Houston’s in the big 12 now. And UTSA spends next to nothing on their athletics
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mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Well that would be an absolute kick in the nuts to have Lunney taken just as he had the offense rolling pretty well. Will Houston be able to match what we pay him?
I can see why people want to pursue careers in coaching. Lifetime financial security for doing 2 to 5 years of average/mediocre work.
Smith is 17-39 overall in five seasons at Illinois that produced one bowl bid (2019 Redbox Bowl loss to California) and didn’t post a single winning season. If Smith’s final game as the Illini head coach was Saturday, he exits after a disappointing 28-10 loss to in-state rival Northwestern, which is the program’s sixth straight loss to the Wildcats and guaranteed a ninth straight losing season.
Smith was Whitman’s first hire as the program’s athletics director on March 7, 2016 as the former Chicago Bears head coach agreed to a $21 million contract over six years. In Nov. 2018, Illinois agreed to an extension with Smith for two more years, which gave him an annual salary of $4 million and kept him under contract through 2023. According to the details in that extension, Illinois is authorized to pay Smith a $2 million buyout if terminated after the 2020 season unless the university and Smith’s representatives could come to a settlement.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Just a reminder from the day Bert was hired. I think he is making real progress towards fulfilling his vision:
"Illinois and the Big Ten is home for me, and I can't be any more excited about the opportunity in front of me with the Fighting Illini," Bielema said in a statement announcing his hire Saturday. "We want to build a program that makes Illini Nation proud and regain the passion that I've seen when Illinois wins. We want the young men playing football in the state of Illinois from Freeport to Cairo and from Quincy to Danville dreaming of wearing the Orange and Blue and playing at Memorial Stadium. I look forward to re-connecting with the high school coaches around the state making it clear we intend to keep our players home."
"Illinois and the Big Ten is home for me, and I can't be any more excited about the opportunity in front of me with the Fighting Illini," Bielema said in a statement announcing his hire Saturday. "We want to build a program that makes Illini Nation proud and regain the passion that I've seen when Illinois wins. We want the young men playing football in the state of Illinois from Freeport to Cairo and from Quincy to Danville dreaming of wearing the Orange and Blue and playing at Memorial Stadium. I look forward to re-connecting with the high school coaches around the state making it clear we intend to keep our players home."
It was actually “dip”. Give him a break, he didn’t know what else to do at the time.
They’ll likely be able to offer more $$ … Better recruiting area … Easier to find kids down there that fit into his system … And restart your coaching clock with a guy who already believes in your system … Lot easier to win in Big 12 than Big 10 going forward …
Would make a lot of sense for him … Assuming that Traylor is their guy …
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
yup
hope for the best , but expect the worst
I'd like Lunney back, but if it comes down to backing up the truck to pay him, I'd rather those resources go somewhere else. Not sure if BU would describe him as "elite."
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
agree
losing Lunny is not akin to losing Walters
but that said, constant turnover in the OC is something we have had to deal with for quite some time and that itself is not good
Hypothetically if this were to happen, who would BB have on his short list of oc candidates? And would any recruits/current players follow him?
Petty is a Luke Altmyer recruit lol
Makes sense for Lunney. People like to crap on him but it would hurt to lose him.
Off the top of my head. Chryst, Moorehead and maybe Nate
What about someone like Nick Hill
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
Would Matt Campbell consider a move to Indiana to get into the B1G?
Have a hard time seeing that one
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Fifth-highest scoring offense in the Big Ten (out of 14). Second-best, behind Maryland, when looking at non Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State. Not sure what else is attainable.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Wow, this is dire.
They have both coordinated some pretty good offenses. Chryst averaged 34 points per game and 425+ yards a game at Wisky for awhile.
*Bret could go in a completely different direction though. Those were just my guesses based off my Knowledge of Bret.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Chryst hasn't been an OC for 11 years and was fired from Wisconsin primarily because of their lack of offense. He looked great with Russ and it's gotten progressively worse since. Moorhead would be even worse - Oregon has finished in the top 30 offenses every single year in the past 19 seasons except the two seasons when Moorhead was their OC.
Scheelhaase would be an intriguing hire but I think that would be a tough sell. Iowa State had an excellent season, especially when factoring in the pre-season suspensions. Their offense was substantially improved from last year. He likely gets a new contract this offseason from the Cyclones.
I really like Lunney and believe in the strides taken the past two seasons. This year was the highest scoring offense for Illinois under Bielema, best passing offense since Scheelhaase's senior year. Next year's schedule looks fairly soft (for the new era of P5 conferences) and the offense could take a serious step forward with Altmyer. If I'm Lunney, I stick it out one more year and press my luck that bigger programs could recruit him as OC or he could get some head coaching looks.
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