I don't lay awake nights worrying about this, but I won't be surprised if Lunney is only here for a year. If Arkansas has another good year and Briles' offense does well again, I can see him getting a head coaching gig or a step higher on the OC ladder and Pittman bringing the former star Hog QB back home. The Lunney name is huge in Arkansas because of his father's high school coaching record.
Barry Lunney Named Illinois Offensive Coordinator and QBs Coach
If he leaves after one year for a better job then we should have a successful season
Exactly my point! Great to lose a coordinator as a stud than a dud. Arkansas is the only spot he is leaving for laterally unless a lower end HC job opens up.
Not necessarily. Illinois is rebuilding and if Pittman or any other head coach in Texas/Arkansas/Oklahoma area is looking for an OC, they are going to remember the offense at UTSA and not be concerned with what he did at Illinois.
When you're rebuilding, you need continuity and replacing a coordinator after one season, isn't going to help in that rebuilding process. I don't believe that Arkansas is the only school he would leave for. I'm still surprised that he left UTSA. The talent on their team is better than the talent on the Illinois team. Being an OC at a P5 school is a box that he needed ticked. If he stays 2 years, great, but I think showing an improved offense will be enough to get him another P5 job in '23.
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
That's a low bar then, but the 2021 Illini offense I have fixed in my mind is the one that played the Kitty Cats in the last game
!!Whitman and Bielema already have implemented a successful blueprint to retaining a top notch coordinator. I sincerely hope Lunney gives us the āproblemā of having to issue him the Ryan Walters treatment after one year.
The one thing I am certain of that regardless of OC we are going to favor big nasty OL and have a power running game. We had it under TP and we will have it under Lunney. So at least no matter what we will have an identity even of the OC changes every other year which is already a huge improvement from any time since Locks.
I don't agree with your first sentence at all. Obviously BB didn't either or he would have stuck to the same regime. TP was to vanilla and almost could forecast what he was going to call.
I am not surprised he left UTSA at all....
1. Has more ties to BB than UTSA
2. Huge raise
3. Conference USA to Big Ten
We both agree though it is a good problem if he does get hired away. Hopefully that will happen instead of what the past number of offensive coordinators have done here.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
I would love to see and hear his Zoom presser tomorrow before we have him running off to another school after one season for the Illini..............
Barry , we hardly knew ya ....say it ain't so ....................
The way discussions trend nowadays is eye opening and shows anxiety about the FB team's direction....
How bout this ???............Bret B. , Ryan W. and Barry L. take us up to a new level than the last 15-20 years and we are HAPPY about it .......
That's how I'm gonna react and I look forward to the Zoom presser and knowing more about Mr. Lunney before he leaves us .............
JMHO
Barry , we hardly knew ya ....say it ain't so ....................
The way discussions trend nowadays is eye opening and shows anxiety about the FB team's direction....
How bout this ???............Bret B. , Ryan W. and Barry L. take us up to a new level than the last 15-20 years and we are HAPPY about it .......
That's how I'm gonna react and I look forward to the Zoom presser and knowing more about Mr. Lunney before he leaves us .............
JMHO
Forget the other reasons $250k->$750k per year.
Just because Walters is paid like one, doesn't mean he's in the "top notch" DC category like Dan Lanning and others in the SEC. His defenses at Mizzou weren't that great once Odom left.
I don't think many on here are sweating him leaving. Scroll up a bit and I made the comment it will be nice to have a coordinator stay longer than a year or two without getting fired. My last few comments have been off of how many offensive coordinators we have been through since Locksley left. Most of that correlates with that discussion. I have no problem with Lunney leaving if he gets a better offer down the road. The last handful of guys we have had could not say the same or barely on staffs now.
I am not expecting miracles but I think BB is way ahead of schedule on molding the program....
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
cool..............I wasn't looking at any one poster , just the general theme about him leaving after one year and he hasn't even been introduced to illini Nation yet....
I agree some continuity with all the coaching staff would be a welcome change from the revolving door we have seen the last 10-15 years.....
I think it has more to do with the confidence in BB and how he has already put his stamp on the program. The main point was it would be nice to keep continuity in the staff but if we are losing guys hopefully we will lose them to other teams/better opportunities than them getting fired.
Tons of time until the next season roles around. I have all the confidence in BB....same time I would not be surprised with another 5-7 record again next year. Time to keep adding some new faces and see how they develop.
Or say, since 1959....
It was a really strange hire given the budget to get a top guy and wanting to make a splash in the big ten with BBās return- obviously they missed out on some of the top guys he went after but to immediately settle for TP when they didnāt have much of a connection was odd- it looked bad on paper, bad at the press conference and bad on the recruiting trail and turned out to be as bad on the field
He did hit a home run with Ryan Walters - which seemed to be the exact opposite at the time and turned out to be the exact opposite on the field
His worst, was actually slightly better than Lovieās best year.
Neidermeyer
- Faber College
$250k < $750k. but agreed. Glad we have him!
If he shows promise early and BB thinks things are going well we'll lock him up early for a couple three years. If he can demonstrate improvement and success he can write his own check in three years. No need to bolt immediately and JW will pay close attention. We're playing big boy ball now and our organization is run well. A few hundred thousand a year goes a fur piece round these parts. Let's just hope he does so well we have to worry about him leaving. That's a problem I'd love to have.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
I still think he is one. Did you see Missouriās defensive stats this year? They were absolutely horrendous.
Or ILLās defense this year compared to the year before his arrival with largely the same group? Thatās even minus one of the top rookie corners in the NFL.
Illinois really struggled in 3rd down and long situations. Brandon Peters was hurried or sacked too many times when the defense knew we had to pass. Hopefully Lunney will incorporate more screen passes and tight end block then release patterns to to keep the defense on its heels. Also play action rollouts which give the QB a little more time and a clear view of receivers. Hope springs eternal.