Putting football aside, Bill Cubit’s shotgun firing raises
troubling questions and bad comparisons. It adds to the graveyard of terminated careers—not only for
football coaches, but force-outs for UI Presidents (Joe White, Michael Hogan), chancellors (Phyllis Wise, Richard Herman), and an AD who himself forced out several coaches in costly buyouts that were followed by even worse hires. Illinois has squandered more
than $10 million in buyouts for coaches and senior campus leaders since 2007—
this as the state bleeds red, and students borrow heavily to attend Illinois.
Cubit’s firing days before spring ball also mirrors the dysfunction of
operating the State of Illinois without a budget. Employment contracts and
budgets—core features of stable organizations— are meaningless scraps of paper
at Illinois. There is more to this firing than the possibility of hiring a
wonderful NFL coach. Cubit’s firing and other high-profile, career ending force-outs at Illinois sends a bigger message to would-be deans, provosts, chancellors,
presidents, ADs and presidents: Stay away.
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