Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

#301      
therealmiket86
illinidarrin said:
Your statement was essentially that the football program didn't deserve as much money as the basketball program. The reason why they got to the Final 4 is because they had enough money to go out and get top players. If the football program can't get the money it needs to go out and get high quality recruits and transfers, then it it's impossible for them to make the CFP. The football team didn't have a good transfer class on paper this year because apparently they didn't have enough money to get the some top transfers. That could end up costing us on the field this year and we can't afford to have that happen. 1 bad season could set us back a few years again.
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After the elite 8 more money went into the program. Teams like Duke still spent a lot more than we did. Also donors are giving money for basketball. What are going to do twist their arm and make them give to the football team?

The football team spent money on a qb and skill players. Also spent money getting guys like X and Matt to come back. They also spent more money on the 26 prep class. For Reference Houser cost 3 million. I would much rather that kinda money go to a transfer than Lopati. It’s crazy that Michigan will be paying big money to 2 qb’s at the same time. Realistically Lopati will sit for 2 years behind Underwood.
 
#303      
Lakes333
It does not seem like we are close to landing some of our top targets in this recruiting class. Need some four stars to pick up some momentum. Any insight on any guys that we are about to close on that have high major offers?
 
#304      
Illinisam
suburbanILLINI said:
This cycle - yes; up to this point in BB's tenure - I disagree. Last year's class was ranked #27 which is the highest since the Zooker.
It will take another 2-3 years of solid on-field results for most outside people to have a positive perception of the program. We had quite the hole to dig out of and it takes time to change people's minds
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Yes! Rome was not built overnight. Basketball is a totally different animal than football. We finally have a coach that is ‘committed’ to this program whereas others weren’t or not good enough. BB is both. Another couple of years and things will be great. We finally had two consecutive winning seasons. When’s the last time that happened? Mackcovic? You don’t change kids minds after one or two years. We now have an identity. I trust BB to get us to where we want to go.
 
#305      
pvaughn8
Pekinfan said:
Illinois football fans should be very disappointed in our recutting.
I am very happy with and supportive of Coach B and our results on the field are just short of amazing. But our recruiting just doesn’t measure up to our BIG10 rivals.
Do they have more money than us…possibly but I seem to remember a 10 million dollar donation not very long ago.
Maybe a few less money for Generals(coaches) and a a few more $ for the troops.
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I kind of expected maybe underwhelming on the defensive side due to the changes, but not the offensive recruiting
 
#308      
therealmiket86
Illinisam said:
Yes! Rome was not built overnight. Basketball is a totally different animal than football. We finally have a coach that is ‘committed’ to this program whereas others weren’t or not good enough. BB is both. Another couple of years and things will be great. We finally had two consecutive winning seasons. When’s the last time that happened? Mackcovic? You don’t change kids minds after one or two years. We now have an identity. I trust BB to get us to where we want to go.
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That’s why we really fumbled the bag not making a bowl game in 23. It changes the perception of the program to say we’ve been to 4 consecutive bowl games. I’m sure if we have some high profile wins it’ll help get more money going to the program.

not winning the big ten west in 2022 was also another time we didn’t capitalize.
 
#309      
skyIdub
Basically, Illinois Football is Daffy Duck after Bugs Bunny tricks him in the "Football School/Basketball School" back and forth and Elmer Fudd fires the shotgun into his beak after confirming "Basketball School FIRE!"


memix-rabbit-season.gif


daffy-duck-bugs-bunny.gif
 
#311      
AirTran
therealmiket86 said:
That’s why we really fumbled the bag not making a bowl game in 23. It changes the perception of the program to say we’ve been to 4 consecutive bowl games. I’m sure if we have some high profile wins it’ll help get more money going to the program.

not winning the big ten west in 2022 was also another time we didn’t capitalize.
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Then how do you explain the 2025 and 2026 recruiting classes and the 2024 and 2025 transfers? Those were the best classes we have had for years. This year, there is clearly "something in the air" that is being told to high level recruits about Illinois. Whatever it is (and I have no idea), it's working. Our available NIL spend capability is at an all - time high and we have 1 recruit so far. This looks like a Lovie Smith recruiting year.
 
#312      
orangem
therealmiket86 said:
I’m guessing we bring in a transfer to compete with Boyd and Clayton.
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I agree that if we keep Boyd and Clayton in the fold, perhpas Lopati isn't the best use of our limited money when he likely would not have won the job as a true freshman and then would have left anyways.
 
