Lovie and most of his staff have NFL cred and not college cred. Just look at Charlie Weis. Going from strictly an NFL guy to college is very difficult and take a lot time to get right. I think overall Lovie will do fine but it will take a few years.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Lovie and most of his staff have NFL cred and not college cred. Just look at Charlie Weis. Going from strictly an NFL guy to college is very difficult and take a lot time to get right. I think overall Lovie will do fine but it will take a few years.
I think those of us in the wait-and-see camp are just worried that if Lovie isn't making a recruiting splash now, he sure isn't going to after they win 3-4 games this year. The Lovie Smith honeymoon will end soon and if the splash recruits aren't interested now, it'll take a lot of significant on-field success to find any later.
Illini don't make Michael Thompson's top 5. All that time and effort put into the STL area with nothing to show for it so far. Hopefully they can still land Craddieth.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Very good article, at least it calmed me down a bit.
In the category of what it is worth I want to mention that I post under Bear-me on rivals and Calibear64 on scouts. I am sure some have figured that out and don't know why I should not have mentioned it sooner, if you care. I mention now specifically because I rarely post about the same thing on more than one site, so for good or bad you know who to blame.
Now one thing I read a little earlier 24/7 has us at 83.3 something. Each sites numbers are different but the team ranking is not normally that big a difference.
In the past 6 or 8 years I would say the staffs have always been over the 80 range of 24/7, but barely. Last year and so far this year my take of the classes are more like 86 on average so keep the faith.
Now one thing I read a little earlier 24/7 has us at 83.3 something. Each sites numbers are different but the team ranking is not normally that big a difference.
In the past 6 or 8 years I would say the staffs have always been over the 80 range of 24/7, but barely. Last year and so far this year my take of the classes are more like 86 on average so keep the faith.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
For years on this board and others, folks preached that a 3 star from FL and TX is like a 4 star in IL. Well, we are getting some talent from FL, so that is a good thing, right?
Craddieth would be a nice pickup this year...I think 2019 and 2020 are going to be where you see Lovie & co. clean up in the STL area. Seems like the whole Trinity Catholic team loves Illinois.
This is such a good point. I think that somewhat adds to the frustration though. Seriously, 2 top 35 classes would give us arguably the best talent in the division, or at least right there with Nebraska.
https://armchairallamericans.com/luke-ford-gives-illinois-final-visit/
Big news on the recruiting front
Big news on the recruiting front
Is this true ?
I am In full panic mode if it is true. We are going to be bad this year. It was important to get a fast recruiting start.
Step back from the ledge. Rebuilds take time and there are A LOT of players left and A LOT of time left until signing day. There are probably players that are better or equal to the ones we are losing out on that we haven't even heard of yet. Let our recruiting staff and our coaches get a few seasons under their belt before you panic.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Certainly agree that we have to be patient, but when Lovie was hired I doubt any of us felt like recruiting would be as difficult as it has proven to be.
Illiini
- In the land of the Nittany Lion
Too much hope in "coaching them up," too. Recruits have to see evidence of that.
We won't be able to tell if Lovie's staff "coached up" his own recruits for a few years as he hasn't gotten to coach a single one of his own recruits in a game yet. (Hardy Nickerson excluded)
Illiini
- In the land of the Nittany Lion
But the original hope--and it was hope--was that Lovie would come in and work magic with the recruits of others. Not realistic, of course, but that's what many were thinking, er, hoping.
I guess we shouldn't have hoped as much. I was definitely right there with you, though. When Keshawn Vaughn scored that first TD against UNC and memorial stadium exploded, I was believing.
Now we realize the hole we were in and have to trust this staff can dig us out.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
I think it is unrealistic to think Lovie would be knocking it out of the park recruiting wise at this point. We finished last year with a mid conference recruiting class which was very solid for his first year. Recruiting is also about relationships and many coaching staffs have been working these kids for a lot longer than Lovie has. Finally, I don't agree that Lovie is rusty - A lot of his staff knows how to recruit.
My bottom line is this: If we hired the right coach over time his recruiting will pick up and get better and better. It's just too early to draw any conclusions.
My bottom line is this: If we hired the right coach over time his recruiting will pick up and get better and better. It's just too early to draw any conclusions.
OrangeAndBlues
- Indianapolis
What would be most helpful at this point is if Howard Griffith would stop being such a massive ****hole and actually start being positive towards his Alma Mater.
What has Howard been saying? In the past I thought he has been overall positive toward Illinois.
OrangeAndBlues
- Indianapolis
He's been sneaky enough to be publicly deniable, but it's pretty obvious on twitter the way he is pushing guys like Verdis. Hint: it's ABI.
It seems people are talking about 2 different things in this thread. 1)Building a program into a consistent bowl team & into the upper half of the conference does take time. If we start to win 8 or 9 games regularly, of course we'll all be happy and at that point recruiting will be taking care of itself. We'll be alongside Wisc, Iowa, etc. where most of our fanbase believes we belong. But we're talking about the program as of now & how recruiting can help get us to where we all think we should be
2)The Lovie-affect hasn't impacted recruiting the way most of us hoped. It needed to happen last year & this year. Everyone in the sports world was in shock that the U of I was able to land Lovie Smith. But the further removed from the NFL, his name recognition doesn't mean the same, the more he'll become known as the coach of the Illini, a below average program. We had a solid class last year, and I'm hoping that we can add enough talent to equal that this year.
I have the utmost respect for Lovie & his ability as a coach, and still believe that he can get our program to where it needs to be. And I'm hopeful that the Trinity-Catholic relationship as well as others can add some top talent in '19 and '20, but the instant impact of the Lovie hire on recruiting hasn't had the results we'd all hoped for.
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OrangeAndBlues
- Indianapolis
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