The Illinois Coaching Staff

#76      

FT35

Naperville
Do we know where these new coaches spent their time recruiting at their previous stops? And has it already been determined they'll be focusing on GA/Atl and the like?

Imo, recruiting chops, and the willingness to get out there and do the leg work, is more important than connections in the end. Austin Clark recruited his !!! off without ever doing it before coming here, and as a result helped land some really good players. And if Corey recruited like Gil, all his connections in Stl wouldn't amount to much.

I don't know but this appears to be what is going on from an outsider's perspective, at least as far as Lindsey goes.

Just looking at the state breakdown for WKU's 2020 class, 6 of the commits are from GA:

https://247sports.com/college/western-kentucky/Season/2020-Football/Commits/

It's hard to know who Lindsey was the primary recruiter for since the primary recruiter isn't listed on the profile for a number of recruits but it's pretty clear that he is focused on Georgia since he also coached in that state for a number of years.

One other thing to consider here is that Georgia was/is? the secondary recruiting areas for Bellamy and Patterson. With Lindsey and possibly Davis focusing on Georgia, Bellamy and Patterson could double down on their primary recruiting areas or be used elsewhere.
 
#77      
I don't know but this appears to be what is going on from an outsider's perspective, at least as far as Lindsey goes.

Just looking at the state breakdown for WKU's 2020 class, 6 of the commits are from GA:

https://247sports.com/college/western-kentucky/Season/2020-Football/Commits/

It's hard to know who Lindsey was the primary recruiter for since the primary recruiter isn't listed on the profile for a number of recruits but it's pretty clear that he is focused on Georgia since he also coached in that state for a number of years.

One other thing to consider here is that Georgia was/is? the secondary recruiting areas for Bellamy and Patterson. With Lindsey and possibly Davis focusing on Georgia, Bellamy and Patterson could double down on their primary recruiting areas or be used elsewhere.

the way I understand it, the staff uses a mix of strategies. One is team recruiting. But outside of team recruiting, Patterson and Bellamy will spread their local recruiting area and both will shift more of their time toward their territory. The reason I was given for this is because they saw opportunity and receptiveness in Georgia. And the idea was more connections and knowledge in the area included with effort and focus would bear fruit
 
#78      
I looked at W. KY's last 3 classes and their H.S. recruits (left JC's out of equation) came from:

GA - 21
FL - 10
KY - 9
SC - 4
AL - 3
TN - 3
NC - 2
LA - 2
TX - 1
CA - 1
WA - 1
IL - 1 (from my high school actually)

Not sure what this means being that I'm not sure what Lindsey's geographic area(s) were, but seems likely he'll be spending at least some of his time on GA. Especially given the fact that of the HS defensive linemen recruited during that time frame 6 were from GA, 2 from FL, and 1 each from KY and AL.
 
#79      
the way I understand it, the staff uses a mix of strategies. One is team recruiting. But outside of team recruiting, Patterson and Bellamy will spread their local recruiting area and both will shift more of their time toward their territory. The reason I was given for this is because they saw opportunity and receptiveness in Georgia. And the idea was more connections and knowledge in the area included with effort and focus would bear fruit

I wonder then if Lindsey's territory would dip down into north Fla and places like JAX. And then other guys would focus on central or south Fla...
 
#81      
Even if we get table scraps in Georgia, it’s probably better talent than we could get in our own backyard. Our reputation in Illinois just doesn’t hold much water.
Well, sure. We are getting zip from Illinois/
 
#82      
When do restrictions on Joe Price end and what kind of dividends can he provide in Texas?
When he first got hired in July it said he was restricted from recruiting North Shore athletes for 2 years. He has a lot of connections across the entire Houston area. Assuming Price is still here when the ban is lifted, I think he is going to pay dividends.
 
#83      
Well, sure. We are getting zip from Illinois/
Having connections in other states is critical but until.we.get more athletes.from.Illinois we are never going.to be the program we.all want and deserve. Sustained success comes from home. On a side note any news about the south endzone renovation since the performance center is done?
 
