Indiana Basketball: 5 candidates to replace Archie Miller as head coach

John Beilein

Any time a big head coaching job like Indiana opens up, there’s a bunch of names that always seem to pop up for these jobs. Usually, it’s the big-time mid-major head coaches (like Porter Moser, who is not on this list) that get all the attention, while we also focus on a few retreads as well. Hiring someone with as much experience, especially in the Big Ten, as Beilein would be an absolute coup.

A New York native, Beilein rose through the head coaching ranks, coaching at several schools before beginning his D1 career at Canisius. He achieved success in five years there before similar stints with Richmond and West Virginia. Beilein spent 12 seasons at Michigan, leading the Wolverines to the national championship games in 2013 and 2018 and absolutely jumpstarting the program once more. He served very briefly as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a move that was clearly a mistake for both sides.

At age 68, Beilein isn’t about to spend ten or more seasons at a new school, but perhaps Indiana would be the perfect job to jump back into the college game. He’s been a Big Ten Network analyst this season and has as much knowledge and insight about the conference as anybody in the game today. He’s shown he can win at multiple schools and bring in talent to satisfy ravenous fanbases.

He might be the best choice to lead the Hoosiers for the next decade, and even if he’s not a long-term option, he could resurrect this program and get them on the right track in the coming years.