Geesh, another 2 coaches gone today....Crowton at BYU, and Dinardo here at Indiana........
Dinardo didnt really get much time to turn this around, surprised he wasnt given one more year.....He did a good job at LSU, and maybe could have if given a little time here......
Where is Bill Mallory?........
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gerry DiNardo was fired as Indiana's football coach after a 3-8 season that ended with a 63-24 loss to Purdue, the Hoosiers' seventh defeat in eight years to their state rival.
DiNardo, who has two years left on his contract, had an 8-27 record in three seasons that were marked by declining attendance.
Fred Eichhorn, president of the school's Board of Trustees, said Wednesday that DiNardo was dismissed during a meeting Tuesday. An afternoon news conference was scheduled.
DiNardo replaced Cam Cameron after the 2001 season. After the rout by Purdue, he said "this was just about the worst day we've had as a team."
The firing is the first major coaching change by athletic director Rick Greenspan since he was hired in September as the school's fourth athletic director in a little more than three years. Greenspan said he recommended the dismissal to university president Adam Herbert.
"We are determined to restore a winning tradition in IU football," Herbert said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=150>
</TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR><TR><TD width=150>Gerry DiNardo is out at Indiana after compiling an 8-27 record in three seasons. (AP) </TD><TD width=15> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>DiNardo signed a five-year contract in early 2002 that guaranteed him at least $530,000 a year -- a base salary of $225,000 plus outside income.
The firing comes with the athletic department facing a debt of about $5 million. The team also will start next season with its third head coach in five seasons.
"I think continuity is desirable," Eichhorn said. "But if you've got a problem, you don't continue the problem."
Crowds kept on the decline at Memorial Stadium during DiNardo's stay, with the Hoosiers ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten in football attendance.
Attendance averaged about 28,400 this season in Indiana's 52,000-seat stadium -- down from about 35,000 the year before and the 12th straight year attendance averaged less than 40,000. The Big Ten average for the 2003 season was 72,000.
This season started with promise for the Hoosiers, who opened 2-0 for the first time since 1996 after a road upset of then-No. 24 Oregon. The season quickly soured as the Hoosiers lost their next five games by an average of 16 points before upsetting then-No. 24 Minnesota for their only Big Ten victory of the year.
DiNardo is the 10th Indiana coach since Bo McMillan left in 1947 to fail to produce an overall winning record. DiNardo inherited a team that was weakened by the departure of record-setting quarterback Antwaan Randle El. This past season was the first time in his three years the Hoosiers started the season with a full allotment of 85 scholarship players.
DiNardo played at Notre Dame and was a member of the Irish's 1973 national championship team. He was 32-24-1 at LSU, where he led the Tigers to three straight bowl appearances during 1995-97 but was fired 10 games into the 1999 season. He went 19-25 at Vanderbilt, its best four-year span in 25 years.
Dinardo didnt really get much time to turn this around, surprised he wasnt given one more year.....He did a good job at LSU, and maybe could have if given a little time here......
Where is Bill Mallory?........
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gerry DiNardo was fired as Indiana's football coach after a 3-8 season that ended with a 63-24 loss to Purdue, the Hoosiers' seventh defeat in eight years to their state rival.
DiNardo, who has two years left on his contract, had an 8-27 record in three seasons that were marked by declining attendance.
Fred Eichhorn, president of the school's Board of Trustees, said Wednesday that DiNardo was dismissed during a meeting Tuesday. An afternoon news conference was scheduled.
DiNardo replaced Cam Cameron after the 2001 season. After the rout by Purdue, he said "this was just about the worst day we've had as a team."
The firing is the first major coaching change by athletic director Rick Greenspan since he was hired in September as the school's fourth athletic director in a little more than three years. Greenspan said he recommended the dismissal to university president Adam Herbert.
"We are determined to restore a winning tradition in IU football," Herbert said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=150>
The firing comes with the athletic department facing a debt of about $5 million. The team also will start next season with its third head coach in five seasons.
"I think continuity is desirable," Eichhorn said. "But if you've got a problem, you don't continue the problem."
Crowds kept on the decline at Memorial Stadium during DiNardo's stay, with the Hoosiers ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten in football attendance.
Attendance averaged about 28,400 this season in Indiana's 52,000-seat stadium -- down from about 35,000 the year before and the 12th straight year attendance averaged less than 40,000. The Big Ten average for the 2003 season was 72,000.
This season started with promise for the Hoosiers, who opened 2-0 for the first time since 1996 after a road upset of then-No. 24 Oregon. The season quickly soured as the Hoosiers lost their next five games by an average of 16 points before upsetting then-No. 24 Minnesota for their only Big Ten victory of the year.
DiNardo is the 10th Indiana coach since Bo McMillan left in 1947 to fail to produce an overall winning record. DiNardo inherited a team that was weakened by the departure of record-setting quarterback Antwaan Randle El. This past season was the first time in his three years the Hoosiers started the season with a full allotment of 85 scholarship players.
DiNardo played at Notre Dame and was a member of the Irish's 1973 national championship team. He was 32-24-1 at LSU, where he led the Tigers to three straight bowl appearances during 1995-97 but was fired 10 games into the 1999 season. He went 19-25 at Vanderbilt, its best four-year span in 25 years.
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