#84      
Having connections in other states is critical but until.we.get more athletes.from.Illinois we are never going.to be the program we.all want and deserve. Sustained success comes from home. On a side note any news about the south endzone renovation since the performance center is done?

we won’t get Illinois athletes until we start winning more consistently. Even then, we will still likely only have success in a handful of territories. What is more important isborder states.
 
#85      
we won’t get Illinois athletes until we start winning more consistently. Even then, we will still likely only have success in a handful of territories. What is more important isborder states.

Agree we need to lock up IL. But man when I look at our boarder states it seems either very think or very very hard. How many D1 guys are coming out of Iowa a year? Missouri we are making great strides in STL area and with Mizzo lagging we can maybe take some more ground. Indy is over recruited with how many D1 schools, like 5(?) all in the area. Nebraska is a no mans land, so are the Dakotas. Wisconsin is heavily branded and we face the same issue there we will face in Chicago. Michigan and Ohio? Will any top talent make IL over the home team in those states?

Kentucky is a lot like Iowa in loyalty and population. So if we can get to a heavier population base in Dallas, ATL, and other major cites why wouldn't we? Seems like our odds go up.

Not disagreeing with the boarder thing but lets fish in any pond we can.

BTW what is the problem between the HS coaches in state and the staff at IU?
 
#86      
It's not All instate or none. Lovie said we made 19? offers and got zero athletes instate. that's the problem. We need to be the best recruiter in the state of Illinois; we don't have to get everyone.
 
#87      

BZuppke

Plainfield
I think the school of thought that we have to win to build in state loyalty is accurate. All the recruits have heard for so long is the media, especially the Chicago media bash us. Outsiders haven’t been as beaten down by this. Therefore outsiders are more open minded. Win consistently and the tide will turn in state.
 
#88      
With these hires, I think we are likely to hit JC's and transfer market again for linemen and depth at receiver/d-back..
Another stop gap fix while the 4 year recruits fill in and develop.
 
#90      
I think the school of thought that we have to win to build in state loyalty is accurate. All the recruits have heard for so long is the media, especially the Chicago media bash us. Outsiders haven’t been as beaten down by this. Therefore outsiders are more open minded. Win consistently and the tide will turn in state.
In state kids know our history and have had a front row seat to it same with the coaches that’s the biggest reason the staff goes to Texas FL etc. because those kids just know we’re a division 1 program that plays in the big 10 so to speak. It’s easier to see the kids who haven’t had a front row seat to our last 20 years
 
#91      
we won’t get Illinois athletes until we start winning more consistently. Even then, we will still likely only have success in a handful of territories. What is more important isborder states.
Don't believe that you have to win to get top recruits from Illinois. Its' all about the "brand" that the assistant coaches bring to the program. If we had a coaches like a younger Swinney or the staffs at Tennessee, Baylor, Florida or TAM, we wouldn't get them all, but we could do a heck of a lot better than we do now. We've seen it before with Mike White, Ron Zook and even Ron Turner towards the end of his tenure. They all had far better staffs than Lovie for recruiting. EVen Coach Turner recruited the core of our Rose Bowl team...
 
#92      
Twangers, perhaps the metric we should use for establishing recruiting areas should be more about how many players are easily convinced to leave the home state, especially the blue chippers.

For example here in Arizona despite having winning records our Arizona programs only got 3 of the top 25 players in the state. ASU still had a top 24 class and got 8 4*s (so far) but we had to go as far as Missouri and really raided Cali to get them. Here are some other states and the number of home state recruits go to their state schools based on the 2020 class...

Florida 12 of the top 25
Georgia 4 of the top 25 and 9 of the top 50
Texas 13 of the top 25 and 24 of the top 50

It seems blue chippers from Georgia are more willing than other CFB hotbeds to leave home, which makes them perhaps a better choice if you're "hitting for the fences. You also have to remember that Atlanta, like Dallas, Houston, LA and most of Florida, came from somewhere else and don't have family ties to the local universities.

