Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#326      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
I watch a lot of Ok St games as son #2 is an alum. He is often frustrating. Tons of talent, but yea, turns it over too much and gets hurt a lot with his style of play

my guess is he just wants a change of scenery. Gundy is a good coach and good guy

He's the Big XII Mertz. Gotten worse every year and throws plenty of turnover-worthy balls.
 
#327      
What's going on with the portal though is insanity and it will destroy the sport. Coaches in essence have to re-recruit their roster every single year. That plus unregulated NIL $ is a recipe for chaos. You don't see unrestricted free agency or open salary caps in the NFL do you?
It's going to affect every team in the country to some degree. I think the volatility is more likely to help an ascending program like Illinois more than hurt it. Coach's jobs in the off-season are certainly more difficult than they were previously, but the ones who adapt effectively will be rewarded on the field.
Teams that have struggled to get results will struggle to keep the few good players they have. Teams that have managed to stockpile depth and talent, will struggle to keep it all, but will keep the guys who think they are going to play. (This isn't a new development. It's just a little easier now) A team that has shown the ability to develop players and has snaps available will greatly benefit from the portal.
Now that the Illini have leapt back into relevancy in the B1G, can they sustain it? I think so. I think BB will find a lot of answers via the portal.
I don't think there is any real threat of NIL and the transfer portal "destroying the sport". It's just going to make things more volatile, and for a lot of fans, more interesting.
 
#332      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
I have no idea if Illinois has a chance with each of these names but there are tiers. Put them in my preferred order in each tier.

Take Them Immediately
Leary (NC State)
Armstrong (Virginia)
Pyne (Notre Dame)
Card (Texas)

Lower Level Stars Wanting More
Gabbert (Miami OH)
Reed (WKU)

Up & Comers Who Haven't Played
Altmyer (Ole Miss)
Drones (Baylor)
Hornsby (Arkansas)
Veilleux (Penn State)

Previous Starters/Never Met Their Ceiling
Mertz (Wisconsin)
Sims (GT)
Slovis (WV)
 
#337      

derrick6

Illini Dawg
Seattle
People are going to leap to what they feel are obvious conclusions due to Leary's brother and the fact that it's Bielema and an NC State QB but...

If you're Donovan why would you want your brother to come take the job you've been hoping to earn? If you're Devin why would you spend your remaining year of eligibility doing that to your brother?

It would be one thing if they weren't both QB's or if Donovan had the skillset to pivot to another position or something. Just don't see it.
Mentoring. Win-win for both.

Also a great opportunity to advance an offense that only failed due to red zone issues.
 
#339      

Mr. Tibbs

southeast DuPage
Mentoring. Win-win for both.

Also a great opportunity to advance an offense that only failed due to red zone issues.
yea
Donovan isn’t starting next year in game 1 , in any good scenario for us
 
#341      
People are going to leap to what they feel are obvious conclusions due to Leary's brother and the fact that it's Bielema and an NC State QB but...

If you're Donovan why would you want your brother to come take the job you've been hoping to earn? If you're Devin why would you spend your remaining year of eligibility doing that to your brother?

It would be one thing if they weren't both QB's or if Donovan had the skillset to pivot to another position or something. Just don't see it.
Think Donavon has a pretty good idea he isn’t gonna be the starter next year. If it’s not his brother it’s going to be someone else.
 
#343      
Umm …

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#344      

Mr. Tibbs

southeast DuPage
I’m glad someone already mentioned the Brown brothers. Plus we have the Kreutz brothers too
I get it . we have had brothers on the team many times


all are totally different scenarios from what I’m talking about
 
#346      
I’m glad someone already mentioned the Brown brothers. Plus we have the Kreutz brothers too
And the 2 examples cited aren’t really applicable. I think father-son is completely different. Kids often want to blaze their own trail. On Pocic, if I’m not mistaken they would not have played together — one year apart — and Illini won 2 or 3 games Ethan’s senior year in high school. Not to mention he was a top 100 recruit looking at his next 4 years. Devin is a grad transfer who would be coming in for his last year to play with his brother. Family connection doesn’t make it a sure thing, but can’t hurt.
 
#347      
In a perfect world we would have some excellent underclassmen ready to take over QB so we could wait for Tommy DeVito to get an answer from NCAA

Jack Trudeau - sophomore starter
Jeff George - sophomore starter (had to sitout transfer year)
Kurt Kittner - sophomore starter
Juice Williams - sophomore starter
Nate Scheelhaase - sophomore starter

Unfortunately we saw the difference this year in having a good QB and it does not appear anybody on our roster is ready

Bret is not naive or ridiculously loyal to his players. He knows this is a brutal business. If he needs to guarantee the starting position to get the QB he wants I believe he will do it.

If Tommy gets another year of eligibility he may not use it (he is 24 years old) but rather try to catch on in NFL or he may choose to transfer to another school.
 
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