The Bernstein Brief: Illini AD Search Dogged By Conflict
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) As her recently formed committee wades into a deliberate search for an athletic director, University of Illinois interim chancellor Barbara Wilson is taking heat internally from a powerful group of trustees, boosters and alumni who feel the school is doing it all wrong.
The faction is frustrated both by the makeup of the committee and the pace, process and scope of the search to this point, and it has made those feelings clear to the board and the administration, sources tell 670 The Score. The grumbling has been going on for months, but it grew into more vocal dissatisfaction after the retention of interim football coach Bill Cubit, and it continues to simmer as the school gropes for direction.
There has even been behind-the-scenes talk among this faction about ignoring the "official" search and taking the process into its own hands with phone calls and meetings, but for now that appears to be only wishful thinking, as even the angriest involved know such an effort could be spectacularly disruptive.
With every day that goes by, however, one wonders what's possible for a scandal-plagued school fighting to stabilize its beleaguered athletics.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
