Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Much better comparison. And the utter dumpster fire that Smith inherited far eclipsed his predecessors.
Illini Football 2018
- Status
Much better comparison. And the utter dumpster fire that Smith inherited far eclipsed his predecessors.
Just wanted to see this in the thread again. I'm in no way certain that Lovie is going to succeed, but recruiting is going well by Illini standards and things are looking up. I'm deferring any evaluation of W/L until 2019 were it's bowl or bust.
This is a good point. Even when Illinois has been bad in the past, they've still had players drafted by the NFL. The current stretch of non-drafted players may be unprecedented. It really shows the dearth of talent.
I appreciate your comments. I think this perspective in much more widespread for Illinois fans that don't come on chat boards.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Good point. It's sometimes tough to remember and keep the perspective that most of us on here are the die hardiest (deadest hard?
) of die hard fans. The casual observer who's only drawing conclusions based on what they here from their friends or mainstream media are going to have a much different perspective. I also feel like we've suffered the trials and tribulations, and conversely the rare moments of triumph, a little more than most, so perhaps tempered optimism or pessimism is all many of us have left. That said, better days are coming...eventually. 
All aboard the Littyville Express! 
Per these rankings our recruiting hasn't shown drastic improvement under Lovie:
2019: https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
60th nationally and 13th B10
2018: https://247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
52nd nationally and 12th B10
2017: https://247sports.com/Season/2017-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
46th nationally and 10th B10
2016: https://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
73rd nationally and 13th B10.
2015: https://247sports.com/Season/2015-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
48th nationally and 8th B10.
2014: https://247sports.com/Season/2014-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
72nd nationally and 14th B10.
2013: https://247sports.com/Season/2013-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
51st nationally and 10th B10.
2012: https://247sports.com/Season/2012-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
63rd nationally and 12th B10.
2011: https://247sports.com/Season/2011-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
37th nationally and 8th B10
2010: https://247sports.com/Season/2010-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
61st nationally and 11th B10.
2009: https://247sports.com/Season/2009-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
28th nationally and 5th B10.
2008: https://247sports.com/Season/2008-Football/CompositeTeamRankings
22nd nationally and 3rd B10.
Deleted member 11196
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USF junior quarterback Brett Kean will be suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season due to do academic reasons.
https://www.thedailystampede.com/2018/7/10/17558492/
https://www.thedailystampede.com/2018/7/10/17558492/
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
You missed the Zook era.
Has Lovie's recruitment been an improvement over the Beckman/Cubit era? I would say yes, but it hasn't been a revelation either. Lovie seems to be banking on better scouting, which is tenuous in the long-term. I would argue that many are pinning hopes on Lovie bringing stability to the program (which Beckman/Cubit didn't) and better coaching (than Zook could ever accomplish) than his predecessors. Circling back, the biggest concern for me is that Lovie does need to improve his recruiting. He made some strides in 2017 but took a step back in 2018. Need to win more battles for players like Beason, Williams, Bargy, Billingsley, Cooper, etc. in order to fight the talent disparities against the better B1G teams. I think a 5-7 (or 6-6) season would provide a badly-needed boost on the recruiting trail, showing that he's turning the corner. Just not sure that's possible with this (very) young roster.
Deleted member 654622
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Here is my thought process. We bring in Lovie Smith. Why? What would be his big sell? Obviously its the "perceived" ability to get players into the NFL. Well the needle will only move from "perceived" to "reality" when it actually starts happening. That is not going to actually start happening for at least 2 more drafts. Until that time, its just a waiting game.
Yep. When Marvin Austin and Melvin Alaeze were walking around campus in Sept. 2006, it was a different vibe. Those were like Top 5 guys in the country and Illinois was coming off a 2 win season.
We're not even in the same ballpark.
The more bad seasons between now and the Rose Bowl appearance, the deeper the hole that we need to climb out of gets. And with that, theoretically, the harder it gets to be successful recruiting. So, yes, in a vacuum, Lovie's recruiting classes don't rank all that better than Beckman's and Cubit's. However, considering we have only been getting further and further from relevancy, I would say that Lovie not trending downward in recruiting (and arguably trending upward) shows success in recruiting up to this point.
However, he must continue an upward trajectory in recruiting in order to remain successful and eventually start winning.
