Coach Hep Remembered

Matt Mattucci, a good friend of the site, was the football beat writer at the Indiana Daily Student during Terry Hoeppner's first season as Indiana's head coach. Matt got to know the coach pretty well during that season. So we asked if he would be good enough to write something for us about Coach Hep for us. He beautifully summed up what Coach Hep meant (and still means) to Indiana University and its fans. His words follow. In two short years, Terry Hoeppner created an incredible legacy at Indiana University - one that future coaches will likely never come close to matching. And how could they? Sure, the next IU coach to win a bowl game will go down in Hoosier lore as being a savior to the program. But in the end, it will all come back to Terry Hoeppner. Right now as I write, ground is being broken on the new stadium, one that Coach Hep so determinedly pushed for building. Because of him, the Hoosiers will have a new stadium to play in during the coming years and will be able to put more fans in the seats. And those fans are out there, trust me - Coach Hep proved that. Ticket sales skyrocketed during the past few years, but the fans haven't kept up their end of the bargain. Hep put the best product he possibly could out onto that football field, and sadly, IU football fans didn't appreciate it as much as they should have.