Northwestern Director of Athletics and Recreation Jim Phillips and Bill Carmody held a joint teleconference on Thursday morning to announce that Carmody will remain as head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats Men's basketball team heading into the 2012-13 season. Phillips understands that alumni and fans are growing restless after the Wildcats again failed to reach the NCAA Tournament, but he thinks Carmody is making progress towards that goal (quotes via Tina Akouris of the Chicago Sun-Times):
"There's been a lot of talk and speculation and I know that's the way the world works," Phillips said. "Half the population will be upset with my decision and half [wont']."
"I don't live in a sheltered world and I know what [the media was] saying and I had to address that," Phillips said. "This is the first media alert and conference call we've had for an end-of-the-year coach evaluation. The program is going to be better. Bill has assured me of that."
Carmody signed a multi-year extension with Northwestern last January, and most people believed it was a two-year deal at the time, but that is apparently an incorrect assumption. Phillips and Carmody said during Thursday's conference call that Carmody has more than one year remaining, but they declined to elaborate on any details regarding years, bonuses or options, so the multi-year tag is all anyone has to go on at the moment.
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