2019-20 Coaching Discussion/Carousel

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#126      
I wont spend time finding it but i told you so.... When Lovie became the HC/DC and Miles was bumped up to linebacker coach,
the handwriting was on the wall. That was his and Whitman's chance to hire a real live DC from the college ranks to turn us around.
I was pretty pissed then and when Lovie told us last Saturday that "he'd seen some good things" in our 2-1 start while giving up 480
yards to a mediocre EMU team, I was incredulous. I can't image how our AD can stand by and let it go on. I've been a 15 year season
ticket holder, I'm this close to quitting on the team if they quit on us this week. Maybe Whitman hopes for Lovie to decide to walk
away and negotiates a golden parachute.
 
#127      

Deleted member 654622

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Sadly, the time to take that step was at the end of last season. He didn't, so now this experiment of coaching the defense himself needs to work this season, or Lovie's time has run out.

I'll admit that it's a massive challenge to improve this defense, with the injuries in the secondary and the introduction of many new faces. But Lovie is the one who decided he could take that on as a part-time job, and so now it all falls at his feet and there's really no runway left at the end of this season.
I agree that was the best time. And to be frank, there is still time for him to prove us wrong. I wont hold my breath. But as a man, regardless if your going to be fired or not, make the correct necessary moves and control your house. If Josh fires him, no one should be shocked or upset, including Lovie. If he doesn't fire him, we shouldn't lose any of those recruiting inroads were trying to strengthen, shouldn't lose players on our current roster, and will be filled with hope that a college DC will put some hustle behind the talented muscle.
 
#128      
I think Lovie is a great person and influence on young athletes.
If he sees he's not the man for the job, he won't stand in the way
of Illinois moving on.
 
#129      
I don't understand why anyone is sitting around waiting for Whitman to can Lovie. It won't ever happen. Lovie is staying here through thick and thin and will only leave this job if he walks away on his own. Whitman tied himself to Lovie and let's face it- if he's fired, who is coming here? No one. And anyone that will agree to come here will be a coach that is either from a small school and in over their head (the Beckman recipe) or an assistant coach with no head coaching experience. Unless you find a needle in a haystack, any replacement is likely not going to be in a position to compete in the Big 10 and the cycle of terribility (I made that up) continues.
 
#130      
I don't understand why anyone is sitting around waiting for Whitman to can Lovie. It won't ever happen. Lovie is staying here through thick and thin and will only leave this job if he walks away on his own. Whitman tied himself to Lovie and let's face it- if he's fired, who is coming here? No one. And anyone that will agree to come here will be a coach that is either from a small school and in over their head (the Beckman recipe) or an assistant coach with no head coaching experience. Unless you find a needle in a haystack, any replacement is likely not going to be in a position to compete in the Big 10 and the cycle of terribility (I made that up) continues.


So to immediately counter your point...

Kansas got Les Miles.
Kansas.

We are a better destination than Kansas. There are good coaches that will see this as a great opportunity to be successful and prove themselves. Even if it is a retread like Les.
 
#131      
I don't understand why anyone is sitting around waiting for Whitman to can Lovie. It won't ever happen. Lovie is staying here through thick and thin and will only leave this job if he walks away on his own. Whitman tied himself to Lovie and let's face it- if he's fired, who is coming here? No one. And anyone that will agree to come here will be a coach that is either from a small school and in over their head (the Beckman recipe) or an assistant coach with no head coaching experience. Unless you find a needle in a haystack, any replacement is likely not going to be in a position to compete in the Big 10 and the cycle of terribility (I made that up) continues.

I don't agree. While the Illinois job isn't as attractive as many P5 jobs, $4-5M a year is a pretty big carrot. To use Jeff Monken as an example, Illinois could quadruple his present salary. That would be a pretty nice raise. I think the key is going to be finding a candidate that we want, but someone who isn't the hottest name on the coaching list (Chip Long, for example).

