He had studs at Whitewater, and then just destroyed the competition on the field. They were potent on both sides of the ball. His teams were absolute machines. Fantastic culture, very good young men graduated from that program.Curious, what accounted for his success at Whitewater (schemes, motivation, development, etc)? Does any of what made him successful there not translate to Power5?
So 50+ pages to come away with comparisons of Bret Bielema to Brad Underwood and desiring the triple option.
My brother ran track at UW-Oshkosh at the time, and Whitewater's reputation was like an automaton, a machine. It wasn't that they just radically out-talented everyone because you can't in D3. It wasn't that they were money in the clutch. It's that they were better, so to beat them you needed to exploit a mistake or have them come out flat or something, and for years and years and years they never gave anybody that chance.Curious, what accounted for his success at Whitewater (schemes, motivation, development, etc)? Does any of what made him successful there not translate to Power5?
Searching for most egregious facepalm GIF...Bo Schembechler recommended Gary Moeller back in the day also.
But even if that is the standard, I feel like the same people critical of Bielema's potential hire due to whatever "character issues" are in his past, are the same people perfectly happy with Brad Underwood and Orlando Antigua. I'm very happy with Underwood/Antigua. Don't get me wrong. It's because we are winning, that makes me happy. But if the litmus test was to not hire anyone unless their backgrounds were squeaky clean, then those 2 guys would not have been hired bc Antigua put South FL on probation, and Underwood had an asst on staff at OSU getting paid by agents and possibly will be in jail. And even Underwood's wins at SFA were vacated due to academic scandal. And if the argument is the "head coach didn't know what was going on", then that right there is a reason to not hire a CEO if they have don't know what is going on within the company.I would amend that slightly. I want a winning football coach without NCAA sanctions or legal issues of any kind.
No, you can't make the argument to just toss out anything that happened in D3, or a coach who went 3-52 in D3 would be on equal footing. That's ridiculous.To state the case against LL for the record: he's a 56 year old Wisconsin goober whose entire D1 resume is going 25-20 in the MAC over six years, at a program that's a historic backwater, but wasn't exactly a dumpster fire when he got there.
Can you just toss out anything that happened in D3 where there aren't any scholarships? Arguably.
Yeah. Grew up in Columbus and then after UIUC worked for six months in Knoxville, TN in '91, which overlapped with football season. UT fandom was batS**t crazy compared with Michigan/Ohio State/PSU at the time. SEC folks just take (all) college sports a heck of a lot more seriously than anyone in the Midwest in my experience. E.G., showed up in Oxford, MS on a lovely March Saturday in '01, checked into our B&B, walked over to the central square, and wondered where the whole town was.You see a lot of fanbases make this claim. And as an Illini fan who wore all orange to school after the 2005 championship loss and grew up in the heart of SEC/ACC country, trust me when I say that it is not even close. Illinois is incredibly passionate about the school and its programs, but Illini athletics isn't a cult. It has been a long time since Illini fans had much to cheer about with football.
In the SEC, they mean it when they say...
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Our AD is currently interviewing and vetting candidates. Some of those candidates are probably still planning on playing in games to finish out their current seasons, so there is a sense that nothing will be publicly announced until later. The only candidate I've seen publicly confirmed that we've interviewed is Bret Bielema. It has been publicly confirmed that he is not the only one we have reached out to. The identities of the other candidates have been left to speculation. There is a rumor that the earliest we will hear additional significant details is this Sunday. There is another rumor that our AD has essentially identified our next football coach, but some details are still being worked out. Personally, I think it's significant that two (?) players who recently decommitted have now recommitted to Illinois. I think it's likely that they have been told who our next coach will be.I am beyond confused by the posts in this thread.
Could anyone explain like I'm 5 where we are in the replacement search? So many names being tossed around and I'm sensing not all of them are serious.
It’s the extracurricular stuff that is not in the above category that I personally have issues with. I’m totally fine with being “assertive” otherwise as long as it’s not egregious and poorly calculated risk-taking. The public tolerance for certain types of scandals/issues 2020 is quite different from even a few years ago and it’s those I’d like to avoid. JmoBut even if that is the standard, I feel like the same people critical of Bielema's potential hire due to whatever "character issues" are in his past, are the same people perfectly happy with Brad Underwood and Orlando Antigua. I'm very happy with Underwood/Antigua. Don't get me wrong. It's because we are winning, that makes me happy. But if the litmus test was to not hire anyone unless their backgrounds were squeaky clean, then those 2 guys would not have been hired bc Antigua put South FL on probation, and Underwood had an asst on staff at OSU getting paid by agents and possibly will be in jail. And even Underwood's wins at SFA were vacated due to academic scandal. And if the argument is the "head coach didn't know what was going on", then that right there is a reason to not hire a CEO if they have don't know what is going on within the company.
No one here knows anything.I am beyond confused by the posts in this thread.
Could anyone explain like I'm 5 where we are in the replacement search? So many names being tossed around and I'm sensing not all of them are serious.
