Indiana University Athletics
Lynch Assumes Role as Leader of Hoosier Program
6/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
June 15, 2007
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Indiana University Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan announced that Bill Lynch, who has been the Hoosiers assistant head coach and offensive coordinator since 2005, will assume the title of head coach for the 2007 season as Terry Hoeppner continues his leave of absence. Greenspan and Lynch met with the assembled media Friday afternoon and their comments are posted below:
Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan's opening remarks:
"I have a few prepared comments, then obviously I will introduce Bill and we will take some questions. Obviously today is a difficult day for Terry, his family, our team, the assistant coaches, the fans and friends. As you know Terry initially had surgery in late December of 2005, and returned very quickly in time to attend our football team banquet in mid-January. Hep had a second surgery on the 13th of September 2006 and again recovered quickly on the 16th of September to watch our game. On the 20th, he participated in a presentation to our Board of Trustees and our plan to build a new end zone facility for football and other sports. By September 24, Terry resumed his full-time duties as our head coach. We had hoped that this most recent medical leave of absence would follow a similar pattern, and he would return invigorated, rested and healthy. Hep has shown great determination, passion for his position and pride in Indiana University. Unfortunately, Terry has been out for a longer period than we had hoped, and we need to move forward and make appropriate leadership decisions with the start of our fall camp only weeks away. Our collective care and concern, as a university for Terry and his family, has never been stronger. We have asked Bill Lynch to coach us throughout the 2007 season as Hep continues on a medical leave of absence. We shared this information with the team members early this morning, those that are on campus. Our team continues to make me proud in their response and their commitment. Bill is a wise, experienced and capable coach and is willingly assumed this important and challenging leadership position. Thank you Bill. At the conclusion of the season, we will appraise the situation and circumstances to make decisions in the best interest of the team, coaches and the university. Before I get down I would like to do something I probably could've done a while ago and haven't, but I would like to thank those of you in the press for your care, concern and sensitivity in the way that you have handled this over the course of the last couple years. I think all of you know it has been a challenging situation. As challenging as it has been for us as the university, and as coaches and administrators, it pails in comparison to the strength and conviction and the challenges Terry and his family have faced, and I thank you for that."
Head Coach Bill Lynch's opening remarks:
"I want to follow up on what Rick [Greenspan] said about how difficult a day this is for all of us, not only for Indiana University and obviously the Hoeppner family and Terry, but all concerned. Terry's been a great friend of mine for 30 years, so to stand up here and be in this position with a guy that's such a great friend and a guy that I've shared a lot with through the years. Looking at Kelvin [Sampson] and Dan [Dakich] and Mark [Deal], the guys that have coached, so many of us spend so much time with guys that we grow up with in this business. Quite often it's summer camps, clinics, doing things for other people together, that we share time as well as compete against each other. Terry's a guy that, again, going back a long time, I've coached against for many years and shared time with during the offseason and watched our families grow up, and it finally came to the point when he came and asked me to come join him. And I came to join him because I believed in the guy. He's that kind of a man, and obviously that kind of a football coach. I think the thing that Terry did for this program and this university is he gave the kids in the program and the fans throughout the state the belief that Indiana football can win and our kids have bought into that and believes in that, and our football staff believes in that. I think that's the one mission we have is to carry on the vision that Terry brought, not only in Indiana football, but in Indiana University and how he sees the kids in our program developing and graduating. As he always says, `You're going to be a champion on the field, in the classroom and in life.' I think that's what Terry's always been about and I think that's the vision and what we're going to take forward. We've been fortunate that the football staff has been intact since we came together and they've done a phenomenal job over the last year and a half when Terry's had some really tough times, and I can't say enough about them and what they've done and how everybody's stuck together. I think that's a tribute to Terry and his leadership and the belief system he's brought to so many people. Our mission is to carry it on. Our kids have been a very resilient group through this as well. Many of you know them personally, most of you have covered them and maybe interviewed them, but they really are a great group and they really have grown together through all this. We believe in them, they are starting to believe in one another, and I think that's the key to having a really good football program. We've certainly sensed that through our spring practices and through watching them and listening to them and talking to them through the summer. Obviously this is a tough day for them because of the feelings they have for Coach. They weren't naïve to the situation, but I think the reality of it all hit them a bit today. They're a resilient group and we certainly expect them to continue together. We can't work with them this time of year, so they have to work with one another and with our strength coaches, and we're confident they are going to do that to get themselves ready when we as a staff can get with them August 4. I can pledge this to all of you and to the fans of Indiana University, we are going to do everything we can to carry out the vision that Terry had for this football program. We're a much better football team today than we were a couple years ago. I think we have gotten better and now we have to carry that out onto the field. On behalf of the entire staff, I thank you for coming and look forward to working with you as we go forward here."
