Illini Football 2023

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#326      

illini80

Forgottonia
I was never negative about the hire, but with such a long list of sub-par hires that wasn't a very high bar to clear. From his opening press conference on, I've been fully on board. We have many limitations at Illinois when compared to the football "blue bloods", but as the CEO of our program I can't think of anyone with more knowledge of the game, who would have a better plan, work harder, be more committed, and be a better ambassador for the University of Illinois .

While still a work in progress, this turnaround has been faster and more complete than I ever expected.
 
#327      
As for BB's past, yes he liked to drink but I think a lot of the stories are a bit exaggerated. I don't think Barry would have put up with Bret partying with players during his time at Wisky...not saying he didn't have a good time as a mid 30's bachelor making millions. As for Arkansas he had some issues but a lot of the negative stuff didn't come out until the fan base started to turn on him and Pittman likes his share of a good time as well....
 
#328      
I agree with Point-Illinois. I was against the hire, I guess I was hoping for a home run hire and at the time he didn't seem like a good fit. Also, the fact that he played and coached at Iowa and has that Hawkeye tattoo (probably just sour grapes that he was an Illinois kid that went to Iowa). But I will say I that I have changed my mind and I'm thrilled to have him as our head coach. He has been the right man for the job.
Not worried about the Hawkeye tattoo or even him going to Iowa. He walked on there. Might not have had interest from Mackovic or maybe didn’t get into Illinois admission wise to walk on.

A downstate Illinois HS football player in late 1980s was very likely excited about Illini football. If Mack gave him a scholarship or expressed interest as a PWO, he likely would have an Illini tattoo today.
 
#329      
Not worried about the Hawkeye tattoo or even him going to Iowa. He walked on there. Might not have had interest from Mackovic or maybe didn’t get into Illinois admission wise to walk on.

A downstate Illinois HS football player in late 1980s was very likely excited about Illini football. If Mack gave him a scholarship or expressed interest as a PWO, he likely would have an Illini tattoo today.
His grade school days playing street football or in the park with friends was Rose Bowl White era. ILL
 
#330      
His grade school days playing street football or in the park with friends was Rose Bowl White era. ILL
May have even had a Don Thorp or Tony Eason jersey, or wish he had one.

Can’t believe we’re talking about Arkansas or WI off field stuff. Stopped thinking about that after his first couple months on the job. No indication of that that as far as I can tell, albeit from afar. None of us need to share the crap we did before having kids or especially while in college.
 
#331      
May have even had a Don Thorp or Tony Eason jersey, or wish he had one.

Can’t believe we’re talking about Arkansas or WI off field stuff. Stopped thinking about that after his first couple months on the job. No indication of that that as far as I can tell, albeit from afar. None of us need to share the crap we did before having kids or especially while in college.
I agree with you 100%
Yours truly,
Sen. John Blutarsky
 
#332      

Illinivek23

Gurnee
I think his very first interview with Game Day - Fowler, Herbie - from his van, just blew me away. After Lovie's failure to even acknowledge how important media is to promoting your program, that was an absolute breath of fresh air. And that has gotten even better thru each of his press conferences and interviews. Happy for his well-earned success so far!

I work in Madison and co-workers chuckled at the notion of us hiring him. Now, they are saying they liked him and thought he did a great job. After all, he left them...
 
#333      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
As for BB's past, yes he liked to drink but I think a lot of the stories are a bit exaggerated. I don't think Barry would have put up with Bret partying with players during his time at Wisky...not saying he didn't have a good time as a mid 30's bachelor making millions. As for Arkansas he had some issues but a lot of the negative stuff didn't come out until the fan base started to turn on him and Pittman likes his share of a good time as well....
Well and we just sorta reap the benefit in a way.

The people who are most engaging and relatable to young people (read: players and recruits) at 50 were the people who were the biggest messes at 30.

And from what I understand of his background, he's the kind of guy that would close the bar out and then be in the gym lifting more than anybody at 6AM the next morning, and this is his assistant coach days, not just as a player.

The guy is a dynamo and not a person of half measures, for good or ill. I'm sure he's now a 200% husband and a 200% father just like he's a 200% everything else.
 
#335      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Bottom line: "Remain calm. All is well." It really, really is (HT: Pru). ;)
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#337      
Not worried about the Hawkeye tattoo or even him going to Iowa. He walked on there. Might not have had interest from Mackovic or maybe didn’t get into Illinois admission wise to walk on.

A downstate Illinois HS football player in late 1980s was very likely excited about Illini football. If Mack gave him a scholarship or expressed interest as a PWO, he likely would have an Illini tattoo today.
The tattoo would be Chief.
 
#340      
My nephew was a student at WI during BB's last 2 years, and did not have a high opinion of him, character-wise, and thought it was a questionable hire for us.

When I saw his name pop up during the search, he seemed a bit of a 'whatever happened to...' reclamation project that would require a lot of due diligence on Josh's part. Fortunately he turned out to be the right man, for the right job, at the right time.
 
#344      
Well and we just sorta reap the benefit in a way.

The people who are most engaging and relatable to young people (read: players and recruits) at 50 were the people who were the biggest messes at 30.

And from what I understand of his background, he's the kind of guy that would close the bar out and then be in the gym lifting more than anybody at 6AM the next morning, and this is his assistant coach days, not just as a player.

The guy is a dynamo and not a person of half measures, for good or ill. I'm sure he's now a 200% husband and a 200% father just like he's a 200% everything else.
I'll say it again... the two best indicators of a coaches success is his coaching "paternity" and his ability to hire good people. The paternity doesn't get much better than BB's - Fry, Snyder, Alvarez, Belichick. He learned a lot from these guys and it's obvious in how he runs a program. People focus a lot on X's and O's and recruiting, which are obviously important but not nearly the whole picture.

Other than Pederson, the quality of his hires has been stellar. You watch our guys like Witherspoon and Sydney Brown vs, for example, OSU's DB's and its apparent how much better our players are taught and developed. I don't know if Henry will be a great DC, but he is a great DB coach, and that extends throughout the staff.
 
#345      
These 2 men appear to be excellent adds to our team. Personality, team first, and both spoke a considerable amount about development. Coach B and staff have something to sale now. Winning, development, program trajectory, etc.. I could not be more excited for our Illini and our future program success. Coach B has proven in a quick time that he is a excellent CEO of a program. With age comes maturity and wisdom. Congrats to coach B keep up the outstanding job!
 
#349      

illini80

Forgottonia
I didn’t see an open thread that fit, so I’ll put this here. Not meaning any disrespect to any of last years players that transferred out, but I thought it was interesting to see what happened for the guys that left.

 
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