However, he must continue an upward trajectory in recruiting in order to remain successful and eventually start winning.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Rutgers' players under investigation for credit card fraud
~10% of scholarship players under investigation, two of them already dismissed. Really bad look for Rutgers. Going to hurt them for this season.
~10% of scholarship players under investigation, two of them already dismissed. Really bad look for Rutgers. Going to hurt them for this season.
While this is always an interesting list, it is incomplete at this time, and misleading to compare our current recruiting score both to years past and other programs until the recruiting year is over. Louie has a different recruiting style. Coaches who get commitments early are rewarded with better scores - at this point in time - because the scores are heavily influenced by volume. The important thing for us to focus on is the average recruit’s score. In 2017 and 2018, the avg was in the 83’s (83.71 and 83.81 respectively). For 2019, we’ve blown through 84 and 85 and currently sit at 86.71, the equivalent of some teams ranked well above us.
Deleted member 654622
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Last edited by a moderator:
Yep. When Marvin Austin and Melvin Alaeze were walking around campus in Sept. 2006, it was a different vibe. Those were like Top 5 guys in the country and Illinois was coming off a 2 win season.
We're not even in the same ballpark.
WHO??? Did Marvin Austin even play? And Alaeze lasted all of one quarter of one game before he did something stupid and went back to Baltimore and for all we know could be in prison or dead.
Zook recruited great, however how many stuck around to actually graduate? Very very few, and that was Zook's biggest downfall.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who asked "Who?"
IlliniFanAtEIU1953
- Rantoul, IL
After reading this I was curious to see what happened to Melvin Alaeze so I did an Internet search and found this information:
DL Melvin Alaeze
Class of 2005, Maryland/Illinois
For the five-star recruit with offers from nearly every major program, it began with histrionics on signing day (tossing a Penn State hat in favor of a Maryland one) and continued when, while playing a year at prep school because he couldn’t qualify academically, Maryland revoked his scholarship after an arrest for marijuana possession. He then signed with Illinois, played in one game, then quit. He was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree assault in 2007.
Here's a link to where I found this info on Melvin Alaeze:
http://http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/news/3885296-college-football-recruiting-busts-all-time-misses-five-star-prospects
Here's another link with info on Melvin Alaeze asking to drop his original plea:
http://http://articles.baltimoresun...-empty-22-caliber-shell-casings-melvin-alaeze
A former Randallstown football star who was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to first-degree assault was back in court Thursday, saying he had been duped into making the plea by a "deficient" defense attorney — Kevin B. Kamenetz, now a Baltimore County Council member who is running for county executive.
I just can't see Josh Whitman making the announcement, "We have decided to go in a new direction and wish Coach Smith all the best." Nope. That would mean all the NFL coaching talent we have as assistants have failed as well, an all would have to leave. Then what?
illini80
- Forgottonia
Idk that Lovie is going to win championships at Illinois. I highly doubt it. But if he could return us to a respectable, if not spectatcular program it would be a great accomplishment.
The number 1 thing Illinois needs is some stability. Unless he falls on his face the next 2 years, I hope we stick with him for the long term.
The number 1 thing Illinois needs is some stability. Unless he falls on his face the next 2 years, I hope we stick with him for the long term.
This x infinity
Deleted member 631370
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Exactly. With Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin in this league -- and Nebraska likely getting better with Frost -- the likelihood of ANYBODY other than those programs winning a title in any given year is pretty low.
But if we can consistently win 7-8 games, that's a huge victory, IMO.
If we're sitting here 3 years from now and we've gone 2-10, 3-9, 3-9 or whatever, then Joe Blow MidMajor has become the better option moving forward and Whitman is professional enough to make that call.
I would be very surprised if that's where we are in three years. But if you arrive there, you see it for what it is, pick up the pieces and move on.
I don’t think lovie is going anywhere. I think we start seeing the program turn around onext year. But, I think this board doesn’t get enough of the non football recruiting followers perspective. People see harbaugh go into Michigan and they are immediately in the national title conversation. When Illinois is not, people that don’t follow recruiting think it is because of poor coaching. Most fans don’t know how bad our team was a few years ago. They don’t know that we didn’t have big talent and they just see losing. Or they see the positive coverage from ESPN and think that means we will be better this upcoming season, not realizing that we still lack at several positions and the youngsters need to put on weight and learn the system. A nontrivial number of people think Lovie losing this season costs him his job (it wouldn’t), but you see it in the national perspective. I just try to alter the conversation so people get what we are looking at.
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