Bill Fennelly
- Thread starter AltoonaFish
- Start date
No, they aren’t going to fire him. His best player is hurt.
Careful what some here wish for. In this era with the transfer portal if Bill were to be forced out or retire after this season there is a good chance the roster would have a mass exodus of players with a coaching change. My guess coming into this season is that Bill would want to stay until this junior class graduates which would be a good time to retire and allow a new coach to come in and build their own roster. We have 8 juniors on this roster right now: Brown, Crooks, Hare, Jackson, Paulk, Taulelei, A Willy, and Jada. If you have ever been around this group off the court they seem like a very tight knit bunch that love being here and they probably came here because of this current coaching staff.
I know this losing streak sucks, but losing 2 of your 5 starters to injury would be a setback for a lot of teams. Let's compare this to the men's team being without Toure and either Jefferson or Momcilovic which is probably a pretty fair comparison to what Brown and Jackson provide to the women's team: losing 1 of your best 2 players and your lockdown defender. The men probably would not struggle as bad as they have a little more roster depth than the women's team does but the ceiling on what that group could do without 2 of its 5 starters would definitely be lowered.
Hopefully this group finds a way to rally while Brown and AJ are out then when we get back to full strength and they can hit their stride going into the backend of the schedule as you want to be playing your best basketball going into March.
I know this losing streak sucks, but losing 2 of your 5 starters to injury would be a setback for a lot of teams. Let's compare this to the men's team being without Toure and either Jefferson or Momcilovic which is probably a pretty fair comparison to what Brown and Jackson provide to the women's team: losing 1 of your best 2 players and your lockdown defender. The men probably would not struggle as bad as they have a little more roster depth than the women's team does but the ceiling on what that group could do without 2 of its 5 starters would definitely be lowered.
Hopefully this group finds a way to rally while Brown and AJ are out then when we get back to full strength and they can hit their stride going into the backend of the schedule as you want to be playing your best basketball going into March.
He will leave on his terms and all signs point to the 26-27 season being his last.
think he wants Billy to be the heir apparent?
think Jamie will go for that? (imo no)
think Jamie will go for that? (imo no)
No way Jamie goes for that. Next WBB head coach will be someone with previous head coaching experience, similar to football.
Realistically, who do people think we will get if/when BF is done? We certainly do not have the money to go after proven names in the sport. I see some of you all are always saying call Brenda or Jenny or whoever, but those are not realistic options on our budget.
Pollard (or whoever the AD is for you people who think Pollard should also go) does not have the money to go big on the next WBB hire. There are so many who think the football and MBB teams deserve all the money and we should be diverting more fund to those programs even at the expense of WBB.
It will need to be someone from a lower rank school who wants the opportunity to move up with the knowledge they will be doing it with little money.
It would be interesting to know who is really on Pollards short list for WBB.
Pollard (or whoever the AD is for you people who think Pollard should also go) does not have the money to go big on the next WBB hire. There are so many who think the football and MBB teams deserve all the money and we should be diverting more fund to those programs even at the expense of WBB.
It will need to be someone from a lower rank school who wants the opportunity to move up with the knowledge they will be doing it with little money.
It would be interesting to know who is really on Pollards short list for WBB.
I don’t think he’s done a great job this year, but the reality is that they are not going to fire him.
I'm guessing Bill leaves in some kind of Bruce Pearl like manner so Billy gets a shot at it.
We are spending a lot on Bill. He is either the highest or second highest paid coach in the Big 12. So they are investing money in the program.
There is a number of former players who are head coaches at mid majors. Like Heather Ezell From Wyoming.
Seems like that's the game of chicken being played right now.
sometimes a fresh start is needed
Bill has never figured out how to make adjustments... of any kind.
He turns 69 in a few months.
I expect that he'd probably like to coach this team next year. Audi and Addy as a senior, who wouldn't?
A reset with players and staff would probably make sense in 2027-28.
I expect that he'd probably like to coach this team next year. Audi and Addy as a senior, who wouldn't?
A reset with players and staff would probably make sense in 2027-28.
I have said this in another thread. There is a major rebuild coming, either at the end of this year (players jump in the portal) or at the end of next year (players are out of eligibility) Do the coaching change at that time so there is only one rebuild.
If Bill is done at the end of this year my guess is that everyone, minus AJ (maybe) will leave. I would take another 20 win season to see Addy and Audi for one more year and see them graduate as cyclones.
If the juniors all jump in the portal anyways, just rip the band aid off and do the coaching switch.
If Bill is done at the end of this year my guess is that everyone, minus AJ (maybe) will leave. I would take another 20 win season to see Addy and Audi for one more year and see them graduate as cyclones.
If the juniors all jump in the portal anyways, just rip the band aid off and do the coaching switch.
Just one man's opinion. Billy is a 100% nepo hire who doesn't do jack ****.
There was a rumor a couple years ago that Bill had discussed retiring but wanted Jamie's commitment that Billy would succeed him. As the story goes, that conversation did not go well. But ya know, lots of unfounded rumors in these parts, particularly lately, so who knows?
As of the 23-24 season, he was #2 in the conference among public schools currently in the Big 12:
| Rank | Name | School | Salary |
| 10 | Adia Barnes | Arizona | $1,200,000 |
| 23 | Bill Fennelly | Iowa State | $850,000 |
| 31 | JR Payne | Colorado | $730,000 |
| 34 | Lynne Roberts | Utah | $709,500 |
| 38 | Jeff Mittie | Kansas State | $670,000 |
| 45 | Natasha Adair | Arizona State | $650,000 |
| 42 | Sytia Messer | UCF | $650,000 |
| 44 | Jacie Hoyt | Oklahoma State | $650,000 |
| 48 | Mark Kellogg | West Virginia | $575,000 |
| 52 | Krista Gerlich | Texas Tech | $560,100 |
| 53 | Brandon Schneider | Kansas | $540,000 |
| 57 | Katrina Merriweather | Cincinnati | $510,000 |
| 63 | Ronald Hughey | Houston | $330,000 |
(source: https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/womens-basketball/coach )
Hughey has since been fired and replaced by Matthew Mitchell, who is making over $600k.
HOWEVER this does not include TCU, Baylor, or BYU. BYU's new coach is probably toward the bottom of the list (he had been an assistant MBB coach at BYU), but Collen at Baylor and Campbell at TCU (who recently got a new extension) are probably near the top.
I think Billy has helped get some good players to come to ISU. I also think he needs to have head coaching experience before he becomes head coach here. As long as Jamie is AD I feel when Bill retires we will see someone who is NOT part of this current staff.