Trying to get into South Florida and Georgia certainly seems to be more sensible than Texas where there is STRONG local support for the programs.

I believe the opportunity is there, but the question is in having the right people to make it happen and having a quality recruiting and scouting system in place. You'd k ow better than I if we can execute on those opportunities with Hudson, Davis and Lindsey.
 
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#93      
Don't believe that you have to win to get top recruits from Illinois. Its' all about the "brand" that the assistant coaches bring to the program. If we had a coaches like a younger Swinney or the staffs at Tennessee, Baylor, Florida or TAM, we wouldn't get them all, but we could do a heck of a lot better than we do now. We've seen it before with Mike White, Ron Zook and even Ron Turner towards the end of his tenure. They all had far better staffs than Lovie for recruiting. EVen Coach Turner recruited the core of our Rose Bowl team...
Actually, Mike White did a tremendous amount of out of state recruiting. In his words, he didn't like the talent level of Illinois high schools.
 
#94      
Actually, Mike White did a tremendous amount of out of state recruiting. In his words, he didn't like the talent level of Illinois high schools.
Yes he did, but he had a strategy. He'd go after lineman and LBs in Illinois and hired the kind of coaches that could successfully recruit them. For QBs he'd go where the talent was since he had a national rep for developing QBs and coaching them to NFL levels. The fact that he could take a JC guy who'd been injured the year before in Dave Wilson (first round draft choice to NO after one year of CFB) and a team that was "designed" by Gary Moeller for option football and accomplish what he did on offense shows it CAN be done. We had a losing brand back then, but he STILL developed some great OL, taught them to pass block, and within a few years developed a running game that was outstanding with guys like Thomas Rooks. OL like Jeff Juriga who could've gone anywhere he wanted was also brought in.

It's all about the recruiters, not the facilities, not the winning record, not the "tradition". Great staff is the great equalizer. It helps, but they're not necessary. You look at what Memphis, UCF and Baylor accomplished and there really is no excuse for our Illini, if you've ever been to Memphis (outside of Graceland) or Waco....or College Station for that matter for TAM...
 
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#96      
I think Coach White's complaint was that most IL kids preferred BB.
Yep. He was referring to the skill players like RB, WR, and DB who played guard or forward. It drove him nuts. he'd always say that it was frustrating that Illinois athletes who could really be good speed and skill players with great hands would commit to BB where they were DII or DIII level talent whne if they developed as FB players in HS they could've been Big 10 level talent.
 
#97      
Don't believe that you have to win to get top recruits from Illinois. Its' all about the "brand" that the assistant coaches bring to the program. If we had a coaches like a younger Swinney or the staffs at Tennessee, Baylor, Florida or TAM, we wouldn't get them all, but we could do a heck of a lot better than we do now. We've seen it before with Mike White, Ron Zook and even Ron Turner towards the end of his tenure. They all had far better staffs than Lovie for recruiting. EVen Coach Turner recruited the core of our Rose Bowl team...
I cant believe you put Mike White in here as a strong Illinois recruiter.
 
#98      
Lovie’s “status”, whatever that is, doesn’t matter to those kids the same way it doesn’t in TX which is his actual home state. Those kids get offers from coaches with names bigger than his.

Prioritizing that area won’t work.
Who has a bigger "name" in Texas than a guy from there with two super bowls and NFL ties????
 
#99      
We don’t have a TX pipeline.

You can walk a thousand steps a day on a treadmill and never actually go anywhere. The steps we take need to be headed in the right direction. That direction is not ATL/GA.
My problem with your assessment is if Lovie had focused on a larger percent of his time on illinios or surrounding states would he even be here today? I think there might be two ways to get to what you say we need to do 1.) Build outside in and show improvement while working on improving perception and relationships or 2.) Inside out and stuggle to build brand loyalty because your continuing to lose because that same perception above hampers recruiting a like it has been doing. Either way both take a lot of time and patience and neither is full proof.