You think we spent $5 million dollars on the roster?
DC Bobby Hauck out at Illinois
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Illiniblueorange
- Pocahontas Il. Baby !!
wasnt it closer to 22 million ?
Just under 25
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Simply speaking in terms of years in the role and number of games coached.
Bielema and Hauck met to discuss how to fix this situation, and across that table the more experienced head coach was Hauck and the more experienced DC was Bielema.
I'm just speculating but if Hauck was proposing a change that fit better with his skillset, seems plausible that it would have a head coach-ier more oversight type role and that Bret had the reaction of "that's not what I hired you for".
It was a big mistake.
But ultimately the broader level question is how (or if it's even possible) to have Illinois' football NIL resources add up to a winning team. The whole Hauck concept was downstream from that challenge biting us.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
I have no problem with making this move considering the roster dollars constraints. When there’s a significant gap between the top tier teams and you, you have to do something different. There’s no guarantee that something will work, but you can’t expect to successfully compete doing the exact same thing as those with much greater resources.
During the 2006 World Series, Tony LaRussa made several unconventional moves that ended up working. When asked what made him choose some moves that were not by the book, his response was simple. He essentially said “why would I go by the book? The book says we’re gonna lose this series. If I go by the book, we lose. I have to think outside the book.”
So Bret made a not-by-the-book move. It does not appear to have worked out (at least after four games). I’m grateful he’s recognized that rather quickly. But the simple truth is, until roster dollars equalize (if that ever happens), Illinois football will have to continue thinking outside the book in areas where the roster is lacking.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
Heck, I am looking forward to having 11 players on the field consistently.
The problem I have is this is a 62 year old who has never coached in a P4 conference. It’s a lot different to scheme for stopping teams in thr big sky than it is to stop Ohio state and Jeremiah Smith. He’s also a guy who has never called a defense.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
I think the blemishes have different weightings, but overall agree.
When a school has a poor reputation (for historically winning), it's no different hiring coaches than it is recruiting players. Hard to get guys to come here. So in the early years, I weight the first couple of firings less against Bret. Not zero, but less.
Aaron Henry is another story altogether. As I do believe the soft landing theory, this latest is very much on Bret.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Technically correct but glossing over the defensive coaching losses, including Walters taking Kane. Not a firing per se, but another time when Bret had a choice and chose Henry over Kane for the successor DC role.
Now you could easily say that Kane has not set the world on fire since, and I would not disagree. But at the time I think the CVs of the two were close and there was legitimate debate over who to retain (or try to retain anyway, but I don't feel Kane was all-in on leaving initially).
The 3-3-5 was doomed from the start because BB doesn't have the athletes to run it correctly. It is a great defensee if you have an excellent front 3, a good DL rotation, athletic LB's and really good DB's. The defense easily switches between dropping eight players into coverage or sending creative, multi-angled blitzes. Besides Bailey, BB didn't have the personel to run it. An added concern, our DB's arer horrid this year. NIL needs to grow a lot bigger to even think about running it.
Ya know...
Hauck brought his DC and team with him,
and now that he's gone and they are still here,
his DC has a once in a lifetime opportunity at UI.
If he works his tail off and gets the rest of his crew, and the team, to buy in,
well, who knows?? We might pull this off!
Hauck brought his DC and team with him,
and now that he's gone and they are still here,
his DC has a once in a lifetime opportunity at UI.
If he works his tail off and gets the rest of his crew, and the team, to buy in,
well, who knows?? We might pull this off!
and its less than half of ohio states budget
David Braun has done a nice job at a place that's tougher to win at than Illinois. He never coached P4 or G6 prior to Northwestern.
Braun was a DC but never a HC. Bielema says often he likes to hire those with HC experience.
I think Cooper and/or Bradford will do a better job and will listen to Bielema (and others) far more than Hauck did.
Bielema got exactly who he hired.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
I'm not against the 3-3-5 in principle (I've watched CG run it for many years now) but ANY defense would be good under the bolded above.
