Football Coaching Staff / Coaching Carousel Thread
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Ryllini
- Lombard
True, but take out his first two years of the rebuild and he was essentially a .500 coach for us. Also, if i remember correctly, wasn’t Mike Thomas chomping at the bit for any reason to fire the guy in 2011? I remember hearing stories of absolutely no support, even after starting 6-0 from MT and the Zooker and the boys collapsed. There was still plenty of talent on those teams. I wish Zook never would’ve been fired.
And that could be Lovie, right? As far as adapting to the college game, his first OC wasn't good enough. He went out and got what appears to be the right guy. Most improved offense in the B1G. If Rod Smith can develop a consistent QB from Rivers, Robinson, or Williams and Lovie makes a similar hire on defense then we can finally get this thing rolling.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
For sure. There can be no doubt of his qualifications. If he didn't understand the job when he took it, he certainly understands it now. Whether the plan is well crafted and whether he has the fire in his belly left to see it through remain open questions.
But if he gets another year, we have a real chance to be much, much better and that's where the hopes and the expectations should be. Whatever way it goes you've just got to keep grinding.
Basically the same except his teams won 14 games his last two years and Turner's won 4.
And we still have yet to field a team as good as the team the year Zook got fired.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Ouch. Pretty strong stuff
Illinifan533
- Normal, Illinois
Kingsbury has supposedly been on the hot seat for the last 3 years and nothing has happened. They were competing with Oklahoma before their outstanding freshman QB was knocked out by a freak injury and I don't believe he's come back at all, coinciding with their losing streak. I get that it's football crazy Texas but I don't believe they expect as much at Tech.
So when do we get the Brock Spack for DC train rolling?
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
That extension last offseason was very, very stupid.
I agree emphatically with this. Yes, Lovie needs to add a goodDC. For those of you who want to start over with a new coaching staff, do you think we'd get an upgrade at OC? Is there some magical pied piper HC who will turn Champaign into an national destination overnight? I'm tired of the "magic beans" approach to college football.
Our woes this year have been clearly personnel related. And those personnel woes are primarily youth/depth related.
We do not have a Big Ten caliber receiving corps. Full stop. Our current QB play is not Big Ten caliber. Rivers and/or others on the roster may mature into top flight quarterbacks, but 2018 QB play was unequal to the conference. There's no way to scheme around that. Our players on defense are getting manhandled by bigger and stronger upperclassmen. 18 and 19 year-olds against 21 year-olds is a case of boys against men. Has there EVER been a competitive program that relied primarily on underclassmen? It's almost impossible to scheme your way out of an athleticism deficit.
Whether the Lovie era ends in failure or success, I at least want to see this experiment all the way through. Until we see what Lovie can do with upperclassmen, we still don't know.
Problem is that personnel issues are the responsibility of the head coach. He decided early on he wanted his unproven, small, inexperienced freshman to play instead of the inherited players. That's on him. When you decide to play an out of shape freshman at left tackle instead of a guy that has since made an NFL roster, that's on you. When you decide to go completely young on the defense, that's on you. There's upperclassmen, proven starters at SMU, Miami, and Maryland that were deemed not good enough here. That's an upperclassmen at each level of the defense that was forced out of the program. Lovie has had 2 full classes, and a number of inherited players, to fill in the glaring holes in his roster. He hasn't done that yet.
Also, if you choose to go young, you better develop the young talent. If anything, this season has shown a step backward since last year for the majority of the team. Even if you go young, there is no excuse for the product on the field. We have lost our B1G games by an average of over 40 points. Beyond noncompetitive.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I think there's a lot of truth in both of those perspectives. And that there are 12 million reasons why the former will win out over the latter at the end of the day.
He’s not leaving. Especially not for a dead end DC position w/ a lame duck HC.
the national
- the Front Range
but but but we have alot of money to offer!
I kinda wonder how difficult the buy out actually is. There’s a lot going on in that contract. The buyout is in the form of monthly payments, not lump sum. Lovie has a $1 million retention bonus hitting Jan 1. And a $4 mil salary next season.
If we were to make a change, I can nearly guarantee it won’t be to a coach requiring 5 mil a year. Most likely around 2.5-3. There’s a lot of offsets that could go on. No doubt it would be expensive but not impossible. Maybe you try to strike a lump sum deal at like 8 mil to allow him to resign and take it all at once instead of waiting out all the payments and being “fired.” I just think it’s clear Lovie is not the answer and the only hold up is the money. When that’s the case, you do everything you can to make it happen.
Deleted member 654622
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On this Thanksgiving eve, I would like to give thanks that our AD is not persuaded nor as "knee jerking" as the majority of our fan base. Lovie Smith is the best coach we have had here in a long time. Did you not think there was going to be an adjustment period for him at the college game?
We did not have enough recruiters on this coaching staff at the beginning. Did Lovie adjust?
The offense was crap last year. Did Lovie adjust?
The defense is crap this year. Now everyone thinks Lovie isn't going to adjust.
Don't care how good of a player you are. If you are a POS and will influence the young talent in a negative way, there is the door. The seniors that stayed, Nick Allegretti, DudeK, are the types of players you want as role models for your young players. This roster needs to mature to the point of having an Allegretti in every position group. Did Lovie put himself in this roster position, yes. Are you not going to let him show us the finished product?
Getting dominated sucks and is disheartening. When these kids sacks drop, it will be a different result.
We did not have enough recruiters on this coaching staff at the beginning. Did Lovie adjust?
The offense was crap last year. Did Lovie adjust?
The defense is crap this year. Now everyone thinks Lovie isn't going to adjust.
Don't care how good of a player you are. If you are a POS and will influence the young talent in a negative way, there is the door. The seniors that stayed, Nick Allegretti, DudeK, are the types of players you want as role models for your young players. This roster needs to mature to the point of having an Allegretti in every position group. Did Lovie put himself in this roster position, yes. Are you not going to let him show us the finished product?
Getting dominated sucks and is disheartening. When these kids sacks drop, it will be a different result.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Um. Not really.
Deleted member 654622
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Guest
Um really
Rod Smith, Austin Clark, Cory Patterson are all new to the coaching staff and all get after it hard in recruiting.
Well, everyone who followed his Monday morning press conference, which apparently wasn't you, thinks that.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Rod has filled the QB room just fine, but that's not ultimately why he's here.
Clark and Patterson had a combined 0 years of experience in college recruiting.
We have the 12th ranked recruiting class in the conference and our CB and LB coaches are currently Lovie's kid and nobody, respectively.
If Lovie adjusted, he needs to re-adjust.
Deleted member 654622
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What did he say that was false?
Nothing false, just that "The [defensive] system is proven." Interpret that how you want, but I'm pretty sure everyone else takes that as he isn't going to adjust.
Deleted member 654622
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Guest
What? Who cares how much experience they have currently. Do they have connections and were they brought here mainly because of recruiting? Yes
Are they opening recruiting doors we currently did not have? Yes.
The "nobody" and Lovie's kid are both temporary spots.
The three I listed are all full time hires and have been recruiting hard core.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Again, 12th ranked class in the conference. Which is better, in fairness, than the rank in the conference of the team on the field.
I think Lovie is a great coach and a great person and I would love for him to succeed here and despite everything I still think there's a chance he can. But his tenure so far has been a total failure from top to bottom, and I don't think it serves anybody to pretend otherwise.
This week's F/+ ratings are out by the way. We dropped to 112th, -41.3%. Now below Kansas.
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