We're in Day 3 of the coach search. Nobody knows anything, but everybody knows something. Presumably Josh has spent a lot of $$ on jet fuel the last 72 hours, targeting and interviewing potential candidates. Keep an eye on Brett Beilema, Lance Leipold, Jeff Monken, Luke Fickell, and a host of others. There has been no info from the university, and there won't be until the official announcement. My guess is we hear something official on Sunday, at the earliest. We might see some signs of white smoke come Saturday evening, when the conference championship games have concluded.I am beyond confused by the posts in this thread.
Could anyone explain like I'm 5 where we are in the replacement search? So many names being tossed around and I'm sensing not all of them are serious.
I don't think there's any secrecy about it, it's that he's a jerk to people, including his superiors, and he's been seen drinking and carousing with students while being a major authority figure at the school. He's been said to be an all-around bad guy at previous jobs.
Are Mr. "I Could Still Be The Coach And Probably Should Be" Barry Alvarez and just-got-burned-by-Bobby-Petrino Arkansas somewhat unreliable narrators in that regard? To an extent, but we know Bielema is abrasive, and any of the coed stuff is too much.
Ding, dingNo one here knows anything.
First, its hard to beat Alabama, LSU, Auburn in regular years. Then during his time at Arkansas - Ole Miss/Miss State were also really really good. People don't realize that in 2014, Miss State was ranked #1 in the country, and Ole Miss #3 for part of that time. Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze coached those teams. Mullen is now at Florida, and Freeze is being sought after by Auburn. The SEC West is where the very best college football coaches/teams compete. That Bielema couldnt raise Arkansas level to compete with those teams isn't a negative as far as whether he can still be successful in the Big 10. It just means he's not the very best college coach in America. But that's ok. Illinois doesn't need nor will ever get the very best coach. We just need competent coaches that know what they are doing. It's like a student failing out of Harvard. Just because you fail in the Ivy League, doesn't mean you can't be successful in the Big 10. And the SEC West is the Ivy League of football.I wouldn't be happy with BB because of the things mentioned in the previous post. If he could turn a program around wouldn't he have been able to do it at Arkansas? Would Illinois be easier than Arkansas? I get he has midwestern roots etc. Was his success at Wisconsin a carryover of the past success there? He had some great players to work with. Would he get that player to come to Illinois because of him? Quite a bit different than Wisconsin. I say pass.
Ok I get it , no harm. To see a well coached team on the field would be a very good thing.Listen, I say that with the utmost affection for Wisconsin goobers in general.
Anyone who has spent any time in Wisconsin knows the kind of person I'm talking about, and I wish you all the pleasure of enjoying an evening of blackjack with a few of them at one of the state's fine tribal gaming establishments.
The guy's personality does not scream "elite college football coach", that's what I am trying to get across.
The case FOR Lance Leipold is as simple as watching one of his games. There's watching a good football team, and then there's watching a well coached football team, and every time I've seen his Buffalo teams in a weeknight MACtion game, it is dead stinking obvious they are really well coached.
We might not get the talent with Leipold, we might not always have the cutting edge tactically (though he's been very solid in that regard at the MAC level), but our teams are going to be out there looking like they know what they're doing, and we all know how seldom that has been the case at Illinois over the past 15 years.
But we don't play anymore. Kids eat up the antics of Fleck, Kiffin, Gundy and such. The new generation of athletes loves that type of hype. When I was a head coach at the high school ranks I studied Fleck. The man is crazy but he does some great stuff, outside the box stuff that helps lesser programs thrive. He gets them to believe in themselves with his off the wall slogans and "Be Elite" mentality. Like him or not, he is a good coach. I would take him 100 times out of 100. It is not 1985 anymore.My no way list is BB, PJFleck, Lane Kiffin, and almost forgot Mike Gundy
I will agree that he is a good coach.But we don't play anymore. Kids eat up the antics of Fleck, Kiffin, Gundy and such. The new generation of athletes loves that type of hype. When I was a head coach at the high school ranks I studied Fleck. The man is crazy but he does some great stuff, outside the box stuff that helps lesser programs thrive. He gets them to believe in themselves with his off the wall slogans and "Be Elite" mentality. Like him or not, he is a good coach. I would take him 100 times out of 100. It is not 1985 anymore.
How could you not want Fleck, Kiffin, or Gundy?? Gundy's built a perennial Top 25 team in Okie State, and had them in the playoff conversation this year, Kiffin has an exciting team at Ole Miss, and Fleck has rebuilt Minnesota pretty darn well... we're not getting any of these guys so no need to worry about them anyways.My no way list is BB, PJFleck, Lane Kiffin, and almost forgot Mike Gundy
It’s the extracurricular stuff that is not in the above category that I personally have issues with. I’m totally fine with being “assertive” otherwise as long as it’s not egregious and poorly calculated risk-taking. The public tolerance for certain types of scandals/issues 2020 is quite different from even a few years ago and it’s those I’d like to avoid. Jmo
No one here knows anything.
My no way list is BB, PJFleck, Lane Kiffin, and almost forgot Mike Gundy