Mark Knudson’s Three Strikes Blog: Strike Two:
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Tim Miles and Nebraska wasn’t the perfect fit after all
STRIKE TWO: You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the Colorado State orbit that has anything bad to say about former CSU Men’s hoops coach Tim Miles. Miles went 71-88 in five seasons in Fort Collins, including going 39-25 his final two. He led the Rams to three post season bids in those five years, including the Big Dance in 2012.
When he left to take the head coaching gig at Nebraska following that NCAA tourney appearance, there was almost no anger, resentment or disdain for the decision. It made perfect sense. Ram fans understood and wished him well.
Nebraska DID seem like the perfect fit for the personable head coach. His last Ram’s team that made the NCAA’s featured three starters who hailed from the state of Nebraska. He obviously knew how to recruit the region.
At the time, the Mountain West conference had its own TV network, “The Mtn.” Because of his outgoing and infectious personality (picture the exact opposite of Bill Belichick or Nick Saban) Miles was featured a lot on The Mtn airwaves, and a lot of us working at the network got to know him pretty well. One of the station’s lead anchors, Bill Doleman, had previously hosted The Tom Osborne Show when Bill worked in Nebraska, so he was friends with the Huskers legendary football coach – who just happened to be the Athletic Director at NU at the time. Hoops coach Doc Sadler had just been let go by Nebraska. There was an opening in Lincoln. Doleman – and a lot of other Husker fans who had followed Miles career – thought Miles would be the perfect fit. Doleman called Osborne, who liked the idea of three native Nebraskans leading a team to the NCAA tournament.
Miles was hired at Nebraska on March 24, 2012.
Miles was fired by Nebraska on Tuesday (March 26th.)
In seven seasons with the Big Red, Miles compiled a nondescript 116-114 record. He got NU into the NCAA tourney once in 2014 when he was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. They got into the NIT twice, including this year’s second round ouster. After finishing fourth in the Big Ten last season, there were high expectations for this year’s team that had all the key pieces returning. Instead, the roller coaster season that ended 19-17 included wins over NCAA tourney teams like Clemson, Maryland, Iowa and Minnesota but also losses to sub-.500 teams like Penn State and Illinois. It was a major disappointment. Mostly, Miles team was not competitive against the Big Ten’s upper echelon. This year marked the fifth time in Miles tenure that Nebraska had finished 10th or lower in the Big Ten standings. New Nebraska AD Bill Moos wasn’t satisfied with the mediocrity.
Everyone agrees: Tim Miles is a great guy and fine basketball coach. He will be on someone’s sidelines next season for sure. He will become a better coach for having gone through seven seasons in the Big Ten. And Nebraska will hire a proven winner – former Iowa State and Chicago Bull Coach Fred Hoiberg is at the top of the wish list – and get better too.
So now the question is this: Did Miles make the right move leaving CSU for Nebraska? The South Dakota native was well aware of what he was getting into. My guess is that if the same situation presented itself again, Doleman would make the same phone call, Osborne would make the same evaluation…and Miles would make the same decision.
It’s just the nature of sports. Sometimes what appears to be a perfect fit – like Steve Fairchild coming back to Fort Collins to take over the CSU football program before the 2008 season, or Jon Embree returning to CU in 2011, or UNC legend Joe Glenn moving from Montana to Wyoming in 2003 – isn’t always so perfect.
Wanna argue? Hit me up on Twitter @MarkKnudson41. Coming Friday: Why do good teams struggle against bad teams?
