Lou Tepper's first staff was excellent.
Coaching Carousel (Football)
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yup
and NIU is about to start playing all its away games west of the rocky mountains .
That is a wild stat! It’s more like NFL-lite now.
There really are very few jobs that would be a great fit for Lunney. UTSA if Taylor leaves. Was Southern Miss even an option this year? Apparently Memphis wasn't interested??
I know some people sound off, including Warner, who would have bet anything short of his first born that Lunney was gone after this year. It didn't happen.
He's paid well and for the average program they can't afford him. Has no "real" HC experience for the bigs. More of a technical wonk than charismatic. Not going to excite the fans despite Illinois gushing internally. There just aren't that many good spots given his situation.
Forgot to add:
And he's sitting pretty with not having to travel much for recruiting at Illinois. Getting the label of "not having to recruit on the road" isn't the most enticing label for a go getter - up and coming coach.
There's a reason BB is where he is
There's a reason Lunney is where he is
They both are very good fits where they are currently.
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mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
The moment was there but the offense had some struggles down the stretch that hurt his candidacy. I'm a believer in if Illinois scores 27 points in a ho-hum win over the Badgers then Lunney is a strong candidate for jobs like Southern Miss.
Maybe. He does have a long track record of being a strong OC.
Context for the question since I don't see it posted here (and there was talk of him possibly coming to UIUC):
Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock leaving Huskies amid MWC transition to join Seahawks staff in NFL
Northern Illinois has lost its coach as the program is set to begin is first season as a member of the Mountain West
www.cbssports.com
The coaching tree with deep roots in the scheme is narrow. So the coaching selection is likely as narrow. All the hires align with the scheme signaling a total commitment to the change. That feels good to me. Not many with Haucks history and experience in the scheme. That's another signal to deep commitment on the change in philosophy.
One think to do it, another to coach to it. Pretty gutsy to make this significant a shift in philosophy.
I agree with the question stated earlier. Do we have enough horses up front to get the job done. It's the Jimmy's and the joes not the x and the o. BB and Hauck can scheme all day but we need the bodies on the field to do the job.
Love were we are at LB and DB compatibly. DL? Dunno.
One think to do it, another to coach to it. Pretty gutsy to make this significant a shift in philosophy.
I agree with the question stated earlier. Do we have enough horses up front to get the job done. It's the Jimmy's and the joes not the x and the o. BB and Hauck can scheme all day but we need the bodies on the field to do the job.
Love were we are at LB and DB compatibly. DL? Dunno.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
Scheme first. The players will follow. Urlacher was a beast. SDSU consistently won- went to 9 bowls in 9 years under Rocky Long. Averaged 9 wins per season playing the 3-3-5. Its weird but not many schools play it. Designed to counter high scoring spread offenses. Most offenses in B10 meet that criteria - Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, USC, NW, Illinois. Old school 3 yards and cloud of dust - Iowa, Penn State. Michigan
Don't have to be big on the DL to be successful in the 3-3-5. Just gotta be disruptive to the blocking scheme so your free hitters can make a play. We'll give up more big plays than AHen D but we'll createore big plays
I can only comment on it quantitatively.
About 400 college players sign NFL contracts (of some type) and rougly 240 draft picks per year. So the field for evaluation (per se) without draft picks is roughly 160 players divided over 30 teams. So 4-6 rookie free agents. While there are 450 veteran free agents, not a lot of assessment is needed there. All of the teams have already seen the VFAs both on film and in person. So there is definitely need for talent evaluation at the NFL level, but not what is needed in College
There are 250 D1 (FBS and FCS) teams 33,000 players all with different amounts of eligibility. No draft picks. Everyone is a free agent. There are 15,000 high school Juniors and Seniors. So the investment (and you are seeing it with schools like Indiana, Illinois, Baylor, Texas, Kansas) since the rule change in 2024 relating to off - field staff support.
BB is right, the playing field is competitive. Its not how much money you spend, its identifying the players, coaches, off field personal that can create a program and make the tough decisions and the come up with a coherent game by game strategy for the upcoming season.
What strikes me about the hires BB made is he is trying to toughen up the groups they are responsible for and improve thier technique (development). We have not been a great blocking and tackling team the past few years. BB appears to want to change. We had no bite against Indiana, Washington or Wisconsin.
What difference does that make? There is no relevance there. There is negative correlation between highest paid coordinators and on field coaches and CFP appearances. You think Michigan, Penn State, LSU and Texas are happy with their spending? How about Georgia and Alabama? They got beat by teams that spend alot less than they do.
My biggest fear now is that the acrimonious and caustic comments that successfully shutdown one thread will leak into others - eventually shutting down the entire site... Has Q-Anon taken over the entire population? Note to Dan: take this down if you think its inappropriate, but its something to ponder....
I would love to read that study. Please provide the data you used to show that correlation.
aiwpfan
- Springfield, Il
Totally agree with you. Some people on this board are going out of their way to be negative about the coaching hires. Nitpicking and trying to find any excuse to be negative. Season hasn’t even started yet. Not one down of football has been played. I think this has been a very successful offseason. Bret has completely overhauled the defense . New defensive scheme , defensive coordinator and defensive assistant coaches. Bret did this coming off a successful season.
Bret said he’s not satisfied and wants to make the playoffs and win a national championship
I’d be interested to see the correlation. Care to provide the data??? Or the study you read that evidences that?
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
blackdog
- Champaign
We’re the same guy!!! Do you not get the joke
Man you’ve sent some money to a Saudi Prince haven’t you?
What am I your personal statistician?
Go and construct one yourself and use AI the correct way. All of the W-L records are public. All of the on - field personell comp numbers are available as well. You need a min of 5 years to create the study and the number of schools you need? Well you are going to need to calculate that yourself. But I will give you a hint, the are a limited number of schools that spend more than $8mm / year on the field.
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