Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

[Mr. Tibbs]

A


Yeah because kicking field goals in practice is the same as doing it when the games on the line with a full stadium. Everyone looks good when theirs no pressure.

you are really referring to the mental aspect of FG kicking . I’m sure there are some things coaches can do to help prepare a guy for that , much like free throw shooting , but a guy has to totally rely on muscle memory to be good at it all game/season long . that comes thru repetition with the snapper & holder , with occasional 11 on 11 work.

I really wish Olano stayed - but I just have faith in the next man up . In general , our program has had mostly pretty good fg kickers over the years & just don’t anticipate that changing

 

[therealmiket86]

you are really referring to the mental aspect of FG kicking . I’m sure there are some things coaches can do to help prepare a guy for that , much like free throw shooting , but a guy has to totally rely on muscle memory to be good at it all game/season long . that comes thru repetition with the snapper & holder , with occasional 11 on 11 work.

I really wish Olano stayed - but I just have faith in the next man up . In general , our program has had mostly pretty good fg kickers over the years & just don’t anticipate that changing

Do you think Ohio states kicker was shanking field goals in practice like that? When the bright lights are on it’s a lot harder. What can a coach do to get a player ready to make a game winning field goal on national tv. Not to mention the 70,000 screaming fans in the stadium.

When kicking on air everyone is looking good. This is p4 football we are talking about not freshman football.

 

[Dkayak]

A


Yeah because kicking field goals in practice is the same as doing it when the games on the line with a full stadium. Everyone looks good when theirs no pressure.

I’m just saying practicing kicking is relatively simple compared to drills and scrimmage for QB, WR, DB, and even linemen, whose performance is intertwined with that of many other players, particularly the opposing team. Crowd noise and emotional pressure compete with muscle memory for the kicker but his job is otherwise very one-dimensional.

This is why soccer players can much more readily become kickers than other positions. We need a “leg sniper” with good range who’s calm under pressure. This requires a lot of time at the range and the right emotional disposition.

 

[logjam]

I’m just saying practicing kicking is relatively simple compared to drills and scrimmage for QB, WR, DB, and even linemen, whose performance is intertwined with that of many other players, particularly the opposing team. Crowd noise and emotional pressure compete with muscle memory for the kicker but his job is otherwise very one-dimensional.

This is why soccer players can much more readily become kickers than other positions. We need a “leg sniper” with good range who’s calm under pressure. This requires a lot of time at the range and the right emotional disposition.

 

[therealmiket86]

I’m just saying practicing kicking is relatively simple compared to drills and scrimmage for QB, WR, DB, and even linemen, whose performance is intertwined with that of many other players, particularly the opposing team. Crowd noise and emotional pressure compete with muscle memory for the kicker but his job is otherwise very one-dimensional.

This is why soccer players can much more readily become kickers than other positions. We need a “leg sniper” with good range who’s calm under pressure. This requires a lot of time at the range and the right emotional disposition.

If it was that easy to find a good kicker why would Texas A&M spend a ton of money to get Olano. Kicking a field goal with pressure and an opposing team trying to block it is a lot different than kicking on air in practice. It’s also not easy to sit on the side line for a couple hours then go in a game to nail a game winning field goal

 

[Dkayak]

If it was that easy to find a good kicker why would Texas A&M spend a ton of money to get Olano. Kicking a field goal with pressure and an opposing team trying to block it is a lot different than kicking on air in practice. It’s also not easy to sit on the side line for a couple hours then go in a game to nail a game winning field goal

Good kickers are pretty easy to find. Great ones like Orlando are much less common. Programs like A&M spend a ton of money to get the very best at every position. It sounds like Brett has picked up another very good kicker, but unlikely as great as Olano.

I’m not saying kicking easy, only that it’s relatively simple, as in not nearly as complex as playing other positions in football, basketball, baseball, or soccer.

It’s an imperfect analogy, but a FG kicker is analogous to a sniper. He needs to invest in a lot of range time and must have steady nerves. He can practice his “shooting” specialty w/o interacting much w/ the rest of the team except his “spotter”. That doesn’t mean some aren’t better at longer distances and under more pressure, only that it’s a uniquely narrow, deep specialty.

 

[therealmiket86]

Good kickers are pretty easy to find. Great ones like Orlando are much less common. Programs like A&M spend a ton of money to get the very best at every position. It sounds like Brett has picked up another very good kicker, but unlikely as great as Olano.

I’m not saying kicking easy, only that it’s relatively simple, as in not nearly as complex as playing other positions in football, basketball, baseball, or soccer.

It’s an imperfect analogy, but a FG kicker is analogous to a sniper. He needs to invest in a lot of range time and must have steady nerves. He can practice his “shooting” specialty w/o interacting much w/ the rest of the team except his “spotter”. That doesn’t mean some aren’t better at longer distances and under more pressure, only that it’s a uniquely narrow, deep specialty.

We won a lot of games by very small margins. Having a kicker like Olano is a very big part of that success. Last year Alabama’s kicker only made 69.6%. If it was that easy to find a good kicker how is bama using that kid

 

[JBfor3]

The only "NIL" the program can spend is the revenue share which is capped at a set amount for the entire Athletic Dept., and which I am assuming is being fully spent. NIL is for deals between third parties and players. So the program can't just take that $100 million and buy players.

What the program can do is use that money on other things which frees up AD funds to max out the revenue share without putting the balance sheet in the red, and frees up other donors to focus on NIL and not other expenses and projects.

Not doubting you but it certainly feels like the Ohio States, Michigans, Bamas, A&Ms, Texas Tech, and many more are buying big time rosters in both football and basketball and massively outspending us in total combined roster NIL...

