Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

#152      
Battle89
Michigan outspends Illinois for a top recruit. Tell me again about this great new world we are in and how different things are.

Feels like 90% of recruiting years over the last fifty years.
 
#156      
Dkayak
redwingillini11 said:
What pisses me off about this is that he is clearly going to be the backup behind some upper upperclassman for at least a year or two. So he could potentially be the starter here day 1 but he will end up being the backup there, and may end up transferring somewhere else before he starts a game for Michigan. Boo.
Click to expand...
Money talks
 
#157      
Dkayak
Simeon Rice said:
Problem is, QB is the most important position on the field, and if you don't 'homegrow' them, you are forced to overpay in the portal to get one. Case in point this past portal season when we don't have a homegrown solution ready so we need to spend a large chunk on a QB which cascades into not having budget for retention and not being able to fill gaps in the roster
Click to expand...
But if you do homegrown them, you still have to overpay to retain them (Luke being a rare exception). The market cost is the same for a starter as long as they’re willing to jump for more money.
 
#158      
NashvILLe05
Simeon Rice said:
Problem is, QB is the most important position on the field, and if you don't 'homegrow' them, you are forced to overpay in the portal to get one. Case in point this past portal season when we don't have a homegrown solution ready so we need to spend a large chunk on a QB which cascades into not having budget for retention and not being able to fill gaps in the roster
Click to expand...
You’re going to have to pay a top QB whether homegrown or not. The price tag keeps going up each year and that’s another tough factor to manage around.
 
#159      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
lstewart53x3 said:
How many times in the past 50 years did we win 19 games in two seasons capped off with bowl wins over SEC teams?
Click to expand...
I think the point just is that there’s a cap. Yes we can be successful - and definitely have been - but there’s definitely an inevitable cap to it.

We’re not in the same realm as Michigan or some of the heavy hitters when it comes down to $$$. We’re just not. So, despite the success, you’ll always be vulnerable when perusing true, top tier talent.

This Lopati recruitment was a prime example.
 
Last edited:
#160      
illini0440
redwingillini11 said:
What pisses me off about this is that he is clearly going to be the backup behind some upper upperclassman for at least a year or two. So he could potentially be the starter here day 1 but he will end up being the backup there, and may end up transferring somewhere else before he starts a game for Michigan. Boo.
Click to expand...
If all pans out he probably wouldn’t be the day 1 starter here either.
 
#161      
Simeon Rice
Dkayak said:
But if you do homegrown them, you still have to overpay to retain them (Luke being a rare exception). The market cost is the same for a starter as long as they’re willing to jump for more money.
Click to expand...

You will always pay more in the open market (Portal) with multiple bidders than you will with 1 bidder. No option is cheap, but it's why retention is so important
 
#162      
ChiefGritty
mhuml32 said:
none of the preps being recruited by Illinois were alive when Juice started at Illinois.
Click to expand...
Matt Damon Grandpa GIF
 
#163      
GForce
From all the insider reports on here, It seems Boyd is really talented and the only thing keeping him off the field is experience. Our heir apparent at QB? Which takes a bit of the sting off of losing Lopati.
Also, QBs are famously hard to project, whether college or pros.
 
#170      
BrownTown
Simeon Rice said:
Problem is, QB is the most important position on the field, and if you don't 'homegrow' them, you are forced to overpay in the portal to get one. Case in point this past portal season when we don't have a homegrown solution ready so we need to spend a large chunk on a QB which cascades into not having budget for retention and not being able to fill gaps in the roster
Click to expand...
If we had a starting level Quarterback on the roster as good as the one we got in the portal. We would have had to pay him just as much to get him here.

It was gonna be incredibly expensive to have Lopati sit out a freshmen year and wait his turn. Then you could STILL lose him to the portal after that….

We aren’t in position to have a backup make millions.
 
#171      
Battle89
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
I think the point just is that there’s a cap. Yes we can be successful - and definitely have been - but there’s definitely an inevitable cap to it.

We’re not in the same realm as Michigan or some of the heavy hitters when it comes down to $$$. We’re just not. So, despite the success, you’ll always be vulnerable when perusing true, top tier talent.

This Lopati recruitment was a prime example.
Click to expand...
Yup. I’m unhappy with Michigan’s recruiting antics and the replies are about our wins and negative fans.

I’m very happy with our wins and our coach. I’m very tired of Michigan outspending us (and don’t expect that to change).
 
#172      
lstewart53x3
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
I think the point just is that there’s a cap. Yes we can be successful - and definitely have been - but there’s definitely an inevitable cap to it.

We’re not in the same realm as Michigan or some of the heavy hitters when it comes down to $$$. We’re just not. So, despite the success, you’ll always be vulnerable when perusing true, top tier talent.

This Lopati recruitment was a prime example.
Click to expand...
Battle89 said:
Yup. I’m unhappy with Michigan’s recruiting antics and the replies are about our wins and negative fans.

I’m very happy with our wins and our coach. I’m very tired of Michigan outspending us (and don’t expect that to change).
Click to expand...

For sure. We aren’t going to win every recruitment and we still don’t have the financial resources to compete at the tippy top of the country. I was more so responding to this line from the original post:

Tell me again about this great new world we are in and how different things are.

Well, in this new world that now includes the transfer portal, NIL, and a competent coaching staff, we went from winning 17 games in 5 years under Lovie to 19 wins in 2 years under Bret. So even though Michigan, Ohio St, etc, are going to steal a recruit or two from us, I’d choose this world over the alternative.
 
Back