Upon Further Review
NOT EVEN THREE years ago, Archie Miller was introduced as Indiana University’s new men’s basketball coach. The fans who showed up for the first press conference, held at center court in Assembly Hall, came to see Miller. But the most powerful person in the arena was actually his boss: IU athletic director Fred Glass.
“Wow, what a crowd,” said Glass, before introducing the coach he’d just signed to a seven-year contract worth more than $3 million per season. “Getting to know Archie, I’m even more confident than ever that he is the right coach … to lead us to meet our very high expectations here at Indiana University.”
Today, that press conference feels like it occurred 10 years ago. IU’s basketball program has missed the NCAA tournament three years in a row. The football program, which combines with basketball to form college athletics’ two main revenue sports, hasn’t fared any better. Led by coach Tom Allen, the team has failed to reach even a lesser bowl game since 2016. If you root for Purdue, Butler, or Notre Dame, you don’t need to gloat to the IU fans in your life—the records over the last few seasons speak for themselves.
Glass, who’s in his 10th year as athletic director, is an IU alum—first for undergrad in Bloomington, then for law school in Indianapolis. Before he got the job, he worked in politics as former governor Evan Bayh’s chief of staff and in miracles as one of the key figures in bringing the Super Bowl to Indy. For those reasons, he’s more interesting than the typical, careerist AD,
