I respect the reply. You are correct that the roster-exodus is entirely an "IF" statement but man, despite the fact that we have actually had relative success with the offseason free agency this year I just see kids transferring so freely as an overall detriment to college athletics. And I see a coaching change as something that will only trigger a few that will leave this roster as far less desirable if JW doesn't get the next hire right.
I really hope I'm wrong and Lovie's vision is spot on. Just very hard to remain optimistic given the smoke. I have a fair amount of confidence based on connections that Butkus wasn't just jumping to Packers gig because it was the natural progression in his career path....there were other, more recent factors that add to the aforementioned smoke.
And for those who think calling this a "dumpster fire" is dramatic, that's fine. I guess being an Illini fan all these years has caused varying amounts of patience among us and I hope I can look back and say I was overreacting but we've certainly seen our lame ducks here before. I just don't look at this staff, at Lovie's demeanor and see sustained success. And creating controversy and a divide in your own football office by hiring you own, under-qualified son, is generally not the path to success.
I think the situation warrants concern. But the point most of us are making is that the concern won't do anything. We don't want to fire Lovie now and his successful past warrants the benefit of the doubt, even if there is more doubt. He hasn't done anything warranting firing before the season and firing before the season would likely cause a dumpster fire. Also, it is clear that Lovie needs to win this year. I respect that if he fails, he wants to burden the blame. It is his defense, he is running several defensive coaching positions with his family. I am not opposed to this given that this could be his last season as an Illini. This puts all of the balls in his court. If it doesn't work, it is because he didn't get the job done. It would be worse to have a DC that didn't mesh with what Lovie wants to do and then he failed.
Coaches leaving is troubling. Why are they leaving? Is it poor communication or messaging between Lovie and staff? Are there tensions? Is there poor management? Do people think we are going to lose? Do people have better opportunities? It is probably some combination of all of them. Either way, it doesn't matter. This is put up or shut up time. If we have a successful season, great! Then clearly it was more personal choice than premonition of things to come. If we are unsuccessful, then leaving could have been signs of things to come. But at this point, who cares? The best thing to do is to see how Lovie does.
When it comes to recruiting, I am not as concerned as some. We have solid coaches and recruits, but the illini football recruiting model right now is Lovie's celebrity and reputation. People, and their kids, want to play for Lovie. Lovie has name recognition unlike most coaches around the league. Getting some motivated recruiters should be fine. Especially for a year. If this works, then Lovie will bring in more coaches to support his vision (this is what I assume).
And, if Lovie leaves, we will lose recruits. The question is how many recruits will we lose? It is currently unclear, but I doubt that most will leave after they have started.
At this point, all we can do is cheer and if we lose this upcoming season, we look for a bunch of new coaches.