#313      
JucoIllini10
The lack of early commitments is frustrating but there haven't been any real red flags yet with how the staff is recruiting this class. The majority of the staff's top targets have not signed elsewhere so it is too early to panic.

Staff pursued a top in-state QB in Trae Taylor but couldn't compete with Nebraska's NIL. They pivot to Lopati but he blows up and Michigan NIL is hard to beat. With back-to-back solid QB recruits the previous 2 years (Boyd and Clayton), the staff could afford to take some big shots with QB recruiting this class instead of locking in a safer/cheaper option early.

The only real misses so far would be missing out on the 3 safeties (Mattison to Michigan, Lofton to Mizzou, and Thies to Iowa) and Jack Brown (TE committed to Mizzou). Offering Thies late feels like a poor decision but I'm certainly not an expert on scouting high school football. Losing our DC/Safety coach likely did not help in these recruiting battles but hopefully this defense is better off in the long run because of that change. Justin Johnson is still a great start to DB recruiting for this class.
 
#314      
Simeon Rice
JucoIllini10 said:
The lack of early commitments is frustrating but there haven't been any real red flags yet with how the staff is recruiting this class. The majority of the staff's top targets have not signed elsewhere so it is too early to panic.
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Define red flags. '27 is one of the deepest in-state classes in years, if not decades, and we almost assuredly won't touch the top 10 and barely register for the next 10-25. Our neighbor rivals have far more momentum in our own state. And this in an era when you don't need years of overperformance on the field. Instead, you need a little bit of a pitch and a bunch of NIL.
 
#315      
Kendall Gill’s Uncle
Simeon Rice said:
Define red flags. '27 is one of the deepest in-state classes in years, if not decades, and we almost assuredly won't touch the top 10 and barely register for the next 10-25. Our neighbor rivals have far more momentum in our own state. And this in an era when you don't need years of overperformance on the field. Instead, you need a little bit of a pitch and a bunch of NIL.
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I’m with you. Great post.
 
#316      
Fly Illini Fly!
Simeon Rice said:
Define red flags. '27 is one of the deepest in-state classes in years, if not decades, and we almost assuredly won't touch the top 10 and barely register for the next 10-25. Our neighbor rivals have far more momentum in our own state. And this in an era when you don't need years of overperformance on the field. Instead, you need a little bit of a pitch and a bunch of NIL.
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The staff changes may have been more of a downgrade on the recruiting front than we’d like to think.

Not even a full year back — we did some serious work.
 
#317      
IlliniWu
Simeon Rice said:
Define red flags. '27 is one of the deepest in-state classes in years, if not decades, and we almost assuredly won't touch the top 10 and barely register for the next 10-25. Our neighbor rivals have far more momentum in our own state. And this in an era when you don't need years of overperformance on the field. Instead, you need a little bit of a pitch and a bunch of NIL.
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Justin Johnson is a top 10 prospect.
 
#318      
therealmiket86
AirTran said:
Then how do you explain the 2025 and 2026 recruiting classes and the 2024 and 2025 transfers? Those were the best classes we have had for years. This year, there is clearly "something in the air" that is being told to high level recruits about Illinois. Whatever it is (and I have no idea), it's working. Our available NIL spend capability is at an all - time high and we have 1 recruit so far. This looks like a Lovie Smith recruiting year.
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This was always going to be a smaller class but we are still striking out with recruits. We also had a massive turnover on the defensive staff so that will slow things for with recruiting.
 
#325      
JucoIllini10
Simeon Rice said:
Define red flags. '27 is one of the deepest in-state classes in years, if not decades, and we almost assuredly won't touch the top 10 and barely register for the next 10-25. Our neighbor rivals have far more momentum in our own state. And this in an era when you don't need years of overperformance on the field. Instead, you need a little bit of a pitch and a bunch of NIL.
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Red flags would be missing out on targets to programs with similar NIL funds. Illinois simply cannot compete dollar for dollar with Michigan, Ohio State, ND, Mizzou, Miami, etc. I'll start getting concerned if recruits the staff is prioritizing start committing to other mid-tier Power4 programs. Thies would be the only current in-state prospect that fits that description which I mentioned in my original post. Halliman, Fifer, TJ Lewis, and Injaychock are much better indicators of in-state recruiting success compared to panicking when guys like Park and Wagner end up committing to historically better programs with bigger NIL budgets.
 
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