So I'm not worried about finding someone to take the job. And I think Whitman will make a decent choice, just as he did with Lovie. I liked the Lovie hire, but was concerned whether he'd be able to have success in the college game. I think this season is going to provide ample evidence that he's not the right choice for us moving forward. But I don't look at his hiring as a terrible blunder, like the Beckman hire was. Lovie is a respectable, decent guy who represents the university well. He's going to leave the program in a better state than it was when he arrived. I'll always appreciate everything he's done for this program. It's been really nice to have a non-clownish, thoughtful guy in the job. Now let's go take the next step, and find someone that can take us up another notch.
 
#133      
Some ideas of where to go next if Lovie does not get to 5-6 wins:

Rod Smith OC Illinois: Less Transfers, he hires someone that can coach defense in 2019
Bush Hamdan, OC Washington: Great QB coach, budding OC, young could bring alot of energy, but no coach coach experience
Ricky Rahne OC Penn St: Steal Penn St, get a competent offense and recruiting.
Kevin Wilson OC Ohio State: Did ok at Indiana, got fired for mistreatment, probably a no
Josh Heupel HC UCF: Doubtful we could get him, but get Florida and Missouri connections in recruiting and great offense
Todd Monken HC Army: I think we would win more games, but probably heavy transfers first year
Blake Anderson HC Arkansas St: #73 in S&P+ at this school, pretty good compared to talent
Mike Norvell HC Memphis: Impressive record for talent.
Dave Aranda DC LSU: SEC ties and proven record
Graham Harrell OC USC: Great Air Raid offense, but I bet USC hires him as HC this year.
Chip Kelly HC UCLA: Probably canned after this season, but would bring in some excitement at least.
Bret Bielema AC Patriots: Did well at Wisky, ok at Arkansas
Lane Kiffin HC FAU: We can make Saban mad at least.

Probably missed a bunch, but just some ideas of where we could go, who I think is possible.
 
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#134      
Some ideas of where to go next if Lovie does not get to 5-6 wins:

Rod Smith OC Illinois: Less Transfers, he hires someone that can coach defense in 2019
Bush Hamdan, OC Washington: Great QB coach, budding OC, young could bring alot of energy, but no coach coach experience
Ricky Rahne OC Penn St: Steal Penn St, get a competent offense and recruiting.
Kevin Wilson OC Ohio State: Did ok at Indiana, got fired for mistreatment, probably a no
Josh Heupel HC UCF: Doubtful we could get him, but get Florida and Missouri connections in recruiting and great offense
Todd Monken HC Army: I think we would win more games, but probably heavy transfers first year
Blake Anderson HC Arkansas St: #73 in S&P+ at this school, pretty good compared to talent
Mike Norvell HC Memphis: Impressive record for talent.
Dave Aranda DC LSU: SEC ties and proven record
Graham Harrell OC USC: Great Air Raid offense, but I bet USC hires him as HC this year.
Chip Kelly HC UCLA: Probably canned after this season, but would bring in some excitement at least.

Probably missed a bunch, but just some ideas of where we could go, who I think is possible.

This is not a promising list. I guess give me Norvell or Harrell or Monken if I had to pick from these.
 
#135      

Deleted member 654622

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I am sure there will be a contingent of fans that would like Rod to be promoted. I am not one of them. Although I do want him to stay and maintain his Offense. That is why I am hoping for a defensive minded HC. I think Rod could be good in the future. But this is only his second full year running an offense by his lonesome and has admittedly made some mistakes. I think the additional HC duties would be a big burden while still cutting his teeth as OC.
 
#136      
This is not a promising list. I guess give me Norvell or Harrell or Monken if I had to pick from these.

I think we will improve with most of these, but how much is the question. I like the idea of Aranda and if he keeps Rod Smith, it could be a fast start. Harrell or another Air Raid coach would be fun also to watch. Like a Seth Littrell HC, North Texas possibly.
 
