Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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FT35
- Naperville
I would say they are pretty Low(e)
http://247sports.com/Player/88001/ProfilePhotos/TitleAlt-Text-5445898?View=Full#
Oldtoysrock
- Sarasota, Florida
Yep, we just lost another one with Lowe picking WVU. I'm not in a panic state but it seems we're losing alot more battles than we're winning. Those we have won, have been when we're up against mid-majors, with only a few exceptions. Still really trying to be optimistic. . . . . ILL . . . .
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Read this article to calm your nerves.
https://illiniboard.com/story/2017/7/5/phase-ii/
Bill Self once said if you aren't hearing "No" more than "Yes", you aren't recruiting the right type of players. (paraphrased) Since football has 6.5 times as many scholarships, be prepared to hear no a lot.
I can only speak for myself. I think the worst part about the current state of recruiting is that it's really at a similar level as Beckman. I wasn't expecting a Zook-like Benn and Martez 5-star splash, but with Lovie, I think it was fair to expect to get a few 4-stars and keep some solid talent in-state. That's clearly not happening. Now, I will trust the talent evaluation of this staff until proven otherwise, but I really don't understand how the combination of name, resume, and playing time isn't getting us in the conversation and driver's seat with more high-end talent.
We show Ws on the field and recruiting will change even more. Gotta find a way to win this year. Show that the resurgence of this program is going in the right direction and kids will come.
This is a big year. We need to show vast improvement in the Lovie and staff era to change the image of program.
This is a big year. We need to show vast improvement in the Lovie and staff era to change the image of program.
While it seems the Illinois high school coaches are rarely if ever happy with the illini coaching staff, i have heard through some coaching friends that this staff has been guarded if not stand-offish with the high school coaches in state. In the past some, if not most illini coaches have allowed them into some practices and spent quality time with these guys. This staff has not. That does not bode well for our in state recruiting. I hope my friends are wrong.
If we win games it will soothe any and all ruffled feathers. Just win baby.
I just don't see that happening this year. Maybe next!
I think that although the stars and ".8334" or whatever type rankings are similar, these lineman are already huge and the skill guys are faaaast. We didn't have that type of lower level guy with Beckman.
It's better than Beckman level in terms of offers. Read the post from Illiniboard I posted a few back for reference. Also, there is a lot of time left for this recruiting class. We were in the exact same position last year at this time and ended up with a rock solid foundational class. Just give it time.
There is also the idea these kids haven't seen a good Illinois team almost all their lives. It's been a decade since the Rose Bowl so they were all what 5, 6, or 7 years old?
Since then the best we've had to show are a couple 7-6 bowl seasons with one ending in our coach being fired. Once we start to win the higher recruits will come.
FT35
- Naperville
Good post.
Improving the facilities is also a must. Recruits are looking for indoor practice facilities. They are also looking for superior training and locker room facilities.
The staff is getting 4 Star recruits on campus, which is half the battle, but they aren't committing to this program for a reason. Luke Ford was close to committing when he visited here in March but then committed to Arkansas a week later after seeing their facilities.
Adeoye Ayodele visited us twice but one visit to Texas and we were no longer in the picture.
The staff is listening to what the recruits want and that is why we are spending 79.2 million dollars on a new football performance center.
The staff can't undo what's happened here for the last 20 years. Anyone can predict continued failure based on our recent history as there have been so many set backs and there will continue to be more. There are only 8 scholarship Seniors on the roster and 76 in total. That's almost the equivalent of being on probation and this upcoming year is going to be tough.
Football turnarounds just take a long time. Instate loyalty just isn't there with a number of kids and programs and we may never get it from certain parts of the state. Illinois hasn't had good football hires since the 90s and the money invested in the program and facilities has been second rate at best. The guys that have only been here since March of 2016 can only do so much to get kids interested in coming to Illinois. I'm surprised that lifer Illinois football fans fail to see how broken our program was/is.
Smith has a nice resume. However, kids commit to coaches AND the school. A lot of these kids were 6 or 7 years old when Lovie was coaching in the Super Bowl so a lot of them probably don't place much value on that. It's opening doors but there needs to be more in order to get kids to commit to us.
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
Excellent post.
Looking at offensive linemen recruiting is probably the most difficult argument to make. Coaching staffs look for different qualities, and linemen development is the most difficult position to project (every year the NFL draft is filled with small college linemen). Some teams like long athletes that can pack on the weight. Lovie seems to prefer guys that already have size and slim them down. It goes both ways and there's no right answer. Beckman brought in Allegretti and Megginson. Let's not forget that. If you want to talk about lower level skill guys, the obvious example is Dudek. Blazing fast with no major offers.
You can make these types of arguments with any coaching change. Look at Groce vs Weber. While in the moment, everyone thought Groce was some magnificent recruiter. When looking back at it, he never really brought in any head-turning classes or any classes that were overly productive. I'd argue that McCamey/Tisdale/Davis/Cole class and Paul/Griffey/Bertrand/Richardson class were better than anything Groce brought in.
Bottom line is we have to stop OD'ing on the orange koolaid and let it all play out. Maybe Lovie's staff really is at a whole 'nother level with their evaluations, or maybe this staff doesn't recruit at the level we had all hoped for.
OrangeAndBlues
- Indianapolis
If you honestly don't think recruiting is already leaps and bounds ahead of the Beckman era, you aren't paying attention.
OrangeAndBlues
- Indianapolis
The recruiting is though too. Watch some film or read up on some of these guys we're taking instead of just looking at the stars/ranking. These are guys we are targeting for specific traits.
Plus Beckman was struggling to get 2 stars and we're at least getting mostly 3s if you do place that much value in stars (you shouldn't.)
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
I don't follow football recruiting nearly as much as hoops recruiting. Nevertheless, my take is that your take is spot on. We are bringing in a better caliber of players. Not the level we'd all like, but better. Win some more games than expected, hugely upgrade our player facilities and good things will happen. Turning around a really poor football program is the ultimate long game.
I agree. Much better staff, top to bottom. Last year, there were several young players who were obviously coached-up within games and showed improvement over the course of the year. My assumption is many of those now being recruited are just as coachable.
You're definition of "leaps and bounds" is interesting. I believe that recruiting is better now than under Beckman, but honestly not by all that much. We're putting a ton of stock in this staff's ability to evaluate and develop undervalued recruits. We're still pulling in bottom 3rd of the B1G talent on paper, and I don't think that can be argued. Do I trust Lovie's evaluations more so than Beckman's? Hell yes. Am I blind with optimism? No. There is a slight uptick in recruiting, yes, but I, along with the majority of fans, were expecting more. Look at what Maryland did in Durkin's first 2 classes. That was basically what I was expecting, and hoping for even more.
Every coach has their fair share of "diamonds in the rough." Hell even look at Zook. His 2 best NFL o-lineman were both underrecruited 2 stars (Asamoah and Allen). Beckman's best 2 offensive recruits were underrecruited 2 stars (Dudek and Turner). Let's not act like Lovie has some secret ability that nobody else has.
Illiini
- In the land of the Nittany Lion
I think that many of us--most of us?--expected too much of a Lovie Effect. But results so far have been underwhelming. Underwood, someone with lot less street cred than Lovie, has been having much better results. Is Illinois football that tainted that players don't want to come, even with Lovie and the crew he has assembled?
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
I think it has a lot to do with Lovie having been out of the college scene for so long. He's still figuring out how it all works, which is much different than when he was last in it back in the 90s. The kids have changed and the technology has changed, but once he figures that all out I think we'll be just fine.
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