I have heard this since his Bears days. It is a poor thing to worry about to me. Has nothing to do with anything. (Not saying he should still be here)
Lovie Smith out at Illinois
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
College sports is about rah rah passion, energy, and emotions. Even though it's a "business", it's way more passionate for these kids than the NFL, IMO.
Visible fire and passion is a valuable currency with 18-20 year olds.
We're getting ready to witness that first hand....and it's going to work.
Mostly it just pisses the fans off more
Deleted member 747784
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I had to look up who she was
. I Wish her well - it’s a tough business for women to prosper - but it does seem like many pro sports are trying to get some involved in management roles -
but coaching ? that’s going to be tough .
Who she was was a member of a losing, sub-par joke of a staff that was put together on the friends and family plan rather than any plan to win football games.
Deleted member 654622
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Lovie was clearly putting more emphasis on getting people opportunities they possibly wouldn't get other places. From the product we saw on the field, I would be shocked to see some of them on a power 5 staff anytime soon.
Jeremy Werner has said multiple times that Lovie fired the recruiting coordinator after his first class signed, which was decent with Illinois kids. And it was all down hill from there. I am not saying we need an Illinois person in that position but.....
Lovie was a failure as a CFB coach, that goes without saying. He clearly did not understand the modern college game, he refused or was incapable of developing players, and his offensive philosophy/understanding bordered on negligence. AND...
In a lot of respects, Illinois, as a program, needs to thank Lovie. As a lifelong fan, it was hard to see how Thomas & Beckman mismanaged the program. It was even harder knowing that we would not be even mediocre for some time. Whitman made a huge gamble when he fired Cubit, but it was necessary to start fresh. Hiring Lovie gave Illinois instant credibility within the state and was a clear signal that Illinois was attempting to get the best coach it could, at that time. Lovie was never going to lead the program to prominence, but he could set the table for the next coach, specifically with public perception and facilities. And I believe that is exactly what he has done.
Sure, the recruiting department needs to be drastically overhauled and the S&C needs to be modernized. But we are in a much better position than we were. Lovie has his faults to be sure, but BB needs to thank him.
In a lot of respects, Illinois, as a program, needs to thank Lovie. As a lifelong fan, it was hard to see how Thomas & Beckman mismanaged the program. It was even harder knowing that we would not be even mediocre for some time. Whitman made a huge gamble when he fired Cubit, but it was necessary to start fresh. Hiring Lovie gave Illinois instant credibility within the state and was a clear signal that Illinois was attempting to get the best coach it could, at that time. Lovie was never going to lead the program to prominence, but he could set the table for the next coach, specifically with public perception and facilities. And I believe that is exactly what he has done.
Sure, the recruiting department needs to be drastically overhauled and the S&C needs to be modernized. But we are in a much better position than we were. Lovie has his faults to be sure, but BB needs to thank him.
Everyone likes to tip toe around it but the entire Lovie tenure was almost as much about checking off some much needed boxes as it was about building a winning program.
More so about Lovie getting his yes men in there....Ex: see bears tenure and Ron Rivera not getting retained as DC
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Lovie was thanked with millions of fun coupons to enjoy while stoically sitting by the pool with his family and friends.
Yup. Don't get me started, I could make a great case the program isn't actually in a better place than when he took over.
Agreed, it certainly doesn't appear to be in any better a place with in-state HS coaches. And giving Lovie credit for the positive impact of the new facilities is quite a stretch.
Deleted member 747671
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Wouldn't mind reading that, as I am in agreement.
Yep....in some ways better off, in others clearly worse. Not sure on the whole if it's better or worse. At a minimum, you can say we spent the last 5 years treading water at best, when we should have been getting much better.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
A program as such is much more than someone calling plays for 3 hours on fall Saturday afternoons. It's 365 days a year of managing hundreds of students and staff plus facilities. And speaking of facilities, ours were in tatters before Josh and Lovie set to it. And consider that during Lovie's tenure, no players were arrested, none were stabbed, and they all attended class. Emphasis was making them better men. So the program itself was elevated substantially. You may not have been pleased with the won-loss record.
I think we are way better off. Plus the transfer rule can turn over the roster to their type player quicker.
All I can say to this is, harken back to the days when Joe Torre was manager of the Yankees. Remember dugout TV shots during the game of Torre huddled in the corner of the bench in his overcoat. He looked like he was embalmed. But the team won nonetheless.
DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
Does anyone recall Tom Landry on the sidelines? He watched but didn't interact a lot. He also won a bunch of games. Of course as another poster highlighted that is NFL and college is a different game in many ways.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
If Beckman won at Illinois there would have been an insane number of people on here who would have embraced the lasagna comments that we all joke about now. Fans always hate the mannerisms of their coach when they are not successful but accept/embrace them when they win.
Deleted member 29907
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Our team did not win, was not prepared to play many games, and made countless discipline type errors over the course of every single game and year under Lovie. So, while you can be stoic during a game if you've gotten your team well prepared, if you have not, you'd better start correcting on the spot. And yes, as others have pointed out - these are not professionals - probably the biggest lack of awareness on Lovie's part. Or was it apathy?
Lovie did nothing to better the program. What exactly are you thanking him for?
Deleted member 747671
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I don't really disagree with what you say in general here, but I have a very hard time believing things actually got better and the facility would not have happened without Lovie. We were falling so far behind it wasn't even funny. Josh was going to get that done regardless of who the coach was. Did it help to bring in a splashy name like Lovie? Sure, but I just can't believe that we would not have the new facility without him. Unless I'm misremembering, Beckman's teams were relatively well behaved and attended class too. Let's not forget Lovie had his share of guys getting into trouble and being kicked off the team. Win-loss got measurably worse. Overall talent may have increased very slightly but I'd put it on par with what he took over. I don't think you can really point to anything that is substantially better unless you truly believe that we'd still be in our 1990s era facilities without him.
Deleted member 654622
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100% agree we are better off then we were. I am not sure we get that new facility without Lovie. However Josh is showing himself capable of raising money. But the reality is we are way worse off then we SHOULD be. The situation was set up on a tee for him and he.....