#137      
I'd like to see a new HC retain Rod Smith as well, but I just can't picture that happening. It seems like new HC's want to bring in their own guys.

We all remember Beckman failing to get down on his knees and beg Vic Koenning to stay as his DC.

I sure miss Koenning's defenses ... and his interviews.
 
#138      
I don't understand why anyone is sitting around waiting for Whitman to can Lovie. It won't ever happen. Lovie is staying here through thick and thin and will only leave this job if he walks away on his own. Whitman tied himself to Lovie and let's face it- if he's fired, who is coming here? No one. And anyone that will agree to come here will be a coach that is either from a small school and in over their head (the Beckman recipe) or an assistant coach with no head coaching experience. Unless you find a needle in a haystack, any replacement is likely not going to be in a position to compete in the Big 10 and the cycle of terribility (I made that up) continues.

Not trying to attack you here, but this is the mentality that holds us down. The University of Illinois can be a destination position. With a top 20 salary, money can attract a quality candidate. We also have a brand new facility that coaches would love to get their hands on. Young coordinators are hungry to prove themselves, veteran coaches will like the money factor (if U of I will open the purse strings again). New energy can bring this program back to respectability. If we want to play with the big boys, then we need to think like the big boys. Shoot for the stars and hopefully land on the moon! I know we have failed in the past hiring coaches, does that mean we give up and accept being a lower tier program that our own message board constantly pokes fun of? Not for me, Go ILLINI!
 
#140      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
Sadly, the time to take that step was at the end of last season. He didn't, so now this experiment of coaching the defense himself needs to work this season, or Lovie's time has run out.

I'll admit that it's a massive challenge to improve this defense, with the injuries in the secondary and the introduction of many new faces. But Lovie is the one who decided he could take that on as a part-time job, and so now it all falls at his feet and there's really no runway left at the end of this season.

Whitman did what a good AD does, which is allow their head coach to run the program on the head coach's terms. The AD provides the resources and logistical support, and the head coach makes the decisions.

This is what Lovie has chosen to do, and if it doesn't work, Lovie is the one who's accountable.

There is absolutely no point to having Lovie Smith be a checked-out CEO with no input on his own defense. He adds no value in that scenario, it's time to move on.

That being distinct from Ron Zook, who at least passed the straight face test as recruiter-in-chief after 2009. A shaky, weird situation, but one with some justification.

The only justification for neutering Lovie's power over the defense is "he needs to not be fired so I don't have to admit defeat on the message boards".
 
#141      
Whitman did what a good AD does, which is allow their head coach to run the program on the head coach's terms. The AD provides the resources and logistical support, and the head coach makes the decisions.

This is what Lovie has chosen to do, and if it doesn't work, Lovie is the one who's accountable.

There is absolutely no point to having Lovie Smith be a checked-out CEO with no input on his own defense. He adds no value in that scenario, it's time to move on.
I would go one step further and say that taking away Lovie's authority over his staff would likely be more damaging to our subsequent coaching searches than firing him outright. Firing a guy who was 13-35 makes sense, but micromanagement from your AD is a nightmare scenario.
 
#142      
Some ideas of where to go next if Lovie does not get to 5-6 wins:

Rod Smith OC Illinois: Less Transfers, he hires someone that can coach defense in 2019
Bush Hamdan, OC Washington: Great QB coach, budding OC, young could bring alot of energy, but no coach coach experience
Ricky Rahne OC Penn St: Steal Penn St, get a competent offense and recruiting.
Kevin Wilson OC Ohio State: Did ok at Indiana, got fired for mistreatment, probably a no
Josh Heupel HC UCF: Doubtful we could get him, but get Florida and Missouri connections in recruiting and great offense
Todd Monken HC Army: I think we would win more games, but probably heavy transfers first year
Blake Anderson HC Arkansas St: #73 in S&P+ at this school, pretty good compared to talent
Mike Norvell HC Memphis: Impressive record for talent.
Dave Aranda DC LSU: SEC ties and proven record
Graham Harrell OC USC: Great Air Raid offense, but I bet USC hires him as HC this year.
Chip Kelly HC UCLA: Probably canned after this season, but would bring in some excitement at least.
Bret Bielema AC Patriots: Did well at Wisky, ok at Arkansas
Lane Kiffin HC FAU: We can make Saban mad at least.

