What do Illini fans really want from next coach?

You can argue about what truly was the beginning of the end for Bruce Weber.

Many will point to his Jimmy Carter-style, crisis-of-confidence concession following a Feb. 15 loss to Purdue at Assembly Hall.

Others believe it's as simple as his one NCAA Tournament victory the last five years, after going to the dance his first four years here, including a title game appearance with Bill Self's players in 2005.

Some will say it began with Eric Gordon decomitting from Illinois and choosing Indiana in the fall of 2005.

Yet others look to Jon Scheyer, who played for Weber's brother at Glenbrook North and still went to Duke.

That Derrick Rose guy was pretty good, but he chose Memphis, and Evan Turner signed with Ohio State.

Maybe it was when Weber actually landed Jereme Richmond, who turned out to be a disaster.

The reality is Weber was done Aug. 10, 2011, the day Mike Thomas took over as athletic director. Thomas has since fired football coach Ron Zook and women's basketball coach Jolette Law — and now Weber.

It's hardly a surprise, as nothing short of a Sweet 16 appearance could have saved Weber.

As for the beginning of the end, well, it was really the day Weber took over at Illinois. He was a mid-major coach at a sometimes mid-major program that wants to be something much more than that, while also insisting on academic accountability.

So the bigger question, Illini fans, is what do you want Illinois sports to be from here on out?

By all accounts thus far, Bruce Weber is an honorable man who ran a clean program, cared about his players and coached them as best he could.

“It's difficult to make these decisions when you're talking about someone the quality of person that Bruce Weber is,'' Thomas said at a news conference Friday morning after firing Weber. “He's everything that you'd want in a coach as it relates to how he represents the university, his student-athletes and our programs. That makes it that much more difficult.

“But it's the total body of work, not just the last three, four months. The last nine years, early in Coach Weber's tenure here he had great success, but the last four, five years … we digressed a little bit.”

In other words, Weber's a better guy than he is a coach. It's not in his character to cheat, and cheating is how you win consistently in the NCAA.

Therein rests the identity disorder among Illini fans who want their football and basketball teams to succeed nationally — but also remain sanitary.

So you want players to take their own SAT tests, but you also want to recruit some of the best players from Chicago who can't possibly make it into Illinois academically without “assistance'' from above?

It's the eternal contradiction at Illinois, and Weber is — at least in part — a victim of precisely that.

“For a program of our stature, competing in a tremendous basketball conference, it's important that we're playing at the highest level,” Thomas said. “We're about winning championships. I think that's an appropriate expectation to have.”

Appropriate? Perhaps. Realistic? One has the right to wonder.

Shaka Smart and Chris Collins seem to be the front-runners to replace Weber, but regardless of whomever the next coach is, he will face all the same ethical contradictions that have always faced Illinois coaches.

Whether the next coach is the right combination of honesty, coaching and recruiting remains to be seen, but it's never been easy at Illinois, and Weber simply couldn't do it all.

“Really, the thing that trumps all is we are going to do things the right way,'' Thomas said. “(The next coach) will have a track record of success and a clean record. Compliance is important to them, and integrity is part of their DNA.''

Thomas then admitted that empty seats are always a factor in hiring or firing a coach, which brings to mind cash, boosters, alumni and all the dirt that muddies the NCAA waters.

The temptation to cheat is extraordinary when coaches know many of their brethren are filthy, and when the next Illinois coach sees the treasure trove that is Chicago, he will dream of the possibilities and he will have to make difficult choices.

Weber made his, and for that he should be admired. But he started 15-3 and finished 2-12 this season, and for many that is all that matters and that is why he's unemployed.

Hard to cry for a man who is guaranteed $3.9 million the next three years, but it's nice that Thomas cut him loose now instead of stringing him along for weeks unnecessarily.

And Thomas now believes he has the opportunity to hire the perfect coach, one who can sell tickets, win consistently and recruit Chicago without cheating.

The line of Illinois football coaches, basketball coaches and athletic directors who thought precisely that before him is a long one.

So is the line of those who were wrong.

brozner@dailyherald.com

Ÿ Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM, and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.