Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#1,001      
IlliniCaboose
Yes the D was terrible last year. But was it scheme or talent?
If that scheme was implemented to get the best out of the talent we had, then sure, let's purge everyone.
But if the talent looked bad because the scheme had them out of position then that's a question for the other thread.
I've always been on team fire Henry. If we keep him and change the talent then we'll have our answer.
 
#1,005      
Iamgroot
illiniwil said:
there were no bright spots, we got pushed around, couldn't get off blocks and couldn't hit the QB. it was easy to block Jacas
because he had no help.
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It's hard to get off blocks when you apply no pressure it allows teams oline to double team the defenders when the defense constantly drops everyone back short of 3 rushers.you could add Micah Parsons but if you send only 2 more guys makes it alot easier to defend.i mean we dont blitz we have our db 5-10 yards back its not a recipe for success we could of had osu,miami or etc dlines but the defensive strategy is flawed nobody is really going to produce under those circumstances.i really hope im wrong and that very well maybe.but to say g5 guys is the way to go when you had somebody who could possibly produce on a team that only threw a couple of blitzes in like 2 games and whenever we succeededon blitzing and putting pressureon opposing qb the second we got the lead we went right back to prevent defensethats not how you when championships.if im a defensive linemen id avoid the illini like the plague if ahen is the coordinator.look at the the step back the law firm took when Walter's left case in point granted we did lose alot from the secondary
 
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#1,007      
bigcityillini
Iamgroot said:
It's hard to get off blocks when you apply no pressure it allows teams oline to double team the defenders when the defense constantly drops everyone back short of 3 rushers.you could add Micah Parsons but if you send only 2 more guys makes it alot easier to defend.i mean we dont blitz we have our db 5-10 yards back its not a recipe for success we could of had osu,miami or etc dlines but the defensive strategy is flawed nobody is really going to produce under those circumstances.i really hope im wrong and that very well maybe.but to say g5 guys is the way to go when you had somebody who could possibly produce on a team that only threw a couple of blitzes in like 2 games and whenever we succeededon blitzing and putting pressureon opposing qb the second we got the lead we went right back to prevent defensethats not how you when championships.if im a defensive linemen id avoid the illini like the plague if ahen is the coordinator.look at the the step back the law firm took when Walter's left case in point granted we did lose alot from the secondary
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Exactly! What would make a defensive player WANT to come play here? The development and coaching on that side of the ball leaves a lot to be desired.
 
#1,008      
GoodePodzMelendez
sportsfan260812 said:
What, like Colorado State, Penn, and Utah State is much better. If we’re going to be a big time program with big time money, we have to stop dumpster diving IMO.
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We are finding faster and more athletic players in which many come from smaller programs. Many of these players coming out of HS were undervalued which is why they went to these smaller schools. IU recruited smaller schools like JMU and that worked out for them. We will be fine and the defense will be a hell of a lot better
 
#1,009      
DERV64
I freaking hope so. I hated watching that soft defense
 
#1,010      
LJ22
jamarvelous31 said:
Didn't last year's retention on the lines largely become a bad thing? We retained a bunch of dudes on D and the Oline who underperformed and cost us a shot at the CFP.

I'd also argue this is a good reason to question why we haven't moved on from Ahen or Miller...
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I do not think it was just our lines that "cost us a shot at the CFP."

Given our play in many positions and in many games this year, I'd say 9 wins was greater than expected.
 
#1,012      
bigcityillini
GoodePodzMelendez said:
We are finding faster and more athletic players in which many come from smaller programs. Many of these players coming out of HS were undervalued which is why they went to these smaller schools. IU recruited smaller schools like JMU and that worked out for them. We will be fine and the defense will be a hell of a lot better
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I’ll say this again for those who missed it. IU has currently DOUBLE the amount of P4 transfers playing than non power 5 transfers. Cig did it year one because he HAD TO, not because he wanted to.

Currently IU has 9 P4 transfers and 2 non P4. IU building through non P5 transfers was a year one thing. And they stopped right when they got good.
 