Question and Answer: Bill Lynch
On the last time Coach Hoeppner spoke to the team:
"To the group, as a whole, the last time was before we started spring practice. His communication with them through spring was basically through email."
On whether he'll share practice film with Hoeppner:
"We'll see when we get to that point. The only current time we shared tapes with him was when spring practice ended, so obviously we haven't done that since and we'll see where we are when we get to August."
On the potential of adding people to the staff:
"We'll take care of it. We obviously are down a guy and so over the course of the next few days, we'll get that all straightened out. One thing that's really important as a program is that we're going to stay the course. I told that to the team this morning. We have great continuity in our staff, we have guys that work well together. I think any time you're building a program, which we've been doing for the last couple years - when I say building a program the way Coach Hep wanted the program built - you're going to go through some growing pains. We've gone through them. We've had some good days and we've had some that you've watched that weren't so good. I think we really have gotten better as a result. I think as a staff and as players, when we got done with spring practice, they couldn't wait to get to August. As I've said before, I think it's a group that's really starting to believe in one another. I think we've got better football players - that goes a long way to being a better football team. So we're not going to make drastic changes. We have to reassign some of the duties I had prior to today, but we'll do that and we'll get that clarified next week."
On whether he'll remain offensive coordinator:
"We'll make a few minor adjustments. We really haven't had a chance as a staff to sit down. We've had over 1,500 high school kids on this campus since Saturday with our camps and the 7-on-7 tournament. So we've been working hard, but we haven't been able to sit down as a staff to talk about some of those things. Once we get through this weekend, we'll be able to get that clarified."
On how the staff is handling recruiting:
"Well, we're going full steam ahead. We've had a lot of kids on campus and we have a lot more lined up. They've come to campus and visited somewhat knowing the situation, this is an ongoing thing. But it's been very easy to sell Indiana University and to sell the football program. I think the commitment that the administration has shown to the football program, especially starting with the facilities. They are coming on campus right now and seeing Mellencamp [Pavilion] completed with the new surface that is really big to kids. They are going to come back this summer and there's going to be a construction fence out there before we know it so they see it's going to be a real thing. I think high school coaches understand that there's a real commitment to Indiana football, and that's not going to stop, so I think we're selling that. We're moving forward and I think we're gaining ground on some people."
On the reaction of the players:
"They've been through a lot. The older kids, ever since December 2005, they've been through a lot. And we've got some mature kids there as well. Obviously the fact that he hasn't been around and hasn't been able to be with them. They know how he is and you know - he's a 100 percent football guy. If he could be here, he'd have been here and he'd be communicating with them. The fact that he hasn't been able to do that, they've certainly understood where we were, but I think any time you hear it there's a reality."
On what Jane Hoeppner said to the team this morning:
"It was great. She was strong. I think she gave a really appropriate message about life and the challenges that go with every day. Don't take anything for granted and give it your all every day. She's a lot like Terry. Somewhere in there, there was a little Terry in her. I thought it was very appropriate, it was from the heart and she did a great job."
On contacting recruits that have committed:
"As soon as the team meeting was over and the release went out, we called all our signed recruits. We do have a handful on campus already, but we wanted to make sure the kids who were signed and coming this summer knew. But we've been in communication with them throughout the summer. This is something they knew - they didn't know exactly what was going to work out, but they knew the situation and that he hadn't been here. With the high school kids, we'll do that according to the rules of recruiting those kids that are just finishing their junior year of high school."
On whether opposing coaches have used Hoeppner's illness against IU in recruiting:
"I'll tell you what. We've been very conscious of that since Terry first got sick. As a staff, we had nine guys out there, I think it's a great credit to the coaching profession because not one time have we ever heard a recruit say that someone has used his health against us. It's a competitive business, but I think it shows a lot of respect and compassion for the situation that Terry's been in."
On how to get players to focus on football:
"I think a lot of it is the message that is ongoing. That message started with Terry after he got sick, it was carried forward after the second time he had to leave and came back. It's an ongoing thing. But as Terry would want, we're going to move forward. The last email he sent ended with `Defend the Rock and Play 13.' That's our challenge and that's what we're going to do. I felt good when they left today. It was a tough day for them, but I think a bunch of them headed right for the weight room. That's our challenge and that's what we're going to do."
