Brad Underwood will soon make his First Final Four appearance. The head coach waited for 39 years, and finally, in his ninth season with the Illinois Fighting Illini, he was able to lead his team deep into March Madness.
Before his Final Four game against the UConn Huskies, let’s learn about the personal life of Illinois men’s basketball head coach.
Who is Brad Underwood’s Wife?
Brad Underwood has been married to Susan since the mid-1980s. They first met in college and married shortly after Underwood graduated. After graduation and getting married, Underwood worked in insurance while applying for coaching jobs. All this while and despite the uncertainty, Susan chose to stick with Underwood.
Underwood was earning well in insurance, but it didn’t give him the satisfaction, and that’s why he left it.
“I made more money in my first month in the insurance business than I made for about the first 10 years in coaching,” he said. “But I didn’t enjoy (working in insurance) … We threw everything in a U-Haul. What a way to start a marriage.”
Susan had a teaching degree, but she wasn’t licensed in Texas, where the two moved to after Underwood quit his insurance job. But to make ends meet, she worked as a cashier at JCPenney.
Finally, a coaching offer came from Western Illinois University for the position of assistant coach in 1992. For 11 years, Underwood was in that job and in the meantime, Susan taught at an elementary school and also became a mother to three children, Tyler Underwood, Katie Underwood and Ashley Underwood.
Susan always believed in Underwood, and that’s how the couple knew their relationship would withstand any odds.
“Our family knew what Brad was capable of,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “We had so much fun along the way. It made us a very tight-knit family. We could be happy wherever we were.”
Underwood has always been appreciative of Susan, especially grateful for her role when he accepted the Illinois job and left Oklahoma State. Other than their kids getting harassed, Susan took the brunt of it, too.
“It shows how strong my wife is because she was there the whole time, and she had to deal with going to the grocery store or going to church … and feeling that ‘you left us’ type of looks and things,” he said.
Words cannot alone describe how much Susan means to Brad Underwood and their family.
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