No doubt. If I were fancy with spreadsheets and didn't have a full time job, you better believe I'd get super granular
Big Ten Media Days 2018
No doubt. If I were fancy with spreadsheets and didn't have a full time job, you better believe I'd get super granular
Exactly what I did in January, ha (or attempted to do anyway). Aimed to compare Lovie's "year 0" to Brohm's same.
Breaking down who started games for Lovie in 2016, 72% came from players already on the roster prior to his hire, 5% came from the class signed in Feb '16, 19% came from transfers in (who started not before '16) and 4% came from walk ons.
For Brohm in 2017, 72% of starts came from players already on the roster, 1% came from class signed in Feb '17, 18% came from transfers (who started not before '17), and 9% came from walk ons.
You can slice and dice the numbers endlessly, but my conclusion is that there is a pretty similar mix of starters between the two, yet on field results were very different.
That's great, but if you start getting to player-by-player recruiting rankings, which you could then mix with experience and cross-reference by coaches you could really get a stew going baby.
There is also the difference of the inherited roster. Lovie inherited the hodgepodge, post Beckman/Cubit extension dagger, wreckage that hampered his ability to field a solid team.
Which is why we saw seniors losing starting positions to underclassmen as the year went on.
Brohm inherited what Darrel Hazel was building towards for his 5th year at Purdue. (He got fired after 4 years I believe) so while Brohm brought in some key transfers and Jucos, he also had a solid foundation. One based on consistent recruiting and class balance by one head coach.
That’s getting more granular though.
Lovie inherited more talent than Brohm did, at the same point in the previous cycle. It was Beckman's "5th year" too.
Our 2016 team could have and should have been better. It is what it is, no use crying over spilled milk.
Agreed. Cubit got 5 wins out of a similar roster. Lovie played 1 more Big 10 team in '16 so the schedule mix changed, but I still think the 2016 team under performed.
I agree that the 2016 Illini squad should have been a bit more successful, and Jeff Brohm's squad accomplished much more during his first season, but Brohm inherited two good quarterbacks -- and he needed both of them to win the amount of games that Purdue won last year. Lovie had only the oft-injured Wes Lunt who (in my opinion) was not used properly by Garrick McGee. Moreover, the quarterback cupboard was bare beyond Lunt -- as we all saw this past season.
I don't know why Garrick McGee was fired, but the fact that he failed to promptly recruit (from high school or via transfer) at least a couple of game-ready quarterbacks was -- by itself -- a sufficient basis for his dismissal. We wouldn't have so much uncertainty regarding the upcoming season if we knew that we had at least a decent starter and a decent backup.
I don't know why Garrick McGee was fired, but the fact that he failed to promptly recruit (from high school or via transfer) at least a couple of game-ready quarterbacks was -- by itself -- a sufficient basis for his dismissal. We wouldn't have so much uncertainty regarding the upcoming season if we knew that we had at least a decent starter and a decent backup.
Hazel wasn't building anything of note. His teams were 9-33 on his watch and he was fired mid 2016 (middle of his 4th year). From Feb 2013 thru Feb 2016, Purdue ranked at or near the bottom of Big 10 recruiting. Brohm inherited a roster of 2 and 3 star players. There were no discernable advantages Brohm inherited over Lovie.
Beckman's rosters were filled with lowly ranked recruits and transfers, the latter a big reason why development never seemed to happen.