Coaching Carousel (Football)

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#52      
SuperintendentChalmers
skyIdub said:
Is this the farthest Illinois Football has ever been from the Coaching Carousel? Zuppke obviously.

Mackovic?

Discuss.....
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John Mackovic, maybe more than any coach I can ever remember at a major-conference school, was incredibly open about how he viewed Illinois as a way to restore his coaching marketability and get to a bigger job, either in the NFL or what he considered to be an elite football school. It would take about 30 seconds at a social gathering for him to tell someone that he could be the king of C-U by putting up 7-4 seasons every year (and we did make him AD), but he felt he was destined for more. So I never felt too far from the carousel when he was here.

His departure from the Chiefs was pretty odd for the time. In his fourth season, he had won 10 games and brought the team to the playoffs for the first time in about 15 years, so it seemed like he’d be in good shape. But the players basically rebelled and told the owner they wanted the special teams coach to become HC. The owner complied and possibly regretted it, because they went back to four wins for each of the next two years.
 
#53      
BretMyBeachHouse
OrangeBlue98 said:
Of course, I also felt like Mackovic wasn't going anywhere. I just think he wanted to go back to being a football coach instead of the football coach/AD combo (which was always a head-scratching decision anyway).
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He could have gotten out of the AD position just by asking. He left us for Texas. There are about five schools that can keep their coach when Texas calls.
 
#54      
Illinirog70
SuperintendentChalmers said:
John Mackovic, maybe more than any coach I can ever remember at a major-conference school, was incredibly open about how he viewed Illinois as a way to restore his coaching marketability and get to a bigger job, either in the NFL or what he considered to be an elite football school. It would take about 30 seconds at a social gathering for him to tell someone that he could be the king of C-U by putting up 7-4 seasons every year (and we did make him AD), but he felt he was destined for more. So I never felt too far from the carousel when he was here.

His departure from the Chiefs was pretty odd for the time. In his fourth season, he had won 10 games and brought the team to the playoffs for the first time in about 15 years, so it seemed like he’d be in good shape. But the players basically rebelled and told the owner they wanted the special teams coach to become HC. The owner complied and possibly regretted it, because they went back to four wins for each of the next two years.
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Ive met several players who played for Mackovic, and he was NOT well-liked at u of Ill. Treated the players poorly and was entirely full of himself. But he could win games though. Reminds me of a poor man's Saban...

I'll take our current coach (and staff) six ways to Sunday.... Been following Illini football since the '60's (Pete Elliott) and the Bielema is my favorite coach by far.
 
#55      
Battle89
Not long after that is when the Chiefs started growing Mahomes in a test tube. They had a special nickname for the the scientists 'cooking' in the lab:

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#56      
illini0440
Illinirog70 said:
Ive met several players who played for Mackovic, and he was NOT well-liked at u of Ill. Treated the players poorly and was entirely full of himself. But he could win games though. Reminds me of a poor man's Saban...

I'll take our current coach (and staff) six ways to Sunday.... Been following Illini football since the '60's (Pete Elliott) and the Bielema is my favorite coach by far.
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Except Sabans players love him
 
#57      
SoCal Illini
Illinirog70 said:
Ive met several players who played for Mackovic, and he was NOT well-liked at u of Ill. Treated the players poorly and was entirely full of himself. But he could win games though. Reminds me of a poor man's Saban...

I'll take our current coach (and staff) six ways to Sunday.... Been following Illini football since the '60's (Pete Elliott) and the Bielema is my favorite coach by far.
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His last chance at Arizona the players rebelled. Trivia nugget; One of the main leaders of the uprising in Tucson was bears great lance Briggs. His ego remained and led to his embarrassing final downfall and unceremonious de-facto retirement from major coaching gigs…. He never learned.

BB seems to be building what will be a consistent winner, in no small part due to him learning from his own past mistakes, unlike mac. I’ve never had more confidence in an illini coach than Bielema, and it’s really not close. Even mike white didn’t build a consistent winner (could or should have is another conversation).
 