Illini4Chief
- TENNESSEE
My employer, gives the doomed employee the "resign tag", rather than "Fired"....then post a notice that goes like this " Jerome will be leaving us to pursue other interests and opportunities"
We also don't have the athletes to run a 4-3-4 or a 3-4-4. Relatively speaking, the defensive backfield was supposed to be the strength of the defense, so I understand the desire to get more of them on the field and fewer DL and LB's, where we are starting guys who were rotation guys at places like Jacksonville St.
Boricua Illini
- Puerto Rico
The "soft landing" theory for Aaron Henry being voiced here by many only holds water if Bret Bielema was caught completely off guard by his exit and was intent on keeping him for another year as DC.
To be clear: Bielema almost certainly did wait for Henry to find a soft landing so he wouldn't have to outright fire a former player and long-time protégé. But that managed exit had nothing to do with the search for a new DC or how Illinois ultimately landed on Bobby Hauck.
An experienced head coach doesn't just sit on his hands when a change is needed; he quietly vets replacements behind the scenes long before any public moves happen.
The far more plausible scenario is that Bielema did have a primary target lined up... such as Chris Partridge... only for that deal to fall through at the last minute.
When your Plan A dissolves in February after the standard candidate pool has already been picked clean, you're forced into an emergency pivot. That is precisely how Illinois ended up with an unexpected stylistic shift like Hauck.
Bielema wasn't waiting around passively... he was left scrambling when his top replacement option collapsed at the eleventh hour.
To be clear: Bielema almost certainly did wait for Henry to find a soft landing so he wouldn't have to outright fire a former player and long-time protégé. But that managed exit had nothing to do with the search for a new DC or how Illinois ultimately landed on Bobby Hauck.
An experienced head coach doesn't just sit on his hands when a change is needed; he quietly vets replacements behind the scenes long before any public moves happen.
The far more plausible scenario is that Bielema did have a primary target lined up... such as Chris Partridge... only for that deal to fall through at the last minute.
When your Plan A dissolves in February after the standard candidate pool has already been picked clean, you're forced into an emergency pivot. That is precisely how Illinois ended up with an unexpected stylistic shift like Hauck.
Bielema wasn't waiting around passively... he was left scrambling when his top replacement option collapsed at the eleventh hour.
Am I the only one that would laugh if we send 12 men out on defense for the first snap?
According to the Athletic, Northwestern spends around the same on its roster as us, and likely a little more. This narrative that Northwestern is tough to win at never made a ton of sense (it's s very wealthy institution with tons of wealthy alumni) and it makes less sense now than ever. Crazy how this board treats any Northwestern coach that can tie his shoes and spell his own name like some kind of savant.
Does your college football roster cost $8M or $50M? Here's our report on 68 teams
The best teams are, on average, the ones paying players the most, but there's a wide disparity between the schools at the top and the bottom of major conferences.
www.nytimes.com
As I said, we spend $5M in NIL. NIL is a small part of our roster spend. The majority of our roster spend comes from revenue sharing which most teams spend roughly the same amount on ($15-17M). The disparity in quality of rosters comes from the disparity in NIL spending where top schools spend $35M plus and we spend approximately $5M. It’s pretty shocking how many people (like yourself) do not understand NIL and roster spend.
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Right, the scuttlebutt at the time was Walters was going to hire Henry as DC if Bielema elevated Kane, so facing the choice between the two Bielema beat Walters to the punch.
Between what happened under Walters and where those DB's have gone, the contrast in performance of our DB's last year to this year, Notre Dame hiring Henry and the improvements Notre Dame has seen so far this year, it all paints an extremely clear and consistent picture.
Aaron Henry is one of the best teachers of DB play in the country (outside of QB probably the most teaching-impacted position on the field), who any program in the country would want in that role. As a gameplanner and playcaller for an entire defense, he has not shone in the same way.
Peter Principle, tale as old as time.
I am horrified to speak in defense of Fitzee, but for a long time they had the worst facilities in the league and had very significant academic disadvantages in terms of the players they could sign. That was a really challenging (read: bad) job for a long time, much more challenging than Illinois ever has been.
Is that NIL only, or is it NIL plus revenue sharing?
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