Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#1,976      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
Cook said:
False or at least unproven assumption. What actual data or evidence supports this notion that Illinois sets up a football player attending undergrad here so much better later in life than these other schools? Reality also being that the whole football team aren't all EE majors. An ex-football player with a Sociology degree from Oklahoma or Alabama may well have better alumni connections, opportunities, and outcomes than they would from U of I.
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Yes, this is an important thing to understand. Those football factories have a deep network of people looking out for their guys, and it's not like an Illinois education is Harvard, it's not wildly more marketable in that way.

Illinois is a terrific opportunity under Lovie Smith and we should sell it with conviction and good faith, no need to denigrate anyone else in the process.
 
#1,977      

thunderwear

thunderwear
thunderwear
MTMinded said:
I really hope that what you say regarding these big donors is not true, because if you speculate it leads to only one conclusion and its bothersome to say the least. If they are big donors and educated about the program then they should be willing to give Lovie the time.
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Many people didn’t like him in Chicago, after all he got fired after a 10-won season. I believe the dislike carries over.

I know a variety of big donors, many love Lovie. Some just love having lovie in their box seats for Chicago sporting events.

In the end winning trumps anything. When Illinois football starts qualifying for bowl games, no one will say anything. Although many of us see his recruiting victories and the player development, others see his record and how poorly we ranked in big recruiting and don’t see a way out. Many think the slow start is not warranted and great coaches come in and win without excuse. Many of us know the team was a dumpster fire. In the end the future is unknown and everyone grabs for clues based on their own bias
 
#1,978      

Ramrod2010

R
Ramrod2010
Cook said:
False or at least unproven assumption. What actual data or evidence supports this notion that Illinois sets up a football player attending undergrad here so much better later in life than these other schools? Reality also being that the whole football team aren't all EE majors. An ex-football player with a Sociology degree from Oklahoma or Alabama may well have better alumni connections, opportunities, and outcomes than they would from U of I.
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I was speaking more to learning about being a player and a person from Lovie Smith, not necessarily that Illinois is the only institution that has a network of people looking out for the players so to speak.
 
#1,979      

SampsonRelpenk

SampsonRelpenk
Edwardsville, IL
SampsonRelpenk
Second and Chalmers said:
I hate to be a conspiracy homer, but the forcefulness and unanimity of this combined with its easily confirmable falsehood smacks of some sort of agenda by some common source of these writers. Who is cozy with the press who would have an interest in falsely portraying Lovie's situation as insecure? And would be enough of a weasel to actually do so?

Total, wild speculation on my part, but two suspects immediately spring to mind, I think you can probably guess who they are.
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I think I have one of them figured out. Wanna spell it out for us? If this isn't the place for wild homer conspiracies then I don't know what is.
 
#1,980      

GForce

GForce
GForce
SampsonRelpenk said:
I think I have one of them figured out. Wanna spell it out for us? If this isn't the place for wild homer conspiracies then I don't know what is.
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I'm thinking of a coach who's competing for our in-state recruits, and with the ethics of a used car salesman.

The other I'm thinking of has a lot more sway over the national sports media, and also looks to the state for top recruits.

Or look at this way. Who are the two most annoying coaches in the B1G.
 
#1,981      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
GForce said:
Or look at this way. Who are the two most annoying coaches in the B1G.
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(y)

Sniping is gonna happen, especially when your down. As Jim Morrison might say, "we've been down so long, that it looks like up to me." Really looking forward to flipping the script. If we get decent offensive play and stay healthy where we're thin, we'll make strides this season. Am expecting big strides in '19.
 
#1,982      

thunderwear

thunderwear
thunderwear
Joel Goodson said:
(y)

Sniping is gonna happen, especially when your down. As Jim Morrison might say, "we've been down so long, that it looks like up to me." Really looking forward to flipping the script. If we get decent offensive play and stay healthy where we're thin, we'll make strides this season. Am expecting big strides in '19.
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Health is the biggest factor... and it is college football, so I think it will take a lot of crossed fingers.
 
#1,984      

lexwaldez

lexwaldez
lexwaldez
Second and Chalmers said:
It's funny, because this is so true, it's becoming the national narrative even above and beyond the idea that he's failing here, even though that is the complete opposite of what the national media were saying when he got hired. They weren't as over the moon as we were about the hire of course, but they were uniformly positive and intrigued.