#1,013      
Iamgroot
bigcityillini said:
Exactly! What would make a defensive player WANT to come play here? The development and coaching on that side of the ball leaves a lot to be desired.
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I completely agree sir.its just frustrated when your flip flopping players and grabbing them from a lower level.yet there supposed to have more speed and power then guys we let that didn't have a great year but not a horrible one but at least mccollum did it in the big ten and with this coaching staff .thats whats extremely frustrating to me that.i really hope hope we can bring in some top end talent on the dline but what scares me most is even if we do and ahen is the cordinator and he hurts these kids draft stock going forward by not allowing them to do what a dlinemen does best how's that going to work in next year's portal for us even if we make a change next year.hopefully this year's freshman line can make a difference but even if we they do will we just let them walk to especially the ones that were at least some what productive?
 
#1,014      
skyIdub
Seriously people, after the Baily news and X "news".....outside of Jacas, there's literally nothing else about our defense that couldn't be EASILY replaced.

We were told changes were coming, and when it comes to our defense......color me ready af for all the changes.
 
#1,015      
illinoistradition
sportsfan260812 said:
What, like Colorado State, Penn, and Utah State is much better. If we’re going to be a big time program with big time money, we have to stop dumpster diving IMO.
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Cue the people who likely never played football criticizing the coaching staff that just finished the best two year stretch in Illinois history when they don’t know who all they will be bringing in. This is hilarious.
 
#1,016      
DERV64
sportsfan260812 said:
What, like Colorado State, Penn, and Utah State is much better. If we’re going to be a big time program with big time money, we have to stop dumpster diving IMO.
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There are a lot of fcs, g5, and guys on bad teams that can be huge difference makers on a good p2 team. Ole miss qb came from ferris state.

0-12 WIU had a DT a few years ago that I bet illinois wishes they went after. Google Khalan Saunders.

Tbh the only defensive players I really wanted back was X and Juice and Bailey...the rest of the defense was too soft, slow and weak. Not impressed by any LBs or DL. Barna is the only DL I really see some real potential in. Beerman is another one I can see popping. The rest...I couldnt care less if they leave, they are easily replaceable
 
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#1,017      
and 69 others
the juiceman cometh said:
Very productive when he gets the rock, but doesn't get as many touches because he can't seem to stay healthy. I feel all three of Valentine, Feagin, and Laughery have been cases of production not matching potential, for different reasons. Would be nice to see an explosion for at least one of them in 2026.
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Any chance we get to see what Jordan Anderson could do with 8 carries in a game sometime?
 
#1,018      
sportsfan260812
illinoistradition said:
Cue the people who likely never played football criticizing the coaching staff that just finished the best two year stretch in Illinois history when they don’t know who all they will be bringing in. This is hilarious.
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Ah yes, the trustworthy evaluations of Aaron Henry and Bart Miller lmao. Two things can be true at once- We have for the most part a great staff, but the constant lackluster signings from lesser programs with no track record of success is probably not going to work in the new landscape of college football. You can be 100% in on Bret and still have concerns
 
#1,020      
Big Jack
skyIdub said:
Seriously people, after the Baily news and X "news".....outside of Jacas, there's literally nothing else about our defense that couldn't be EASILY replaced.

We were told changes were coming, and when it comes to our defense......color me ready af for all the changes.
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Preach brother! Most on here don't read and comprehend, or watch the damn video posted i. Which it was clearly stated by BB that he told the 2 deep guys if they wanted to test the portal fine and they would be OK to come back if they wanted. Most of these guys are those 2 deep guys.
 
#1,021      
Emerson Bigguns
illinoistradition said:
Cue the people who likely never played football criticizing the coaching staff that just finished the best two year stretch in Illinois history when they don’t know who all they will be bringing in. This is hilarious.
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Expert Anna-Kat Otto GIF by ABC Network
 
#1,023      
Defrost
sportsfan260812 said:
Ah yes, the trustworthy evaluations of Aaron Henry and Bart Miller lmao. Two things can be true at once- We have for the most part a great staff, but the constant lackluster signings from lesser programs with no track record of success is probably not going to work in the new landscape of college football. You can be 100% in on Bret and still have concerns
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You could trust the staff that got us our most wins in a 2 year period. Just let them finish building the dang roster first, then we'll see.

Or we could all panic now. You know whatever suits you, I guess.
 
#1,024      
Fly Illini Fly!
Indy Illini Fan said:
Guys - our defense wasn’t that good this year … Cost us games … I’m not losing sleep over someone leaving that had 19 tackles and 1.5 sacks …

It’s time to freaking upgrade …
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Those stats are actually rather impressive for a nose tackle — especially given how he started out in a limited role. Could’ve easily seen him step into a Terah Edwards type season/career.
 
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