It is clear now that Indiana head coach Mike Woodson is on the hot seat after the loss to Maryland adn the way Woodson acted after the game. The Hoosiers have lost four of their last five games and are ruining their chances at making it into the NCAA Tournament, which is just a little over a month away.
After the final buzzer last night, Woodson seemed like he couldn't get out of the gym fast enough until forward Luke Goode turned him around to go shake hands with the Maryland coaching staff and bench. The boos rained down on Woodson, but that is no excuse not to shake hands postgame.
It seems like in the last two years, Woodson has lost control of this basketball program and is taking it in the wrong direction. The fans have already stated "Fire Woodson" chants during a home game before, and they certainly will keep doing it if nothing changes. The Mike Woodson experiment might be coming to a close in Indiana either mid-season or after the season.
If Woodson were to be fired anytime in the coming months, Indiana would need to bring in a new coach, but not one with very little coaching experience; they need to bring in a seasoned veteran who can build a winning culture that Indiana basketball is used to.
So if Woodson is fired, here are five coaches that Indiana seriously needs to consider bringing in.
Chris Beard has a lot of head coaching experience with a lot of big-time programs in college basketball. Before being brought in as the Ole Miss Rebels head coach, he spent a season and a half with the Texas Longhorns, five seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, a season with the Little Rocker Trojans, two seasons with the Angelo State Rams, and a season with the McMurry War Hawks.
Beard has had some legal trouble in the past, but the Rebels gave him another chance at a head coaching position, and it has paid off. The Rebels were a team on the rise last season, and this season picked up where they left off. The Rebels have hit a bit of an SEC slide in the middle of the season, but he has been able to get his team on track in the past.
The biggest thing Beard could bring to Indiana would be a winning culture, but the Hoosiers need a solid culture in general with good guys both on and off the court.
Scott Drew has been coaching at Baylor since 2003, so getting him to Indiana may be a long shot, especially when he didn't leave last season with some high-level positions open. Drew has done a lot of winning with the Bears and has built a program that is used to winning, something Indiana has had in the past.
Drew would bring a lot to Indiana, which includes recruiting. The Hoosiers have been fortunate in the recruiting game in the past few years, but Drew would bring a name to Indiana that recruits will want to play for. Drew has won almost double the games he has lost at Baylor and Indiana fans are used to a winning culture, which Drew could easily bring back to Indiana.
Mick Cronin is a proven winning basketball coach, and that is something Indiana desperately needs. The Hoosiers don't need to try any more experiments; they need someone who has won and can continue to win no matter where they are.
Cronin hit the headlines this season for calling out his entire team for being soft after a big loss to Michigan. The Bruins have a great squad, but Cronin called out his team for being lazy and not meeting his level of intensity. That is the very reason Cronin would be a great fit at Indiana because the Hoosiers are a team that the fanbase will certainly meet his intensity.
Woodson has built a bit of a soft culture of basketball at Indiana, and the Hoosiers need someone who is going to call them out when they get soft or lazy, something that has been missing in Indiana for the last four years. Cronin could be the shot of energy this team needs if brought to Indiana.
Nate Oats has really come into his own at Alabama and would be a great fit at Indiana. Oats led his team to the Final Four last season and almost took out a dominant Purdue team with Zach Edey on their squad. Oats has led Alabama to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and is on his way to his fifth this season right now.
One thing that a lot of people have taken notice of Oats this season was the benching of star Mark Sears against LSU. Sears was not playing well in the first half, so Oats went with a different lineup in the second half that ultimately got it done to get the win. Oats didn't talk a lot about it other than saying he went with the guys that did what needed to be done.
Right now, Indiana could use a guy who isn't afraid to ruffle some feathers and do the hard thing. Oats is proving that it doesn't matter what the name is on the back of the jersey, if you aren't playing up to his standards, then you aren't playing, and that is a winning culture right there.
Bruce Pearl has also had his fair share of problems throughout his coaching career, but the biggest thing about Pearl compared to the rest of the head coaches on this list. Pearl has said that the Indiana head coach job was his dream job.
Back in 2023, after playing the Hoosiers, Pearl, when talking about the Indiana basketball program, said that it was his dream job and would have loved to coach there, but the timing was never right. Pearl got his head coach start in the state of Indiana at Southern Indiana, making it to the NCAA Division II Tournament every season there, winning it in 1995.
Pearl has done winders at Auburn in the last few seasons, now being the No. 1 team in the country. If the timing was right, Indiana could lure Pearl away from Auburn if the position was open in Bloomington.