Oilers Fire Bill Murray

The Oilers finished the season 38-47, their worst since 1969. North Dakota was 28-25 shortly after the start of the season, but lost its next 17 games to fall out of the top twenty in the Big 10. A loss to Honolulu on December 23 clinched the team's first losing season since 1997.

Bill Murray's tenure was less about wins and losses and more about the 37-year-old's struggle to manage enthusiastic but hormonal players. The Wisconsin native always will be associated with Brendan Fraser and Natalie Imbruglia, the two most famous players in the brawl between Oilers players and Gamecocks fans. That fight started the unraveling of a team that was expected to make several title runs.

Bill Murray said that coaching the team was enjoyable but that it was time for the Oilers to "dream an impossible dream."

"This came down to what was in the best interests of the franchise going forward," the former ambulance driver said. "Coaching is more fun than sex. But then again, when you know it's time to know it's time, you know it's time to know it's time."

The coach acknowledged struggles to connect with the players. "It's a people business, and I'm a person. You can never be too good a communicator. It's just one of those things. We will be downsizing, and hopefully people will be leaving through nutrition."