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Fred Glass had heard the questions regarding Bill Lynch’s future as Indiana’s football coach. So the school’s athletic director felt the need to clear the air.
Glass more than gave Lynch a vote of confidence during a phone interview Wednesday, saying the coach would remain with the school “for the duration” of his current four-year contract.
“He’s only in the second year of a four-year contract, and like I said back in November, I really think contracts need to mean something again at Indiana University,” Glass said. “I’m hopeful and believe that the program will continue to improve, and hopefully coach Lynch will have a series of contracts that he serves.
“Certainly, again, we need to make sure our word is our bond and contracts mean something. He will certainly be the coach for the duration of his contract.”
Lynch is in his third season as the Hoosiers’ coach. He has a 14-19 record since taking over after Terry Hoeppner’s death. IU went 7-6 in 2007 and played in a bowl for the first time since 1993. Lynch is the only IU coach to make a bowl appearance in his first season. IU went 3-9 in an injury-filled 2008.
IU is 4-4 overall this season and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers started 3-0 and played Michigan to the wire before falling 36-33 on Sept. 26 in Ann Arbor.
“It’s been an up-and-down year. There have been some frustrations and disappointments, but also I think a number of positives to build upon,” Glass said.
The Michigan loss started a three-game losing streak, which included a lopsided 47-7 loss Oct. 10 at Virginia.
“Virginia was a meltdown and a really bad game,” Glass said. “At that point I was thinking ‘Well, which way is this season going? Are we more like the first few games or more like Virginia?’
“We came back against Illinois and played extremely well. We had our best game after losing a really tough game. Illinois was a team with largely the same personnel that beat us 55-13 last year.”
The Hoosiers defeated Illinois 27-14, but last Saturday, IU failed to hold a 25-point lead, losing at Northwestern 29-28.
“Everyone would like that record to be better, but we’re just two plays away from being 6-2,” Glass said. “You can play that ‘what-if’ game too much, and we are what we are, we’re 4-4, but still we’re really close to being in a place where we’re having an extraordinary good year. We’ve improved week to week, even through Ohio State.
“… Northwestern was clearly disappointing. There was a lot of frustration to go around. I don’t lay it at the feet of the coaching staff as many people have. There’s a lot of reason to feel like we’re going well. There’s a lot of football left to play. I try not to get too high after a win or too down after the losses.”
