Great offense but very QB driven, also defense leaves something to be desired.
The Illinois Football Coaching Search
- Status
Correct was on staff for 5 years before hand and was the recruiting coordinator as well and didn't have to build a staff around him.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
altenberger22
- South Carolina
Valid Good one. And don't get me started on the salaries of major sports figures (coaches included) in the US, as they're universally excessive. I know they're paid what the market will bear, BUT....
Easier said than done.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I wonder whether we're trying to gauge Bielema's interest or Bielema is beating down our door. Because he swore he was sick of college football and never going back. I'd want to be very convinced he had the fire for it again before I'd entertain that option.
I don't have it, but if I recall correctly the thing that stood out most strongly was how UNsuccessful coaches poached from other Power Five schools had been. But there's lots of good and bad in every "category". It's about the guy, and even more than that the plan, and even more than that the execution of the plan, and probably even more than that the ability to course correct and respond on the fly when things don't go according to the plan, because that is always going to happen.
One thing to note about Monken is that he was very successful as HC at Georgia Southern, among other things beating Florida in the Swamp, as well as being on Paul Johnson's staff at Georgia Tech during their most successful period. He knows the other side, in contrast to Ken Niumatalolo, also a tremendous coach, but a service academy guy basically his entire career.
Totally agree, it's an entirely different way to think about winning a football game and you jump in with both feet or you don't do it at all. I'm actually very surprised Monken has apparently made that suggestion given his history with Paul Johnson who compromised nothing to anyone ever and was very successful nonetheless.
In the Big Ten notably Tom Allen, Pat Fitzgerald and Greg Schiano are defensive guys originally. Nationally Manny Diaz, Mark Stoops, Ed Orgeron, Kyle Whittingham, and of course Nick Saban. Regardless, every successful coach needs to be a CEO with quality management oversight over both sides of the ball.
As just one more aside, one coordinator I forgot to mention in my previous post, and who everybody seems to forget to mention, is Phil Longo, OC, North Carolina who engineers elite offenses everywhere he goes. They rolled up 778 yards of total offense on the road against a top 10 Miami team last week.
I've seen this a couple of times now, and, of course he has said that. If he wants a job at a P5 school, he basically has to say it. And I'm not questioning that it's true, but I am questioning if we have reason to believe he will be successful in another system? It looks like he's been coaching on teams using the triple option for the last 25 years (though I could certainly be wrong about that), and I don't think it's a trivial change. He doesn't have a body of work outside of the triple option to judge which would definitely give me pause. Of course, I'm not sure there is a candidate willing to take the job that wouldn't give me pause in one way or another.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
At the college level? Hoping high school coaches are not in the hunt.
We also didn't do well with the NFL type - so I'm just going to assume it means NCAA.
AirNeezy
Orange Krush '13 -'14
If we hired a triple option HC, I could see fan interest for the program bottoming out. Not only would we lose for the first couple seasons while they try to install the system but we would lose in the most boring, mind numbing way of the kind that would kill recruiting for awhile.
The new coach just has to be consistent especially in recruiting. The entire state and country should know what type of ball player the staff wants. In the last 10 years the type of recruits changed almost every year. This is a clear indicator that there wasn't a true system in place. Consistency equals success. The hire needs to be someone that knows where they want to go and how to get there. The name isn't as important as the ability to implement a system and be consistent.
Deleted member 747671
D
Guest
I think if Jeff Monken is the choice, you have to want the triple option as at least the "base" offense. I'm sure there's a good amount of wrinkles and adjustments you can make to it, but I just have a very hard time seeing Monken take the job and then hiring a spread OC and giving him total control. Maybe it's possible, but he's been all triple option all the time since 1997. He's either worked under the best triple option coach or been the HC running that system. If he had any experience outside of that, I'd feel much more comfortable. I almost question his openness to changing, as that's literally been his constant coaching philosophy for 20+ years.
AirNeezy
Orange Krush '13 -'14
Exactly, the fact that he's open to changing his offensive philosophy after such a long time tells me he knows it wouldn't have near the same amount of success at a P5 school.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
He should be on Auburn's list but my guess is they are going to be shooting higher. More than likely they hire someone else and there is a lack of P5 job openings (to our benefit).
My guess is Auburn will be trying to get someone like Sark.
Deleted member 747671
D
Guest
Lots of good stuff in here. I agree with pretty much everything and even started googling Phil Longo yesterday lol.