#58      
ptgrd23
SuperintendentChalmers said:
John Mackovic, maybe more than any coach I can ever remember at a major-conference school, was incredibly open about how he viewed Illinois as a way to restore his coaching marketability and get to a bigger job, either in the NFL or what he considered to be an elite football school. It would take about 30 seconds at a social gathering for him to tell someone that he could be the king of C-U by putting up 7-4 seasons every year (and we did make him AD), but he felt he was destined for more. So I never felt too far from the carousel when he was here.
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Mackovic lucked into Mike White recruit #1 NFL draft pick Jeff George. He was 8-5 and 6-5 the two seasons after George left early for NFL. He was overated - both Texas and AZ learned the hard way.

JMO - Illinois should never have fired Mike White - the NCAA violations were total BS. White brought Illini back from 20 years of ughh and would have had just as much success with Jeff George as Mackovic did.

Bret was always in Alvarez shadow at UW (Alvarez was AD 2004-2021) so I understand why he left for Arkansas. Impossible to predict the future but I think Bret is a building something of his own at Illinois and will be here a long time. Of course he is only 55 so if NFL or top 5 job comes calling with double the pay who knows. As long as Whitman is AD we will match. I am more worried about Whitman being poached to be a conference commissioner. Brad is 61 and only had P4 success at Illinois so he less desirable than Bret who has succeeded at both Wisconsin and Illinois.
 
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#60      
SuperintendentChalmers
ptgrd23 said:
JMO - Illinois should never have fired Mike White - the NCAA violations were total BS. White brought Illini back from 20 years of ughh and would have had just as much success with Jeff George as Mackovic did.
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Seems crazy given the current makeup of the conference, but there was always a lot of emphasis on Neale Stoner and Mike White being "California guys." Of course, when the Eighties Belonged to the Illini, no one cared, but when the football team struggled, including consecutive losses to Northwestern, unspeakable at the time, I think the fact that they were outsiders worked against them.

This was a Hayes/Schembechler/Knight league. It would take about an hour's drive through Ohio to hit the birthplaces of all three. Their way was seen as the only way to Big Ten success. When we struggled, it wasn't seen as a talent problem that could be fixed, but proof that White's West Coast-style (before that was a term) offense was a La-la-land gimmick that had been figured out and could not work long-term in the Big Ten.

I agree with you on the NCAA stuff, but I think "sloppiness" is a better description. Sloppiness where we'd never get the benefit of the doubt even though some other schools might. But you have to know that at Illinois and be extra careful. I think all this and even their lifestyle never sat right with the local power brokers. When things get tough, it's very hard to survive when the quiet decision-makers believe you're not "one of us."

Of course, had the team still been competing for Rose Bowls, the Illini power brokers would have lived with the NCAA stuff and not cared at all about who mowed Neale Stoner's lawn.
 
#61      
Mr. Tibbs
SuperintendentChalmers said:
who mowed Neale Stoner's lawn.
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a bunch of Vance Redferns lackeys

I was an usher at Assembly Hall for 3 years. Great campus job. Get paid 3.50 per hour to watch concerts and basketball games and other events.
By my senior year (1982-83) I was always assigned the exit portal behind Stoners box on press row on the east side, on the A-B row

Vance was always pleasant (he was a wide body with a crew cut) and would chit chat with me whilst he waited for Stoner or family to summons him for something
 
#66      
therealmiket86
#67      
WeWillWhen
Josh Whitman is too good at what he does to spend the rest of his career in East Central Illinois. Suitors will come for him eventually.
 
#70      
BashCtIllini
#71      
ktal
illini0440 said:
I don’t think he will leave for another AD job. Now a league commissioner or something like that….could be a different story
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True, but the trend there seems to favor media-rights background more than AD experience for those jobs. Getting the media deal wrong can take the whole conference down the tubes, as we're seeing with the ACC. It seems like negotiating the next media deal is the single biggest responsibility any future conference commissioner...and that experience come from working directly in media.
 
#72      
spotter
#74      
therealmiket86
I’ve said it before but I would like to get Jeff Thorne on the staff in some capacity. He had a ton of success at North Centeal. He’s also a very good coach that’s respected in state.

It would also be nice to add Antonio James.
 
#75      
mhuml32
therealmiket86 said:
I’ve said it before but I would like to get Jeff Thorne on the staff in some capacity. He had a ton of success at North Centeal. He’s also a very good coach that’s respected in state.

It would also be nice to add Antonio James.
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Is Thorne out of coaching right now? If I was Purdue or Northwestern I would definitely pick him up as an analyst.
 
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