 

[the juiceman cometh]

Not doubting you but it certainly feels like the Ohio States, Michigans, Bamas, A&Ms, Texas Tech, and many more are buying big time rosters in both football and basketball and massively outspending us in total combined roster NIL...

Yes they absolutely are, but it's not coming from the Athletic Department budget. It's coming from third boosters, directly to players. And those boosters are also donating money for other costs too, like what the Gies donation is going towards. It's not like OSU is not paying AD staff and is letting their infrastructure crumble just to pay players.

Think of it like this. There's two buckets of money. One is the Athletic Department budget. The other is the all the money boosters and donors are willing to spend.

The AD bucket, up until now, could not go to paying players at all. Now it's capped at $20 million combined for ALL sports. And that's what we call revenue sharing. The rest has to go to capital improvments and repairs, bills, staff salaries, scholarships, travel budgets, etc.

A portion of the donor/booster bucket includes donations directly to the Athletic Department. Once those funds go to the Athletic Department, they become part of that bucket and all the same restrictions apply. The other portion of this bucket is NIL funds. Until revenue share this was the only source of player compensation. Even after revenue share it is a significant source of player compensation. This money goes directly from the donors/boosters and other third parties directly to the players. While many (all?) programs have helped facilitate and direct these NIL funds, programs are not able to actually write the checks or distribute the funds, and certainly can't do so out of the AD bucket. The stuff that programs have been doing have been a bit of a grey area as it is. It's not entirely clear where the line is as far as how much a program can do to connect players with NIL funding. But the funds not coming from the program directly is a clear bright line rule.

So the Gies donation is now all money that's in the AD bucket. Even if Gies now changed his mind and said "I want that money to be used to fund the most expensive football roster in the country" he can't actually do that. But it does help because those stadium improvements also need to happen, and this means that other boosters can keep their money in the NIL friendly bucket rather than donate to the AD bucket to be used for necessary capital improvements.

That those other programs spend more doesn't make this untrue. They just more money in their buckets. Those programs you listed all bring in more revenue (AD bucket) and bring in more booster support. That means they have more left over for NIL while still doing all the other things and Athletic Department has to do.

 

[Rad24]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

 

[Lee]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

 

[illiniwil]

The donation was for the stadium.

and im sure he gives NIL money too.

 

[illiniwil]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

politics! booom.

 

[Joel Goodson]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

pretty soon, it's gonna be boar on the floor for virtually everyone

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

current landscape is not sustainable as is . even the richest 10-12 teams are not happy with it .

it will take the P4 schools to recognize football & basketball players as employees in order for them to then form a union for collective bargaining.

lots of fun times ahead :/

 

[blackdog]

We won a lot of games by very small margins. Having a kicker like Olano is a very big part of that success. Last year Alabama’s kicker only made 69.6%. If it was that easy to find a good kicker how is bama using that kid

We've had a great kicking program since the Lovie days. Its not like Olano was some outlier that weve never seen before and will never be able to replicate again.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

CFB needs to decide if they want to follow the

NFL model and have new and different teams in the playoffs every year due to salary caps
or
MLB model where the same teams are in the playoffs every year

as is , the playing field is not level

 

[From the cheap seats]

CFB needs to decide if they want to follow the

NFL model and have new and different teams in the playoffs every year due to salary caps
or
MLB model where the same teams are in the playoffs every year

as is , the playing field is not level

But I would contend that it's more level than before NIL. I believe some of the top teams had robust NIL programs before NIL.

 

[fuddrules]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

The formerly pathetic IU football won it all last year. A historically very poor Illinois football program won 19 games the past 2 seasons.

Where is the problem? I ask this of everyone/anyone.

 

[fuddrules]

NCAA Championship Game

2026 - Indiana vs. Miami
2025 - OSU vs. ND
2024 - Michigan vs. Washington
2023 - Georgia vs. TCU
2022 - Georgia vs. Alabama


The last 10 (or 9) teams to play for the championship, only Georgia has repeated, ending with blowing out TCU in 2023. I don't believe they have won a playoff game since.

So far, despite some teams spending crazy money, no one has dominated the playoffs.

 

[jimbo72]

I thought this was the Recruiting thread, not freaking Fg kicker thread. My goodness get a life.

 

[BalloonsTheElephant]

But I would contend that it's more level than before NIL. I believe some of the top teams had robust NIL programs before NIL.

100%. The top programs had tons of money flowing under the table. The only teams that want this model back or caps on spending are the ones who can find ways to bypass it.

College football is better and more diverse at the top due to the introduction of free market and transfer rules. We are still going to be outspent, but we were anyways. At least now we can go get guys we feel are worth the price.

 

[Brosky]

At what point are we going to realize /understand that a few people having most of the money is bad for the game/community/country such that they can control the outcome by spending an insignificant (to them) amount of money? Hopefully, before it no longer is a game and nobody wants to play.

I agree, but does Indiana have that elite level of money? If so, how did that evolve, and how so fast? Something doesn't mesh here.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

there are ways to audit payments to players .

the NFL & NBA have salary caps and to my knowledge they are not being circumvented.

one would hope we are past the days of cash & wire transfers to the Caymans

if things are all legit and everyone plays fair , it only helps us more

 

[Bbuck21]

Well I named the biggest in my opinion. I think perfection on PATs and 20/23 on FGs, including some clutch ones, will be missed.

I think McCollum also will be missed, others may disagree or talk about fit in a 3-3-5, I just hate being outspent I guess. Feels too much like the old days, just more aboveboard (and therefore more visible) now.

In addition to Olano, I was disappointed in losing Eli Coenen. But, I think we are clearly net positive for the year.