I think there's almost like a market inefficiency with DCs becoming HCs. When you think about it, how many DCs are in the top coordinator salaries? I'm guessing Venebles and Elko are the only ones even close to the top OCs in terms of salaries. I doubt Sarkisian or someone like a Tony Elliot at Clemson would even consider Illinois, but a guy like Jim Leonhard is arguably as good a coordinator as any of them and isn't making some otherworldly salary. He's gonna have his chance when a blue blood needs a DC and offers him 1-2 mil. Grabbing him now is not all that crazy. He's almost like the defensive version of Lincoln Riley.
Deleted member 747671
D
Guest
I think he's saying he's open to changing because he knows that's what P5 ADs want to hear. I think deep down he thinks it would work. I'm guessing his time at GT probably illustrated not only how effective it could be in P5, but also that it has a ceiling, and maintaining that type of system through recruiting at the P5 level has got to be a grind. It's just weird that the 56 year old established coach would be in a similar situation as the young first time HC, trying to build a brand new staff (at least on the offensive side) and become the CEO type coach instead of the offensive driver.
Get ready for a Bielema announcement today. I believe negotiations started a week ago in NJ, and deal was all but sealed yesterday. I also believe his family arrived in town last night.
(FYI, I do not have any connections to Illini administration)
(FYI, I do not have any connections to Illini administration)
Last edited:
You sir..have to be trying to upset some people right?
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
You joining the board last night and this being your first post doesn't provide me with confidence in your prediction.
Deleted member 747671
D
Guest
Good digging! Had to google both those guys. It would be huge (and pretty darn important) to get those guys to follow Leonhard. Would be a good sign if he was able to bring a lot of his defensive staff with him. I'd start to get worried pretty quickly if he had very few guys come with him.
Ehhh I know Josh was meeting with a coach most of yesterday just not sure who.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
The two most successful coaches at Illinois in the modern era were experienced head coaches at what are now power 5 schools. Hayden Fry fixed Iowa after being an experienced power 5 head coach. White, Mackovic and Fry all had baggage. We could get lucky with a coordinator or an up and comer from a smaller school but the best bet to get us on the right course is someone who’s done it before. Bielema fits the bill perfectly. If he can make us a consistent winner at the 8 win level or so, we can eventually get to Iowa/Wisconsin good. We can’t take chances at this point.
Deleted member 747671
D
Guest
If it is Bielema, I echo a previous post (too lazy to look up who, sorry). I really hope he wanted this job more than Josh wanted him, if that makes sense. This next coach has to be hungry to put in the effort.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Right he'd had a big hand in building a winning roster (no mean feat at Northwestern in those days) and was a known quantity in-house. And of course they were put in a very tough situation with Walker's sudden, unexpected death in late June.
They did not name Fitzgerald an interim, they gave him the job in that moment, but one thing to remember is that Northwestern is a private school, they don't have to disclose anything about their coaches contracts. It would be fair to speculate that the contract Fitzgerald signed to get that job gave the school plenty of flexibility if it wasn't working out, a luxury a public school doesn't have.
Oh, and a million internet points to anyone who can name the OC on Fitzgerald's first staff.
Not trying to troll, honestly. But, we'll see what happens today. Not claiming insider status, and have no connections to staff, but have some info and running with it.
I don't know his history at Arkansas, and why he was fired, or any of that controversey, but just looking at the football aspect it makes sense.
Past success in Big10, has successfully recruited Illinois, improved Arkansas from 0-8 to 5-3 in SEC his first 3 years there, NFL experience under Belichick.
I don't know his history at Arkansas, and why he was fired, or any of that controversey, but just looking at the football aspect it makes sense.
Past success in Big10, has successfully recruited Illinois, improved Arkansas from 0-8 to 5-3 in SEC his first 3 years there, NFL experience under Belichick.
Ryllini
- Lombard
I think Gritty has nailed a couple of great points about our head being the CEO with a direct plan and how unsuccessful a lot of coaches who are poached from P5 jobs. He mentioned Longo from UNC and Mack Brown would be the perfect example of a great CEO at UNC that Longo is under. If I recall that is all Mack was at Texas and Texas was great then. Really, that was the only time Texas was great since the 70's. I do worry about coaches when they start getting away from the coaching tree they are in. You see it all the time in NFL, especially guys from say Andy Reid's tree. The first year they are fine, but the further the separation, they get in to trouble.
This whole thing is such a crap shoot and it is really hard to catch lightning.
This whole thing is such a crap shoot and it is really hard to catch lightning.
- Status