After Cam Cameron falters, one-time Vanderbilt and LSU coach takes over but fails to stabilize the program.
Bob Knight was let go in the first year of the decade amid controversy, and while men’s basketball managed a Final Four appearance in 2002, the rest of the decade was mired in failed expectations, fan division, and later, a coaching regime that got the Hoosiers in NCAA trouble.
Randle El was the embodiment of what the Cameron era was supposed to be about – exciting, high-scoring football. However, his excellence also raised the pressure on Cameron to deliver excellence throughout the Indiana squad. He could never quite pull it off, particularly on defense. On Dec. 5, 2001, athletic director Michael McNeely ended the Cameron era. Cameron was 18-37 in his five seasons inncharge.
DiNardo developed that reputation as a builder in the 1990s. He led chronically poor Vanderbilt to respectability in his stint in Nashville from 1991-94, winning SEC Coach of the year in 1991. While he never had a winning season with the Commodores, he also never failed to win at least four games at a program that had only reached that win threshold twice in its previous eight seasons.
The Hoosiers never got off the ground in 2002. Two wins came against FCS William & Mary and Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan. The Hoosiers’ one surprise of the season was a 32-29 home win over No. 23 Wisconsin to lift Indiana to a 3-3 record.
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