Supinie: Former AD Thomas left a 'toxic mess' at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN – The call from the Illinois athletic department didn’t allow for much time to spruce up. There was a press conference set up. The school had hired an athletic director.

After already working with another candidate who had been on campus, accepted the position, then changed his mind before a presser could be convened the following day, Illinois didn’t want to let another one get away by letting him have time for second thoughts. The campus hierarchy wanted to throw Mike Thomas in front of the cameras and mics to keep him in town.

So in the first media scrum, I lobbed a softball to him about why he was the guy for the job. Thomas had no trouble with it.

“I know how to hire coaches,’’ he said.

His claim to fame was the hiring of Brian Kelly as football coach at Cincinnati, where the Bearcats climbed into national prominence before Kelly jumped to Notre Dame, then replacing him with Butch Jones. So there was an immediate reason to believe that Thomas wanted to reshape the Illinois athletic department.

Considered a sleeping giant under the conservative leadership of Ron Guenther, the Illini enjoyed a successful basketball program while enduring a football team that teased and disappointed for decades with a spike once every 10 years or so. Otherwise, Illinois took pride in golf, tennis, gymnastics and wrestling. Folks didn’t have to explain why they wore orange around town.

But Thomas served as the captain of the Titanic, sinking a department into debt, alienating boosters and fans and hiring a string of coaches who failed miserably while creating a public relations nightmare so severe that he hired a former basketball star to help with his plummeting approval rating. Throw in an ugly scandal with charges of player mistreatment, the development of an inner circle within the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics that created the haves and have nots and a sinking morale all across Illini Nation because of the man at the top and his inability to not only lift the program but cause a catastrophic decline. Suddenly, those Illinois fans now had to shrug their shoulders in embarrassment when asked why they wore their orange around town.

Thomas left a toxic mess the EPA would just fence off like Three Mile Island. It’s a road map on how not to do it. Josh Whitman, Thomas’ replacement, would do well to learn from the mistakes made by his predecessor.

When we read the press release about Thomas and his great performance at Illinois while announcing his hiring as athletic director at Cleveland State, it makes you wonder if they stopped after the first softball question during the interview process.

Make no mistake. The Illini frustrated fans who dreamed of national championships in sports that draw the most attention – football and basketball. But there was success, entertainment, hope and pride.

Working with a program that’s not been a big winner since shortly after World War II and with the best days in history coming when a kid from Wheaton showed up and eventually had a statue built out front, Guenther hired coaches who won a Big Ten championship and led the team to Pasadena. Assuredly, there were horrible seasons in between. In basketball, Guenther ushered out a legend in Lou Henson, then hired a succession of coaches that guided the Illini to the national championship game for the first time in school history.

Lon Kruger, Bill Self and Bruce Weber allowed us to survive the long, cold winters. They turned the Big Ten Tournament into an Illini party and Selection Sunday into big business for local travel agents. Fans packed the interstates and airports to chase the Illini on the road, and Assembly Hall was sold out with season ticket holders.

By the end of the run for Guenther, Ron Zook and Weber lost their momentum, and Guenther’s replacement felt he could reshape the Illini with his own football, basketball and women’s basketball coaching hires in the first year on the job. Arrogant? Confident? Thomas went for it in his first year on the job here.

Strikes one, two and three.

Football coach Tim Beckman was a disaster, embarrassing Illini fans with bad teams and making us laugh when he was caught taking a dip on the sideline one day and running into officials later in the same season.

After firing Weber, Thomas’ search failed to land a big-name replacement, and John Groce took the leftovers from Weber to squeak into the NCAA Tournament in his first year, then followed it with three seasons outside of March Madness. Bad recruiting, nasty PR from a string of arrests and ugly won-loss records left State Farm Center half full at best on game day, so Groce’s days are numbered.

Under Matt Bollant, Illini women’s basketball is so far off the radar after another player revolt and lawsuits that it’s irrelevant to even discuss.

And then there’s the State Farm Center. Thomas further damaged his reputation when he didn’t thank, credit or even mention Guenther’s work in creating the contact and getting the project off the ground. Thomas was still in Ohio when Illinois first met with State Farm officials about the project, yet Thomas took all the credit. There’s reason to believe the calculations for income were too high, and Groce’s poor product has affected ticket sales and revenues so drastically that Illinois is working hard to cover the loan payments.

So Cleveland State can applaud Thomas for his successes at Illinois as an AD at a power 5 conference school. It can list all of the accomplishments for a man who came to Champaign at a time when the program needed some sprucing up. But, not surprisingly, they didn’t mention he messed things up so bad, he was sent out of town with a $2.5 million golden parachute to keep quiet for turning the Illini into a dumpster fire.

Thomas failed to build key relationships, then attempted to intimidate folks who didn’t fall in line with his plans. He treated his staff poorly, then took the fall when he failed to leave all the problems in Beckman’s lap.

Whitman has much work to do, and this is no quick fix. It will take massive fundraising, key hires, patience and some luck. Remember, Self wasn’t apparently Guenther’s first choice to fill the opening left by Kruger’s departure. (Don’t forget a failed trip to Oklahoma when Guenther was interested in Kelvin Sampson, only to leave when Sampson went public with the news.)

This mess isn’t as bad as the Slush Fund days, but Thomas surely left the Illini needing a makeover. Whitman has all the info he needs on how not to do it.

John Supinie is a columnist for Orangeandbluenews.com. During the day, he’s an Audi Brand Specialist at Green Audi in Springfield. Call or text him at 217-377-1977 if you’re looking for an Audi, Volkswagen, Toyota or preowned car. Ask for the Illini deal.