On his excitement about coaching:
"In this profession, you love what you do. And you love the kids in the program and you develop such a relationship with them and you work so hard together. You share good times and bad times together - we're all together. It's the exact way Hep would want us to be. Shoot, I wish it was August 4 and we were practicing this afternoon instead of having to wait for that time to come. So yeah, I'm excited, but it's hard to sit up here and we're going through the reality check of it as well. But we're excited about the season and I know our kids are. They've worked really hard and they've gone through some tough times, but they see better times ahead."
Question and Answer: Rick Greenspan
On Coach Hoeppner's condition:
"I've been in regular communication with Terry or the Hoeppner family for the duration of his medical leave and as we got closer to the season we were monitoring and trying to get a good assessment of Terry's capabilities health-wise to come back. Terry said a while ago, `I want to do what's right for Indiana University,' and I think those that know him know that he doesn't say that without significant thought and concern. Terry has also had a long-held belief, and anybody that's been around him in the locker room or the team room has seen a poem that he recites every once in a while that's called `Don't Quit,' I believe. What struck all of us as we continued having conversations was that we needed clarity. We're approaching August 4 and the beginning of the fall came, and that Terry's continuation on medical leave gives Bill the chance to run this program during Terry's absence, but gives Terry all the inspiration, hopefully, to not quit."
On whether he approached Coach Hoeppner about the decision or vice versa:
"I don't think I'd say it's either of those, I think just through constant communication and conversation we've had a lot of discussions - how's Terry, how's the team, etc. What I can share with you about his health is that as of this morning when we talked to the team, Bill had a chance to talk to the team and I shared a couple thoughts with the team, and Jane Hoeppner came in and spoke with the team also. Terry has been back in the hospital for several days and should be released today. Additional details, quite honestly, beyond what was shared in the release, the specificity of the diagnosis or the prognosis, I'd appreciate coming from her."
On whether the indication of whether the mention of chemotherapy and radiation is indicative of cancer:
"I won't say that, but I think it's apparent by the definition."
On the dilemma of balancing wanting to do what's right for Coach Hoeppner and what's right for IU football:
"It's challenging, I'd be less than forthright if I said it wasn't. But every time I perhaps feel sorry for myself in terms of the challenges administratively, I reflect on what Terry has endured, and not one time can I ever remember Terry expressing any degree of sympathy for himself. His optimism and his inspiration motivates me to do what I need to do as an administrator and recognize that he's dealing with life lessons and we're dealing with administrative issues. When you talk about what's right for an organization and what's right for an individual, I have a belief that organizations are made up of people and, to the best of your ability, if you do what's right for the people you have a good organization."
On when this decision was made:
"As I said, we've had ongoing conversations. Many of those are just conversations as you would have amongst friends, amongst colleagues. I think all of us within the department have tried to find a balance of communication and not being invasive at the same time. Certainly over the last three or four weeks the conversations accelerated, to some degree as a result of Terry's health not enabling him to get back and the impending season, so it was a combination of both."
On whether Coach Hoeppner has ever offered to step down:
"I don't know that we've ever had that conversation and I've never felt that was necessary with Terry."
On contract changes for Lynch:
"We will adjust Bill's compensation and bonus provisions accordingly. We've had some conversations over the last several days. But I think it's a tribute to Bill that when this became apparent in the last day or so, most of our time was spent talking about what do we have to do to communicate to the kids, what do we have to do to keep moving forward, what do we have to do in terms of all the necessary steps, but I'm very appreciative of Bill stepping in. I've seen over the course of a year and a half, the gratitude has developed moreso in my mind for Bill. You give some titles in this business, and I think Coach Sampson or Coach Jack or any of our coaches could say this, that sometimes in our business titles get thrown around. But in this case, Assistant Head Coach means something. The fact that Bill's had a significant number of years, not only in the state of Indiana, but working with Terry and as a head coach. It's not his first rodeo. I'm very appreciative of Bill, not only being able to work with our young guys, but being able to keep the staff intact, keep them focused, keep them generating the right message of what Indiana University represents. So we'll do that and certainly that will be public in another few days or so."
On any parallel in college sports:
"I got a call from a really good friend of mine today that works in the business, and we've exchanged this line several times. He said, `Here we go again, they didn't teach us this in grad school, did they?' But that's really so much of what administration is, is trying to interpret the situation and to some degree trying to anticipate it. I don't know what article I was reading a few days ago and I don't know much about the situation, but somehow and article about Boise State popped up. I believe the coach's name was Pokey Allen, and he was a very well-liked and well-respected football coach at Boise, maybe 15 years ago. And I believe Pokey battled with and passed away from cancer, and it's interesting, because the coaches that have followed took that lead, and everybody knows now over the last decade what Boise State's been from Dirk Koetter and Dan Hawkins and Chris Petersen and some of the other guys that followed. That's the one that jumps out at me."
