For the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would want to hire coaches without coaching experience at this time regardless of whether or not they bleed orange and blue. It might be different if the program were cruising along at a high level and there was luxury in doing so. If what is needed is someone who can boost the program in fundamental ways, hiring someone like a Robert Smith would make a whole lot more sense.
I am not saying that this is what should be done but I just see hiring ex-Illini because of their connection to the program as being too risky. The only one really worth considering would be Roger Powell and I don't think his credentials to be strong enough at this point, though I could be wrong in this regard. If this program needs some change at the coaching level, grasping at straws is not the way to go about it.
Um, Roger's got more credentials than Robert Smith. Smith has no college experience. Roger does.