We'll stuff it all down their throats over the next couple years.
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I'm pretty sure the national media sets people up so that they can tear them down. Why have one news cycle worth viewing when you can build a guaranteed two or three? Remember Tebow going to the NFL? Everyone was touting him as a potential game changer, he was a good Christian, he was a good student, you'd want your daughter to date him and on and on. Then when things went the way they had to go, the media absolutely savaged him. I never liked the guy but I felt sorry for him. As long as people buy into that crap and support it, we'll keep getting it. I think in Lovie's case they're just covering their bases. If he fails, they can say they saw it coming. If he succeeds, they can point to their early support of the hire. I for one, hope that in the next year or two we catch a couple key breaks and turn our program around the right way. Lovie and Co. are putting in a ton of work. Can't wait to see it start to pay off in wins. Our new AD deserves it as well.
 
#1,985      

jaked1121

J
jaked1121
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1029073068201668608
Top 100 Player and Number 8 DT Jacob Bandes will be committing on Friday. He was scheduled for an official visit on Sept 8th but that won't be happening now. I wouldn't rule Illinois out though, as the only official visit he has taken was to Colorado. I think there is a good chance be becomes a duck at Oregon just because he has talked pretty highly of them, I don't know though. Does anyone know more?
 
#1,986      

Illini-Rule

I
Illini-Rule
My daughter's husband's brother's barber said that his cousins neighbor who cuts his dad's bosses hair said Illini all the way! :p
 
#1,988      

GForce

GForce
GForce
How about a virtual OV. A drone's view of the quad in the fall, have one of the DTs take him on a walk through of Kam's on a Saturday night, a personal message from Lovie, etc...

I wonder if they actually do something similar for situations like this.
 
#1,989      

RedRocksIllini

RedRocksIllini
Morrison, CO
RedRocksIllini
jaked1121 said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1029073068201668608
Top 100 Player and Number 8 DT Jacob Bandes will be committing on Friday. He was scheduled for an official visit on Sept 8th but that won't be happening now. I wouldn't rule Illinois out though, as the only official visit he has taken was to Colorado. I think there is a good chance be becomes a duck at Oregon just because he has talked pretty highly of them, I don't know though. Does anyone know more?
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For what little it's worth, both the CU and UW boards seem to feel he is headed to Seattle.
 
#1,991      

IlliniBrave75

IlliniBrave75
IlliniBrave75
I found this very interesting...

Hidden Agenda Generator‏Verified account @DavidHaleESPN 8h8 hours ago
4/5-star recruits over the past 5 years…
Texas - 60
Boston Coll - 4

Record over the past 5 years…
Texas - 31-32
BC - 31-33

NFL Draft picks past 5 years:
Texas - 11
BC - 14
 
#1,992      

Deleted member 631370

D
Guest
Deleted member 631370
IlliniBrave75 said:
I found this very interesting...

Hidden Agenda Generator‏Verified account @DavidHaleESPN 8h8 hours ago
4/5-star recruits over the past 5 years…
Texas - 60
Boston Coll - 4

Record over the past 5 years…
Texas - 31-32
BC - 31-33

NFL Draft picks past 5 years:
Texas - 11
BC - 14
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It proves that recruiting alone doesn't get it done. In all likelihood, most of those 60 Texas blue-chippers were deserving of their ranking, and were indeed more talented than their BC counterpart. But, Charlie Strong just wasn't cut out for that job, and the chemistry was never there.

That said, if you'd give Steve Addazio a roster full of 4*/5* kids, I bet he'd do a hell of a lot better than 31-33.
 
#1,993      

wewillwint

W
wewillwint
IlliniBrave75 said:
I found this very interesting...

Hidden Agenda Generator‏Verified account @DavidHaleESPN 8h8 hours ago
4/5-star recruits over the past 5 years…
Texas - 60
Boston Coll - 4

Record over the past 5 years…
Texas - 31-32
BC - 31-33

NFL Draft picks past 5 years:
Texas - 11
BC - 14
Click to expand...
Now that is amazing, just accepting the numbers as presented. Statistics are hard.
 
#1,995      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
Second and Chalmers said:
Yes, this is an important thing to understand. Those football factories have a deep network of people looking out for their guys, and it's not like an Illinois education is Harvard, it's not wildly more marketable in that way.

Illinois is a terrific opportunity under Lovie Smith and we should sell it with conviction and good faith, no need to denigrate anyone else in the process.
Click to expand...

It is a well known fact that Illinois is the Harvard of East Central Illinois.
 
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