When Mike Woodson was hired in 2021, it felt like a full-circle moment. The hometown hero, the former Knicks assistant, the guy with years of NBA experience—it seemed like a perfect fit. But the expectations and the reality never quite lined up, especially in his year 3& 4. The Hoosiers never made it to the Sweet Sixteen under him, and now, they’re likely to miss the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. 

So, in the end, the inevitable happened. Woodson is stepping down. Not exactly because he wants to, but because, let’s be real, this is a graceful exit before things get uglier.

We know that Woodson’s first two seasons were pretty nice. The Hoosiers made it to the NCAA Tournament both times, but they never got past the first weekend. Then last year, they completely missed the tournament. This season was supposed to be their comeback. 

Indiana pulled some big names from the transfer portal, had one of the biggest NIL budgets in the Big Ten, but, well, things went south. They’re currently sitting at 14-9 overall, with a brutal 5-7 record in Big Ten play and sitting at 9th in conference. 

So yes, the writing was on the wall. The school made it official on Friday. But analyst Jeff Goodman was the first to put this possibility out there. On Field of 68, he spoke about what might’ve led to this forced retirement. 

“There had been some rumblings yesterday on discussions taking place with Indiana and Mike Woodson about some sort of exit plan… It’s obviously a forced retirement,” he said. 

The analyst added, “They’re not winning, they’ve lost six of their last seven, didn’t make the tournament last year, and right now they’re on the outside looking in on the bubble. What I reported too was he’s lost a lot of the support he had from the big money people, you know, and those were the guys that were bankrolling him this year for NIL and sticking by him.”

The big-money people. Indiana had one of the largest NIL budgets in the Big Ten and, honestly, in the entire country. This is now even a huge selling point for this job. But as it turns out for coach Woodson, money talks, and when the results didn’t match the investment, support faded.

But here’s another interesting thing. Woodson’s contract. Just last year, he renegotiated a deal that included a hefty buyout clause. If Indiana were to fire him outright, they’d owe him the full remaining balance—around $8 million. The silver lining is that they can pay it off in $1 million annual installments.

But still, it makes you wonder: If they knew things were headed this way, why not move on sooner? The financial hit probably played a big role in that decision and the program & coach both are trying to do what’s best for each other. Even reporter Jacob Goins feels the same. 

And now with this, we have one of the biggest jobs in college basketball available. 

Who could replace Mike Woodson?

ESPN released a list of potential candidates, and at the top is Brad Stevens. The Indiana native led Butler to back-to-back national championship games before heading to the NBA. He was Indiana’s dream hire last time, but they never landed him. 

And now he is sitting comfortably as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations. So would he leave all that to coach college basketball again? Feels like a stretch, honestly. Then there’s Baylor’s Scott Drew. Kentucky and Louisville both went after him last year, and he turned them down. He has ties to Indiana but it’s unlikely that he will leave Baylor after 20 years.

So, realistically, the Hoosiers might have to look elsewhere. Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger is an intriguing option—he’s led the Cyclones to back-to-back Sweet 16s and has them in the top 10 right now. 

Then there are the more Indiana-connected names: Michigan’s Dusty May and Ole Miss’ Chris Beard. May is a Hoosier through and through—born and raised in Indiana, a former student manager for Bob Knight.

Beard, on the other hand, worked under Knight at Texas Tech and led the Red Raiders to a national championship. But, obviously, he comes with baggage after his Texas firing. Would Indiana go down that road? Let’s see.

For now, we wait. Mike Woodson hasn’t publicly spoken about his departure yet, and everyone’s curious to hear what he says about the whole thing. And as for Indiana, they are surely about to enter a brand-new chapter.