Mike Bellamy the new Illinois WR coach

Dan · Feb 18, 2013, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Illinois is reaching into its past to shape the future hiring Mike Bellamy as WR coach. #illini

http://twitter.com/HowardGriffith

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 08:51 AM

Bellamy was our Associate Recruiting Coordinator in 2012. Bellamy coached HS ball for three years in GA, then one year at a small college in GA before joining the Illinois staff.

http://www.fightingillini.com/

Can he recruit? I guess we'll find out. He has been on staff for a year and is an Illinois alumnus, so this is probably a safe hire.

SCillini · Feb 18, 2013, 09:01 AM

On the plus side he's an alum who had a great season in his one year at UI. No major college coaching experience has to be a concern. I'm sure he knows the position, but how successful will he be recruiting? Time will tell, just not sure how much time this staff will have.

GilThorpe · Feb 18, 2013, 09:02 AM

this is good news. in my opinion, this is the kind of hire we needed. Sure, I wish he had a little more experience at coaching, but this is a position where recruiting is very important. I will predict he will be a good recruiter off campus

I wasnt too excited about Woods.

FeelYourPaign · Feb 18, 2013, 09:04 AM

Its a plus for Mike either way, as he starts down the path of having real job experience.
Like that he is an alum. Doubt that our choice of WR coach is going to affect the length of Beckman's contract either way, in that I think he will win with the guys that they have sufficiently to be renewed or he will be gone before any WR (read recruiting) coach can have an impact.

Feels fine to me. For the $.03 that is worth

trevdv · Feb 18, 2013, 09:04 AM

So... do we like this hire? Seems like he has very little experience, but very strong ties to Illinois. Good hire?

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trevdv

So... do we like this hire? Seems like he has very little experience, but very strong ties to Illinois. Good hire?

We don't know. Bellamy has been on the staff for a year, recruiting on campus. So Beckman knows him and thinks he will be a good recruiter. We'll have to see if Beckman is right, but this is one area where TB is a pretty good judge of abilities.

BZuppke · Feb 18, 2013, 09:17 AM

You never know how these things turn out. Certainly he has a passion for Illinois football which should make him a good recruiter. Then again, alums don't always work out. We'll have to see how it plays out. May be the first time we've had two alums on staff since the Eliot or even Zuppke era?

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BZuppke

You never know how these things turn out. Certainly he has a passion for Illinois football which should make him a good recruiter. Then again, alums don't always work out. We'll have to see how it plays out. May be the first time we've had two alums on staff since the Eliot or even Zuppke era?

I don't think a passion for a school necessarily makes you a good recruiter, nor do I think he was hired because of his alumni membership. I think he was hired because he did a good job recruiting guys on campus for the past year and got along well with the rest of the staff.

BZuppke · Feb 18, 2013, 09:36 AM

To answer my own history question JC Caroline coached under Valek both of whom were alums. John Easterbrook coached with them as well. I think he also was an alum. The only other alums to coach for us since then I believe were Rick George under Mike White and Colby under Mackovic.

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BZuppke

To answer my own history question JC Caroline coached under Valek both of whom were alums. John Easterbrook coached with them as well. I think he also was an alum. The only other alums to coach for us since then I believe were Rick George under Mike White and Colby under Mackovic.

How could you forget Luke Butkus under Beckman?

Juice · Feb 18, 2013, 09:49 AM

Another Meh hire.

ChiCityIllini · Feb 18, 2013, 10:30 AM

Colby and Bellamy are perfect hires for the one and done scheme. Since they are alum and have roots - they are more likely to stick around after Beckman gets his walking papers in November and maybe hold together whatever recruiting class is committed at that point until new coach starts.

illynifan34 · Feb 18, 2013, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiCityIllini

Colby and Bellamy are perfect hires for the one and done scheme. Since they are alum and have roots - they are more likely to stick around after Beckman gets his walking papers in November and maybe hold together whatever recruiting class is committed at that point until new coach starts.

