5 coaches that Indiana should steer clear of in their head coach search

While Indiana may not be done with their basketball season just yet, they are certainly thinking a lot about the end of the season because, at the end, Mike Woodson will be stepping down as the head coach and retiring. This is something that Indiana fans have been waiting for all season long.

With ahead coaching search most likely already underway, the Hoosiers will want to make sure they get a guy in the building who can not only turn this program around fast but give it a bright future as well.

So we have talked about which coaches would be good potential hires, but what about coaches that probably wouldn’t be great hires? Here are some candidates to potentially stay away from if you are the Hoosiers.

5. Mark Fox

Mark Fox got his first head coaching opportunity at Nevada, where he coached from 2004 to 2009. With the Wolfpack, Fox actually put together quite an impressive resume with five postseason appearances in five years, three being the NCAA Tournament. In five seasons, Fox compiled a 123-43 record and was named conference coach of the year three times.

After leaving Nevada for the Georgia Bulldogs head coaching position, this is where it all started to take a turn for Fox. Now, at a bigger school, playing in a much bigger and more competitive conference, Fox struggled. At Georgia, Fox also had five postseason appearances, only two of them to the NCAA Tournament, but was a first-round exit both times. His SEC record was always inconsistent, and after his ninth season, it was announced he would not return.

Fox was hired as the head coach at Cal in 2019, but the move across the country did not seem to help. Fox did not lead the Golden Bears to a single postseason tournament and finished under .500 each of his four seasons, losing 29 games in his final year, the most losses in a single season by a major conference coach.

This seems to look like Fox just can’t do it at the bigger programs in the tougher conferences, which means he probably wouldn’t be able to get it done at Indiana.

4. Bill Self

Now, some might say this is crazy, but if Kansas were to let Bill Self go, why wouldn’t anyone want to snatch him up as quickly as possible? Well, looking at the last two seasons under Self, the Jayhawks have certainly not looked like the mighty Blue Bloods they once were. Coming off a championship in 2022, the Jayhawks just haven’t looked like a team everyone used to fear.

In the last two seasons, they have dropped in the AP rankings and in the Big 12 rankings and weren’t even considered the best team in their conference. In both of those seasons, they started out in the preseason running at No. 1.

He also can’t seem to keep players around as much as he used to, and some speculate that it is because he was paying players before it was legal, and now that everyone can do it, he can’t compete with the level of play. While this may or may not be true, either way, you look at it, it seems like Bill Self has lost his edge and might be losing his fire as well. While retirement is certainly on the table, this is someone Indiana may want to stay away from as well.

3. Dennis Felton

Dennis Felton, like Mark Fox, also started at a smaller school, getting his first head coaching position at Western Kentucky. After two slower starts in his first two seasons, Felton turned it around, winning 24 or more games in his final three seasons with the Hilltoppers and making the NCAA Tournament all three times.

Also, like Fox, Felton made his way to Georgia for his first major head coaching position in a major conference. Felton was able to lead the Bulldogs to the NIT in his first season after 16-14, but it was after that it started to go downhill. Felton and his team only eclipsed eight wins in his second season and made it to the NIT two seasons. In 2008, Felton did lead his team to the NCAA Tournament, but not because of their stellar record, but winning the SEC Tournament to get to automatic bid.

In 2009, Felton was fired after starting the season 9-11. He got his next heading coaching gig at Cleveland State but only posted a 22-44 record in two seasons and was soon let go after. This does not seems like a coach Indiana would want to take a chance on.

2. Brian Gregory

Brian Gregory has moved around a lot as both a head coach and an assistant coach. He started his head coaching journey at Dayton, where he found a good amount of success going to the NCAA Tournament twice and the NIT three times.

However, after making a move to a bigger school, Georgia Tech, Gregory started to struggle. With the Yellow Jackets, Gregory only had a winning season in two of his five seasons, making the NIT Quarterfnal in his last season. After five consecutive losing ACC records, though, Georgia Tech decided to part ways with Gregory.

After his time with the Yellow Jackets, Gregory found a home at USF as their next head coach. With the Bulls, Gregory struggled in his first season, only winning 10 games, but in his second season, he went 24-14 overall adn 8-10 in the AAC and ended up as CBI Champions. However, after that season, Gregory didn’t have another winning record and was fired in 2023.

1. Tom Crean

Hoosiers fans certainly know who Tom Crean is, as he is a former Indiana coach. Crean spent nine seasons with the Hoosiers and has four NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT appearance. While Crean had a knack for getting the Hoosiers to the big dance, he wasn’t able to ever get them past the Sweet 16.

After his career at Indiana, Crean seemingly struggled at Georgia, where he went 47-75 in four seasons. While Crean had some success at Indiana, bringing back an old coach doesn’t seem to be the best answer for the Hoosiers. They need to look forward instead of moving backward.