Yep, I think he & Griffin are good developmental OTs. This is the depth that we needed to add for the '21 season.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Yep, I think he & Griffin are good developmental OTs. This is the depth that we needed to add for the '21 season.
FT35
- Naperville
That makes it 7. How many more to go?
After all the hand wringing and doom and gloom proclamations, looks like the Illini well close the month with only one less recruit than last year at this tine. And while 247 has them with last place class in conference, their average recruit rating is on par with last year’s final average and has them ranked 7 in B1G. Staff seems to have a plan and it’s working.
Very pleased with the talent the stuff is bringing in. Huge athletes that I believe will turn into solid players quickly
blackdog
- Champaign
And these events seem to be a big part of the plan. I love the idea or getting all these recruits on campus at once and really solidifying the family atmosphere. That seems to be a big part of what the commits talk about.
UM too had a similar BBQ, I think while we were having ours.
Like other events (homecoming), this too will spread among other schools, if it has not already.
That's a dope name.
I still have my doubts about Lovie and some on his staff wish he would do some stuff differently but I will say they are upgrading the talent.
8 scholarships left with no attrition
I don’t have doubts about Lovie. I’m not sure he will be coaching here in 3 years. But, I think that most of his problems stem from learning the college game (and recruiting) on the fly. He is making adjustments and things are getting better. But he still has to tweak his defense and he hasn’t had a sufficient roster to field a solid defense. it’s not clear that he will have enough time to make the necessary adjustments to his scheme to win.
As for disappointment, Everyone has an opinion when there’s no winning. Win 10 games and all of that will disappear.
Where are you getting the scholarship number? Werner has a grid on 247, but with a quick look it doesn’t look very accurate, seems like it had Peters as a senior, but the USC guys as jrs., Hanson as a senior. What is the best grid or did you just use the roster? Makes me appreciate @rbachhuber & the b-ball grid.
Deleted member 649710
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While the volume of recruits isn’t quite there, I agree that the quality of athletes in the classes of 2019 & 2020 (incl transfers) is solidly middle of the pack for the BIG, which bodes well for the future.
That said, even if Frenchie commits, they are still going to need to find probably 10 more quality athletes to fill the roster (anticipating some attrition), and there’s not a lot of kids left undecided. Gonna need to flip a couple and/or find a couple under the radar guys.
Of course, this whole thing will blow up if the defense doesn’t improve and Lovie gets canned. Fingers crossed.
That said, even if Frenchie commits, they are still going to need to find probably 10 more quality athletes to fill the roster (anticipating some attrition), and there’s not a lot of kids left undecided. Gonna need to flip a couple and/or find a couple under the radar guys.
Of course, this whole thing will blow up if the defense doesn’t improve and Lovie gets canned. Fingers crossed.
Differently how?
Deleted member 656517
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I wonder if The “smoking” Blaise commitment only came now since Tylers commitment and Pogorelc’s recent enthusiasm; How many o-lineman can we take in this class? Man I love it when recruiting’s on fire.... Was a real drag a month ago
Recruiting philosophy or approach....and defensively
Just watched Blaise's Hudl highlights, and I am unsure how the 247 evaluator came up with his low 3-star ranking. I understand that some of the guys he pancakes in the video are small, but he:
-Has great flexibility for his size (e.g. stance looks very natural, he is comfortable)
-Enjoys finishing plays with some nasty
-Moves fairly quickly for a lineman that big
Some of the negatives include the typical high school OL problems such as high pad level. I am confident that McClain and coach Lou can get that fixed and improve his agility and strength significantly. His film coupled with his size seem to read more as a mid 3-star to me, similar to Griffin's ranking and perhaps even higher at a solid .86 in 247's system.
-Has great flexibility for his size (e.g. stance looks very natural, he is comfortable)
-Enjoys finishing plays with some nasty
-Moves fairly quickly for a lineman that big
Some of the negatives include the typical high school OL problems such as high pad level. I am confident that McClain and coach Lou can get that fixed and improve his agility and strength significantly. His film coupled with his size seem to read more as a mid 3-star to me, similar to Griffin's ranking and perhaps even higher at a solid .86 in 247's system.
OL rankings are tough and inaccurate. There is still a year or two of development before they are serviceable, so generally it is better to be excited about the potential than to focus on the ranking. I’ve read that he is raw and quick footed, more likely to provide minutes his junior and senior year.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
This. Sparks is a good recovery from losing Jalen St. John. 3 OL adds: sorely needed. 1 more left? Think so.
Deleted member 236589
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I don't think(and it's just my opinion), that under any circumstances, Lovie gets canned for AT LEAST three more years and even then it would require three absolutely BRUTAL seasons....of the 2-10 variety. Since Zook(with Locksley), we have not had a pipeline to anywhere with legitimate DI talent. He's established relationships in the St. Louis area, but also Texas and Florida as well. Any termination or hint of termination would blow all that up and they'd have to start from scratch, which would start the clock on another three years of "transition" unless one of HIS GUYS is promoted within.
I know people want to win(as do I), but I'm not quite sure people truly understand the train wreck he took over, from below sub par talent to sub par facilities. This has literally been a complete overhaul and rebuild.
Another fact is, this team has improved every year under his watch. From 0 to 2 to 4 wins.
Also, he's holding his guys accountable, which is more that we can say about some of the previous regimes. The issues stay in house and are dealt with accordingly.
If you're Wittman, this is your guy. You're riding this out until it is so apparent that we have a complete dumpster fire on our hands, you absolutely have no choice but to make a change and quite frankly, Lovie comes across as a guy that would step down before that would happen.
Again, just my opinion, but he's our guy for the long haul....and he knows it. Now, his coordinators...that might be a different story.
I was thinking the same. What scared me with his tape was how little they showed him in a pass set. Not sure if that is the offense they ran or what. Feet seem a little clunky laterally. Needs to clean his weight up which will happen. You can't coach length and nasty. I hope we take at least 1 more offensive lineman.
I’m obviously not a college football coach, and don’t know much about football anyway. But in my ignorance I kinda like how his recruiting works. I don’t mind having so few commitments compared to others when we have so few decommitments. I also like that it appears he’s bringing in more athletes than we’ve had, even if they’re raw and sometimes small with a lot to learn.
Xs and Os on defense I absolutely can’t speak on for football but at the least we have a college aged team this year as opposed to a prep school/juco team. It seems like it’s put up or shut up time on his philosophies vs college offenses.
Finally, it’s probably good he has people on his staff that disagree with him. Multiple viewpoints generally helps create more ideas which probably isn’t a bad thing.
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