This makes sense, I'm sure Beckman thought about what would be best for Illinois after he gets fired.

:rolleyes:

Juice · Feb 18, 2013, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illynifan34

This makes sense, I'm sure Beckman thought about what would be best for Illinois after he gets fired.

:rolleyes:

:laugh:

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juice

Another Meh hire.

Yes, even if Bellamy turns out to be a good recruiter it is likely it will take time to get him up an running since he hasn't been a D1 coach.

What I see is Beckman making very safe hires across the board. One way to look at this is Beckman learning from his mistakes. But this could also be a Guenther-type situation where every hire was the polar opposite of the previous hire. Tepper couldn't find an offensive coordinator so RG hired Turner, an offensive coordinator. Turner couldn't recruit, so RG hired Ron Zook, a recruiter.

Warriors1994 · Feb 18, 2013, 11:29 AM

Well for what it is worth I have seen several players tweet about how happy they are with the hire, including Hermisillo and Hardee.

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warriors1994

Well for what it is worth I have seen several players tweet about how happy they are with the hire, including Hermisillo and Hardee.

I don't think they would have hired him if Bellamy didn't relate well to players. And given his current role on the staff, he would know both incoming recruits and current players. Let's hope this works out.

PaytonHighstep · Feb 18, 2013, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juice

Another Meh hire.

Who would you like to have seen hired as our WR coach?

BobtheBarber2 · Feb 18, 2013, 12:23 PM

I think there are a few posters on this site that have equivalent resumes (playing experience excepted). This is the best "they" could do finding a coach, so we'll sit back and see what happens. I'm sure he was the first choice all along :laugh:

Now do we get excited waiting to see who the new Associate Recruiting Coordinator will be, or will they just lump that in with his new responsibilities?

Win or lose, I hope he makes a ton of money while he's here.

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaytonHighstep

Who would you like to have seen hired as our WR coach?

Beatty?

In all seriousness, you would like to bring in (a) someone who has coached D1 football, and (b) a proven, high level recruiter.

PaytonHighstep · Feb 18, 2013, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

Beatty?

In all seriousness, you would like to bring in (a) someone who has coached D1 football, and (b) a proven, high level recruiter.

hahahaha.

It just seems we are really critical of these hires and many times I would guess that very few people actually know anything about these coaches. I think people want a "name" coach from a storied program and frankly that isn't going to happen.

I was just wondering why this was a "meh hire"?

From all reports TB was happy with his work last season recruiting on campus and maybe he thinks that can translate out into the big boy world of recruiting. I would think TB and Bellamy have had conversations regarding coaching WR's and philosophies.

I am not saying it is a home run hire, but I am ok with it. This is the continuity that some have been calling for isn't it? Hire/promote from within and develop your coaches and players so it pays off for Illinois and not another program.

We will see.

Groundhogday · Feb 18, 2013, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaytonHighstep

I was just wondering why this was a "meh hire"?

How many high major programs (B1G, SEC, PAC12, Big12, ACC) hire assistant coaches with NO D1 coaching experience and minimal coaching experience at any level? There are a few top high school coaches plucked to join college staffs every year, but Bellamy wasn't even a top high school coach (3 years experience, most of that part time.)

This hire may work out, but it isn't hard to see why folks aren't doing cartwheels.

AHSIllini32 · Feb 18, 2013, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

Yes, even if Bellamy turns out to be a good recruiter it is likely it will take time to get him up an running since he hasn't been a D1 coach.

What I see is Beckman making very safe hires across the board. One way to look at this is Beckman learning from his mistakes. But this could also be a Guenther-type situation where every hire was the polar opposite of the previous hire. Tepper couldn't find an offensive coordinator so RG hired Turner, an offensive coordinator. Turner couldn't recruit, so RG hired Ron Zook, a recruiter.