Probably missed a bunch, but just some ideas of where we could go, who I think is possible.

That list doesn't inspire me. Norvell and Heupel are the only ones I like. Don't know much about Anderson other than his wife just passed away. Big no on Chip Kelly. He had his success when he was ahead of the curve offensively. Now that others have caught up he's a below average coach. Surprised to see Rahne on the list. This is his first year as OC. Is he known as a great recruiter?
 
#143      
One name I haven't seen mentioned is Matt Ruhle. I don't know much about him except he had a decent run at Temple and now seems to be having some success digging Baylor out of the hole they were in. Looking at his Wiki page, he's 44. Went 28-23 at Temple, but 20-7 his last two years there. Baylor went 1-11 in his first season there and then 7-6 and beat Vandy in a bowl game last year. They're 2-0 this year. He isn't a Texas guy -- from East Coast -- and played at Penn St., so BIG HC job could be appealing.
 
#144      
One name I haven't seen mentioned is Matt Ruhle. I don't know much about him except he had a decent run at Temple and now seems to be having some success digging Baylor out of the hole they were in. Looking at his Wiki page, he's 44. Went 28-23 at Temple, but 20-7 his last two years there. Baylor went 1-11 in his first season there and then 7-6 and beat Vandy in a bowl game last year. They're 2-0 this year. He isn't a Texas guy -- from East Coast -- and played at Penn St., so BIG HC job could be appealing.

I thought about including him, but I cannot see a reason you would leave Baylor for Illinois, they would just match salary. He is already making 3.5 million.
 
#145      
If you guys expect us to hire the next Tom Herman, I think your expectations are a little off. WVU got Troy's HC last year, Louisville got App State's. Both programs are in much better condition than ours.

Some interesting hot seat coaches:

Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Matt Luke, Mississippi
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa
Willie Taggart, Florida State
Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee

Program builder:
Bill Clark, UAB
 
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#146      

Deleted member 654622

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If you guys expect us to hire the next Tom Herman, I think your expectations are a little off. WVU got Troy's HC last year, Louisville got App State's. Both programs are in much better condition than ours.

Some interesting hot seat coaches:

Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Matt Luke, Mississippi
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa
Willie Taggart, Florida State
Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee

Program builder:
Bill Clark, UAB
Without looking into Bill Clark, Malzahn would be the only name on that list I would want. And I'm not sure we could land that fish
 
#147      
Without looking into Bill Clark, Malzahn would be the only name on that list I would want. And I'm not sure we could land that fish

He took a dead (literally) UAB program to an 11–3 last year. And I agree, I doubt we can land Malzahn.
 
#148      
I would go one step further and say that taking away Lovie's authority over his staff would likely be more damaging to our subsequent coaching searches than firing him outright. Firing a guy who was 13-35 makes sense, but micromanagement from your AD is a nightmare scenario.

Is refusing to allow nepotism micromanagement?
 
#149      
I get the idea that our D stinks and Lovie owns it. And losing to EMU at home is why we are talking about this. But honestly we are going to have to beat some "average" teams 35-34 or something like that. The D was not good going into this year, lost Beason and Roundtree, and the lost a couple more for the EMU game. I really think the O is going to have to score 35-40 points to beat a decent team this year. I think this loss was a lot more on RSmith than LSmith. Still, the rollover on the last drive was not ideal.
 
#150      
Is refusing to allow nepotism micromanagement?

No. It's just a good policy that can only be overridden by the CEO or the board. In this case Whitman. Clearly Lovie is the responsible party, but Whitman could have stepped in and said no. Or maybe he said yes and threw his chips in with the decision.
 
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