met with him this morning, Jane and I met with Dr. Marshall Poor, who did the surgery the first time. And he was very reassuring that he can go in there and clean out the area, for want of a better technical term. It's called a resection, when they go in and cut something out. So he'll go in and clean out this area, and his professional optimism was reassuring to both Jane and I. I said, "Well, give me a number. I've got to tell Rick (Greenspan) something, give me a number." I went to the Super Bowl 40 days, 39 days after the surgery, so he said, "Hopefully it's realistic to think that in two to four weeks you can be back on the job." So that was good news to me, and all I needed to hear to say "Well, okay, let's do it then. ASAP, can we do it right now?" He said, "How about 10:30 tomorrow morning?" I said, "Book it." And so we're going to do it. We're going to do it at 10:30 tomorrow morning.
I told Rick the possibility yesterday (Monday), and then I grabbed Bill (Lynch) this morning and we met with Rick. My number one concern was for the team, for recruiting, for the program, for everything we've been working so hard to do. But it made it an easy decision to go ahead and get it done ASAP and get back on the job as soon as possible, because of the guy sitting to my left (Lynch). We go way back, but I appreciate him more every day. I said earlier that a Fortune 500 principle is that it's a testament to your business if it can operate with you or without you, and I tested that principle in January, and we came through with flying colors, thanks not only to Bill but to the entire staff. And I told the staff when I met with them today, I said, "This is going to work. We'll get through this because of you and the leadership that Bill gives us all on a daily basis."
The reason I didn't say anything about this earlier, at the earlier press conferences, I wanted the team to know. I didn't want them to hear about it from someone else, or read about it or hear about it on the radio or t.v. I apologize for that, but I hope you realize that we're a team, and when I met with them, they were, to a man, very supportive and some of them are here and you can get their reflections on it."
On whether he will coach from his bedside
I think all that is going to be determined probably in the next 24-48 hours. I will say this, that Dr. Poor is a big LSU football fan, and he was more concerned with where I voted LSU in the poll than talking about the details. But I have every confidence in him. He's a master. He's an artist, and he did a great job the first time and hopefully he can do an even better job this time and finish it off. I don't know. I told the team I'm going to hustle back. I'm going to get back as soon as I can.
On whether the change in the area is scar tissue or something else
Exactly. That's our prayer, that that's what it is. These tests as I've come to find out, give a pretty good indication and they use their professional judgment and experience to make a call on it, and it's enough of a possibility either way that it's not one that we just want to sit around and see how it is three months, six months from now. Like I said, I defer to their expertise and we're going to go ahead and do it, with every confidence. My faith and the hands of the surgeons are going to bring me through this.
On whether he feels more prepared for it this time around
It happened so quickly and in such a short time span and I really had no time. I've had since Monday morning when I got a call. I did the scan on Friday morning, they got the results late on Friday, but didn't want to bother me over the weekend. They thought I had more important things to do, so in a way, that's reassuring. But then it's also, how long can I wait? Can I wait until after the bowl game? I probably shouldn't, because what if it's not scar tissue, necrosis? I said, "Okay, if I can't wait then I want to do it as soon as possible so I can get back." That's my goal. He says two to four (weeks), so my goal is the front end of that. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. Hey, we're all day-to-day, you know? Two weeks, Big Ten season, that's my goal.
On who or what will keep him off the field
Jane raises her hand. She's had some good training. The guys will tell you, I tell them all the time, "Don't be soft, but don't be stupid." I've got to follow my advice there. I'm not going to lie around and go on vacation while the team's practicing and playing, but I'm not going to be stupid either. I'm going to be smart with it she'll assist me with it. When you have a good resident nurse like that, I'll be in good hands. But I feel great, and I feel that that's an advantage. In fact, I really feel better now than I've felt in quite a while. Anybody see run onto the field for the first home game last Saturday? Hey, they were trying, and they couldn't catch me. I might be getting back under 4.7 shortly. So, I feel great, and if positive attitude has anything to do with it, which I know it does, then you can count me on a scale of 1-10, I'm an 11 right now. I'm actually going in as an outpatient. I don't have to go in tonight. I'm going in in the morning.
Interim Head Coach Bill Lynch
"On behalf of the entire staff that are here and the football team, our thoughts and prayers are with Coach and his family. Lance Bennett, one of our captains, as we left the practice field led the team in a tremendous prayer. So I think everybody feels the same way. Coach mentioned that he talked to the team about four hours ago, and he was standing right in front of where he is now. And the thing he challenged the team was 1), he didn't want this to be an excuse, and 2), he didn't want it to be a distraction. As you all know Coach well enough, he can be pretty persuasive the way he says it. That's our challenge. From a football standpoint, we're going to follow his lead, and not only are we going to pray for him, but we're not going to let it be a distraction for what he has worked so hard to build here in this football program. I appreciate all he's done, and as a staff, we're going to do everything we can to keep it going."