There are aspects of that to be sure (i.e. hiring a guy like Cubit with tons of experience to replace two guys in Beatty and Gonzo who had virtually none) but in Cubit's case he also comes with being a good recruiter. So while there is the Guenther, lets-do-the-opposite approach, each of the new coaches also offers more than just the opposite of the guys they replaced.

pizzaman · Feb 18, 2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trevdv

So... do we like this hire? Seems like he has very little experience, but very strong ties to Illinois. Good hire?

I say yes! (but I'm a hopeless homer and know nothing about his ability to coach or recruit.)

Feb 18, 2013, 08:51 AM	#2
Groundhogday Posts: 18,074	Bellamy was our Associate Recruiting Coordinator in 2012. Bellamy coached HS ball for three years in GA, then one year at a small college in GA before joining the Illinois staff. http://www.fightingillini.com/ Can he recruit? I guess we'll find out. He has been on staff for a year and is an Illinois alumnus, so this is probably a safe hire. __________________ ONLY ORANGE!

Feb 18, 2013, 09:04 AM	#6
trevdv Location: Champaign Posts: 2,570	So... do we like this hire? Seems like he has very little experience, but very strong ties to Illinois. Good hire? __________________ That's a winner! http://www.youtube.com/user/97illinifan

Feb 18, 2013, 10:30 AM	#13
ChiCityIllini Posts: 25	One and done Colby and Bellamy are perfect hires for the one and done scheme. Since they are alum and have roots - they are more likely to stick around after Beckman gets his walking papers in November and maybe hold together whatever recruiting class is committed at that point until new coach starts.

Feb 18, 2013, 09:01 AM	#3
SCillini Posts: 352	On the plus side he's an alum who had a great season in his one year at UI. No major college coaching experience has to be a concern. I'm sure he knows the position, but how successful will he be recruiting? Time will tell, just not sure how much time this staff will have.

Feb 18, 2013, 09:02 AM	#4
GilThorpe Location: Hinsdale Posts: 854	this is good news. in my opinion, this is the kind of hire we needed. Sure, I wish he had a little more experience at coaching, but this is a position where recruiting is very important. I will predict he will be a good recruiter off campus I wasnt too excited about Woods.

Feb 18, 2013, 09:04 AM	#5
FeelYourPaign Location: Barrington, IL Posts: 2,294	Its a plus for Mike either way, as he starts down the path of having real job experience. Like that he is an alum. Doubt that our choice of WR coach is going to affect the length of Beckman's contract either way, in that I think he will win with the guys that they have sufficiently to be renewed or he will be gone before any WR (read recruiting) coach can have an impact. Feels fine to me. For the $.03 that is worth

Feb 18, 2013, 09:17 AM	#8
BZuppke Location: Plainfield Posts: 153	You never know how these things turn out. Certainly he has a passion for Illinois football which should make him a good recruiter. Then again, alums don't always work out. We'll have to see how it plays out. May be the first time we've had two alums on staff since the Eliot or even Zuppke era?

Feb 18, 2013, 09:36 AM	#10
BZuppke Location: Plainfield Posts: 153	To answer my own history question JC Caroline coached under Valek both of whom were alums. John Easterbrook coached with them as well. I think he also was an alum. The only other alums to coach for us since then I believe were Rick George under Mike White and Colby under Mackovic.

Feb 18, 2013, 09:49 AM	#12
Juice Posts: 1,536	Another Meh hire.

Feb 18, 2013, 11:29 AM	#17
Warriors1994 Posts: 609	Well for what it is worth I have seen several players tweet about how happy they are with the hire, including Hermisillo and Hardee.

Feb 18, 2013, 12:23 PM	#20
BobtheBarber2 Posts: 205	I think there are a few posters on this site that have equivalent resumes (playing experience excepted). This is the best "they" could do finding a coach, so we'll sit back and see what happens. I'm sure he was the first choice all along :laugh: Now do we get excited waiting to see who the new Associate Recruiting Coordinator will be, or will they just lump that in with his new responsibilities? Win or lose, I hope he makes a ton of money while he's here.