Brad Underwood is an awesome coach. I'm so happy that we extended him for six more years. Underwood has completely turned this program around from the dark days of John Groce and is only going to get better from here. The improvement from year one to year four is a testament to how good of a coach he is.
This is the coach I want, for a long time at Illinois. He has done everything in his power to bring back a winning basketball program to Illinois and, he is not going to be satisfied until he brings home a national championship. I truly believe he can do it.
Some fans may think coach Underwood is a hardass on his players. I would rather have someone who is trying to get the best out of their players than just give them their flowers. A lot of successful coaches are hard asses on their players. Look at coach Izzo. All his former players still love him. I truly believe Underwood gets the best out of his players and the players have mutual respect with him.
My favorite part about coach Underwood is his ego. When he got hired at Illinois, he had a defense he liked to play. It wasn't working in the BIG 10. Instead of trying to make something work that wasn't, he changed his game plan. I think most coaches would have stayed with what they know instead of chaining. Coach changed, and that's the sign of a good coach.
Illinois got the right guy after coach Groce. Coach Underwood deserves this extension. I can't wait to see what he does in the future.
Comments