I believe there were some family issues that contributed to him stepping down at WA. Doubt he gets back to coaching this quickly and don’t think Illinois job is one that speeds him up.
The Illinois Football Coaching Search
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I'm not prepared to argue strenuously one way or the other re: Jeff Monken's offense, but could someone point me in the direction of the stone tablets that profess "It will only get you 2* and 3* recruits" and "It will never work in the Big10"?
Collegeguy
- O’Fallon
Here’s a new name after thinking about things and a possible surprise. Matt Entz at NDSU. They do nothing but develop and win up there. Has coached in Illinois.
sacraig
- The desert
Do you want NFL-type players to come play for us? Seems a bit unlikely running the triple option other than linemen.
He's coached one full season after following in the footsteps of two others who started/kept the success going. Hard pass because he is too unknown. Even Klieman is still not a proven success at KSU.
Meant to be a reply about the triple option...
Thread getting off track, but I get what you are saying. But many are conceding that we will probably need to be happy with middle of the pack B1G recruiting classes so the unique offense maybe our best way to carve an identity and compete consistently. And it wouldn’t be a negative for recruiting NFL talent on the defensive side of the ball.
I know there’s a reason you don’t see it at the highest levels. But I’m not going to begrudge someone for thinking creatively about what we need to do to compete.
Thread getting off track, but I get what you are saying. But many are conceding that we will probably need to be happy with middle of the pack B1G recruiting classes so the unique offense maybe our best way to carve an identity and compete consistently. And it wouldn’t be a negative for recruiting NFL talent on the defensive side of the ball.
I know there’s a reason you don’t see it at the highest levels. But I’m not going to begrudge someone for thinking creatively about what we need to do to compete.
Illinir1
- Camdenton, MO
Lance Leipold, Buffalo coach: Leipold has a history of winning. In six seasons at Buffalo, his overall record of 36-32 isn't impressive, but his Bulls teams have gone 23-9 the last three seasons and have won two division titles in that time. Before coming to Buffalo, Leipold spent eight seasons at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater, winning six national titles (and appearing in a seventh title game) and going 109-6. Some will be skeptical about his ability to recruit in the Big Ten, but at some point, a coach's results speak for themselves.
Illinois coaching candidates: Luke Fickell, Lance Leipold lead nine candidates to replace Lovie Smith
Deleted member 29907
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Those tablets are right next to the "It worked at The Academy, so it's a guaranteed success here" ones.
The push to use the triple option is very often predicated on a team not having superior talent, so you use an offense not normally played against to gain advantage. Much like Syracuse's zone D, teams don't see that often, so they are not used to executing against it.
So I guess I would twist the argument around and say that it is used because you don't feel like you CAN get higher level talent- which is an argument (that Illinois can not) I am seeing more in this discussion. I don't agree with it and other quazi-football schools around us seem to be doing pretty well in the Big 10 - with a good coach and excellent execution. And I would suggest common sense would suggest kids like flash and bang, not plod, plod, plod. I think a good, complex offense can cause just as much confusion on the D. Just need a good OC to get that going - sigh.
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Illinois can absolutely out recruit 3/4 of the Big 10 by working and not relying on 247 and rivals star rating. Example would be Sam Laporta who Iowa is leaning on at TE. He is from Highland Illinois! He only had a 3 star rating because he played 3 sports and didn't really attend camps. He had three offers. Iowa, Bowling Green, and Central Michigan. He was named to the Mackey award preseason list and he is trending for Iowa. Illinois didn't offer him. He would have chose Illinois had he been offered. There is NO way Iowa should be able to find kids like this in Illinois but the flag ship University can't. The next coach needs to get a recruiting department that actually work instead of pulling a list down from 247 or rivals. That's how you become a dominant program.
Each of the potential candidates to be our next head coach will have some, but not all, of the attractive qualities that we'd like to see. The decision will be very difficult, though, because it's not as simple as determining who "checks the most boxes". Josh Whitman will have to somehow dig deep and try to figure out how "portable" those qualities are for each of the top candidates. For example, I'm very sceptical that a coach from a different geographic region of the U.S. could move to Illinois and replicate his success. (Would most of his staff - and their families - be willing to also make the move? Would his distant recruiting contacts realistically benefit the Illinois program?) Yet, I think the "portability" analysis must also be applied to coaches in the Midwest. A coordinator at a routinely successful football program in the Midwest - a program that has no problem landing good recruits each year - might or might not be able to recruit well at the U of I as it tries to rebuild. Likewise, a head coach who has known success at a lower-level program in the Midwest might or might not be in over his head in the environment of the Big Ten.
Another important point to bear in mind is that this is not a one-man job. Success cannot happen unless the head coach is able and willing to surround himself with the best possible assistants.
Another important point to bear in mind is that this is not a one-man job. Success cannot happen unless the head coach is able and willing to surround himself with the best possible assistants.
