Notes from Tim Beckman's introduction

Though Beckman doesn't have many ties to Illinois and didn't recruit the area much at Toledo, he did a nice job of throwing in references to Dick Butkus and Red Grange. And he noted that most of his Toledo players were from Ohio, and he would try to continue the practice of having many local players on the roster. He said Chicago and St. Louis in particular would be huge areas for his program. "We're going to recruit this area as hard as anyone has ever recruited this area before," he said. "You not only gain a football talent, you also gain a person who can fit into this program."

Brian Bennett