Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#576      
mhuml32
NarrowJ said:
IU being a top destination football-wise now is gross… I hate it so much and just wish they’d lose so I don’t have to hear about them until next season lol
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They are testing the precedent of repeating success through the transfer portal. Every team but Indiana is having as many misses as hits in the transfer portal in the past ~4 seasons. The first year made sense because Ciggy brought over all of "his" guys. The second year was a different beast, and arguably a bigger success.

The HS recruiting is still meh (49th in 2025, 32nd in 2026). This means the depth is not there, which means they are dependent on the transfer portal to keep propping them up.


At some point, Indiana will need to transition to spending more on HS preps because (a) the transfer portal is hard to consistently replicate and (b) the transfer portal is more expensive. Or they will keep defying the odds and Ciggy has figured out transfer portal evaluation beyond every other coaching staff.
 
#578      
Joel Goodson
and 69 others said:
I could be misinterpreting your comment, but if not, I think you're undervaluing Olano's contributions to the beloved. Watching these bowl games, I just keep thinking how fortunate we are to have him. Or, I guess, how fortunate we were to have had him.
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big-time misinterpretation: abundantly clear that Olano is elite. but who he plays for is his call, and I'm not gonna hold it against him if he decides to bolt for a huge bag (for kickers, anyway). doesn't change my mind about A&M being an very odd cult (not to mention the omnipresent little brother thing)
 
#582      
Red77sng
I’m fine if he transfers to Illinois but I hope we get better upgrades than him
 
#583      
and 69 others
Joel Goodson said:
big-time misinterpretation: abundantly clear that Olano is elite. but who he plays for is his call, and I'm not gonna hold it against him if he decides to bolt for a huge bag (for kickers, anyway). doesn't change my mind about A&M being an very odd cult (not to mention the omnipresent little brother thing)
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And, of course, my prior post did not age well:

1766886846541.png
 
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#590      
Illini92and96
91Illini said:
How about Novosad (OR backup qb)?
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He was hurt a bit this last year and never able to impress enough per my duck friends. He got beat out for second string behind Moore. His OC from Oregon took the Kentucky job, so if he were really promising you think he would bring him with. However, Kentucky has a top 350 local Lexington kid who played this year as a redshirt freshman after their portal QB got hurt. So he might have enough potential that they ride with him instead of bringing in a portal guy,
 
#592      
HensonHall71
blackdog said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2005087951844417792
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In fairness almost every power 4 school can probably say the same thing- in the feeding frenzie that is the portal- every QB is likely testing the waters to see what programs would be interested

The likely paths for us are a highly touted backup looking for a starting role (ala Luke) or a lower tier power 4 or MAC type starting QB with a lot of experience. When we hear about starting QB’s from top 30 programs transferring, I doubt we can be in that market, given the supply demand imbalance

I would be excited for Craig given I think his arm and running ability would play in the big ten but it would be a leap in the speed of the game that you just don’t know how he’ll adjust. I’m sure the staff will explore lower risk options first
 
#595      
Illinicpa14
our coaches im sure are all over it - but kicker in particular seems important for our desired style of play.

We can’t leave 3-5 points on the field most weeks (even though this year we weirdly didn’t play in many close games). Olanos consistency has really matched the team needs on a week to week basis.
 
#597      
BatteredWifeSchwartz
TheFlyingIllini1317 said:
Pay up to keep David! Why would he leave smh.
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Because kickers don’t get drafted (guaranteed money in the NFL) and being a kicker on an NFL team is fickle at best. If you have an opportunity to make more money in 1 year than 5-6 years in the NFL, you take it.

Love Olano and hope he stays, but will totally understand and support him if he leaves.
 
#598      
GMAN55
No bone to pick with Olano, but just adds fuel to the fire why very soon college football will be unwatchable like the NBA. And that will be hard for me to take. I can only stomach so much of these " super coaches " who are little more than the winners of the auction for the best talent, the poachers, not the developers of the best talent.
 
#599      
IlliniWu
BatteredWifeSchwartz said:
Because kickers don’t get drafted (guaranteed money in the NFL) and being a kicker on an NFL team is fickle at best. If you have an opportunity to make more money in 1 year than 5-6 years in the NFL, you take it.

Love Olano and hope he stays, but will totally understand and support him if he leaves.
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He's going to get drafted and I would pay. Think some are taking for granted how important K are because the Illini have had such a good run. Olano has been directed responsible in most big wins the past 2 years. Pay him (If this is the case).
 
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