Do we have sharks in Illinois?
Deleted member 29907
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Agree 100%. That and assistant coaches that actually know 1) How to design an Offense and Defense that can be aggressive (and until we can rise in talent - likely more unpredictable/tricky), and 2) how to actually coach kids up.
Sadly - Blake Hayes is our most unpredictable weapon.
That type of triple option might work against lesser opponents, but against the def line from Wi or Ia. They would eventually change up the def. A good def would stack the box. Much like NW did after the first quarter against us. Boy the runs were gaining yards but then NW changed up and if you notice the running game was stopped. It works for Army and Navy because they get kids that want to play for the academies. It doesn't matter if the new coach is a defensive minded or offensive what matters is the staff that will come with him.
I know I'm in the minority, but I'd love to see Nathan Scheelhaase.
1. He wants to win
2. He wants to win with excitement
3. Players love him
4. Coaches love him and respect him (Listen to what HS coaches say about him!!!)
5. He will be able to recruit
6. He can relate but still lead
7. Illini for life
8. Did it the right way as a player and will as a coach
1. He wants to win
2. He wants to win with excitement
3. Players love him
4. Coaches love him and respect him (Listen to what HS coaches say about him!!!)
5. He will be able to recruit
6. He can relate but still lead
7. Illini for life
8. Did it the right way as a player and will as a coach
The same can be said for Nick Saban.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Thank you for the photo. The second most-enjoyable, in-person sporting experience I have had since watching the Illini turf OSU in Columbus in 2001 (the first was watching Ayo & Co take down Maryland in MSG in 2019) was sitting in front of the UCLA cheerleaders at a women's NCAA hoops tourney game a couple years ago.
Am puzzled why anyone would fly to Pearson Airport in Toronto (which is what YYZ is; I lived in Ottawa for several years and flew through it regularly), clear customs, and drive two hours around Lake Ontario to Buffalo, when you can fly to BUF via ORD. Perhaps the CFL Argonauts have a candidate for us (?) Or perhaps we're way too far into the weeds.
London, Ontario is equidistant between Toronto and Detroit, and I have no idea what is there besides the Univ of Western Ontario, which has a famous Canadian business school (well, famous in Canada, FWIW.) I'll take your word for the level of talent there. When I worked in Calgary long ago the most beautiful woman I've ever worked in 30 years with was a UWO alum. Even reflecting on her now induces a reaction analogous to Homer Simpson thinking of donuts.
Guys we all Love what Nate did as a player but he is probably 8-10 years away from being ready to be a head coach.
One of them won a college championship as HC before going to the NFL and the other did not.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
What's blinkered about the "Michigan Man" idolatry among UM partisans is that Bo Schembechler was not a Michigan man in 1968. He was an Ohio man, born, bred and trained at Miami and OSU. He took what had been a soft, useless Michigan team and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in 20th Century college football when OSU came to town in Nov. 1969.
He was simply talented, ethical, single-minded, and competitive as hell. I'll take that please.
illinihawk16
- Chicago
This always confuses me a little. I've seen a number of people use this as an argument for Nate. I work in a desk job and know exactly 0 HS football coaches, and I would assume the vast majority of this board has 0 connections to HS coaches. How are we able to find out what they said?
To be clear, I'm a fan of Nate (he was the QB through the majority of my undergrad) and I would love him to join the staff. Just not yet as HC.
TheAngryBavarian
- Charleston/Collinsville
Maybe Monken can take a page out of Ken Niumatalolo's book and do some stuff with Isaiah similar to what Ken did with Malcolm Perry. I don't understand why there's so much hate on the triple, it works...but I digress. Monken built the Army program to its greatest heights in 35 years, I like him a lot.
I don't think anyone is saying "guaranteed", and the problem with a blanket statement about recruiting is it treats it like some monolithic thing... like we can't get highly rated defensive players, or QBs from that sort of system in HS, or RBs, or OL, etc.
It seems like GaTech had success with it, and ACC DLs and LBs ain't chopped liver.
I'm truly taking the devil's advocate position, just because i'm skeptical when so many people are absolutely certain it "won't work here".
I bet Army would have fared well enough in the B10 West over the last 4-5 seasons.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Props. Just... props for the embed.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I dunno. Point taken on the wind in the stadium, though Lubbock, TX is even more windy than Champaign. And we certainly need a solid running game. However, a pass-heavy attack worked fairly well for Mike White and John Mackovic. (And for the careers of Dave Wilson, Tony Eason, Jack Trudeau and Jeff George in the span of only 10 seasons.)
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altenberger22
- South Carolina
This link was a great read/listen. I agree with the analyst who said that Josh Whitman's trademark (the hiring of both Lovie & Underwood) is to swing for the fences. As such, he'll need to get a hard NO from Luke Fickell before he moves on to candidate #2.
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