The one thing that is apparent in reading this board is that people that think Lovie is on a downward trend, have only observed the info that supports their claims following the season. The same can be said of people that think Lovie is the answer.
Indications that we be bowl eligible next year:
One more year of strength and conditioning and one more year of experience coupled with the recent influx of playmakers to a team that was otherwise borderline good enough to qualify for a bowl (I'm thinking USF and Northwestern were winnable games). With the improved quality of transfers and players in this class are all indications that next year will be better than last year.
Indications the sky is falling (I would write Lovie's career is over, but this more accurately captures the way most posters are relating to the information):
Coaches leaving along with the long drawn out hiring process with only one legit coach hired (out of 3 positions, DB, LB, DC). This lack of continuity, lack of bodies to support recruiting and strategizing are all indications that the team will not do as well.
I have been one of the people critical of the decisions made by the staff and wanted to respond to this. For me, both of these are
and can be true. I am both (a) critical of the decision-making by Lovie on staff hirings and the slow process of replacing position coaches, and (b) believing the team should be significantly better in 2019 and 2020. This will be the first year since 2014 where we can realistically aspire to make a bowl game. Illinois is going to have their first year in two years with a strong group of upperclassmen. They also brought in their best group of recruits (quality-wise) in 11 years. Hopefully the on-field product will win 6-7 (maybe 8?) games this year and show that progress is being made to convince recruits that they should come to Illinois as an outlet to play for a winning program (especially now that playing time is a much tougher sell than 2016/17).
My worries about the hiring of Miles are two-fold: (1) we have no idea how he is as a recruiter or player developer, and (2) he'll never be fired (save for extreme circumstances). Illinois can take a chance on Austin Clark last year because he was more of a known commodity on the recruiting front (which paid off in spades), but if he performed poorly, Lovie could terminate his employment. We all know that is Miles Smith performs poorly he is extremely unlikely to be fired. So now instead of our lot being tied to Lovie (with interchangeable assistant coaches), we've thrown our lot behind Lovie and Miles.
Also, with my question about how many $$$ are left to spend on staffing, now is the time it is most important. Coaches know that if Illinois has a poor season in 2019, the whole staff could be fired. No one is going to take a lateral job (Scheelhaase) or giving up job security at a lower-level job (Temple hires) to come to Illinois. Lovie and the athletic administration needs to be willing to shell out greater financial rewards in order to convince quality coaches to come here. If they aren't willing to do that, we are going to see more hires that have concerns (lack of experience, troubled past) compared to the home run hires of Rod Smith like last year.