It was a beautiful hire...no question about it....beautiful on paper. I seem to recall many people questioning his recruiting ability and they were right...2 or 3 4 stars per year isn't going to cut the mustard.
Eastern Michigan 34, Illinois 31 POSTGAME
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It was a beautiful hire...no question about it....beautiful on paper. I seem to recall many people questioning his recruiting ability and they were right...2 or 3 4 stars per year isn't going to cut the mustard.
I don't think recruits are coming with Lovie on the hot seat. If Lovie doesn't turn things around really fast, he should be let go. If he's fired and we don't get a great hire, then we're going to see recruits decommit and guys leave the program. JW has a tough situation on his hands.
Your post has a very familiar, sad, and sobering ring it. Even 10 years ago there was some great tailgating, arriving at 8:30 a.m for a game beginning at noon. We use to have three car loads drive down from Bloomington. This last Saturday we had one car, and two people pulled no shows, had tickets, said they were coming, didn't call, just didn't feel like getting out of bed. What is the record low attendance for a game at Memorial Stadium? That is one record that could fall this year, particularly if it rains.
I know one sneaky trick to make the hot seat disappear...... Give him another extension!
Tough game.
Secondary play was not good. I think Byrd is passing game coordinator, Safety play was atrocious. Really missed Adams. He seems to be the only safety good in coverage. Joseph not ready in 2nd year, brown looked like he missed all of camp; on Byrd to have them ready. Green out, but typically in for run defense. 2 long tds direct result of bad safety position, would have been much different game as those receivers should have been doubled.
Woods was another one missing big time: maybe would have disrupted qb/ freed up Betiku.
Not good to lack depth at this point/should be coached up.
Offense plan was not good 2,3,4 quarters. Peters appeared to keep trying to make something happen...would have liked to seen quick hits to playmakers or Reggie, run more as Peters shaken up from hit. Quick hits thorn long ball and have receiver make a play (didn’t happen until final offensive play) maybe that was the plan but Peters didn’t unload? Stay the course with Reggie more, can break one at any time. Could see Reggie was frustrated at one point, think it had to do with missing blocks. Too many stretch plays, hoping for a big run that went nowhere as blocking was not consistent.
I assumed it would take half a year to get the transfers settled in, was hoping to get through first 3 games unscathed. But, expecting 2 or 3 more games of inconsistency from Peters, then hopefully consistent. It took aj bush about half the year to get more comfortable in offense, expecting the same. At least Peters and other transfers will have another year after this.
Secondary play was not good. I think Byrd is passing game coordinator, Safety play was atrocious. Really missed Adams. He seems to be the only safety good in coverage. Joseph not ready in 2nd year, brown looked like he missed all of camp; on Byrd to have them ready. Green out, but typically in for run defense. 2 long tds direct result of bad safety position, would have been much different game as those receivers should have been doubled.
Woods was another one missing big time: maybe would have disrupted qb/ freed up Betiku.
Not good to lack depth at this point/should be coached up.
Offense plan was not good 2,3,4 quarters. Peters appeared to keep trying to make something happen...would have liked to seen quick hits to playmakers or Reggie, run more as Peters shaken up from hit. Quick hits thorn long ball and have receiver make a play (didn’t happen until final offensive play) maybe that was the plan but Peters didn’t unload? Stay the course with Reggie more, can break one at any time. Could see Reggie was frustrated at one point, think it had to do with missing blocks. Too many stretch plays, hoping for a big run that went nowhere as blocking was not consistent.
I assumed it would take half a year to get the transfers settled in, was hoping to get through first 3 games unscathed. But, expecting 2 or 3 more games of inconsistency from Peters, then hopefully consistent. It took aj bush about half the year to get more comfortable in offense, expecting the same. At least Peters and other transfers will have another year after this.
Deleted member 29907
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My beach house to any reporter gutsy enough to ask Lovie how it feels to be out coached the last two weeks by teams in lower level leagues....
Seriously - does anyone who attended the game see ANY coach coaching the kids up on the sidelines? All I see from Lovie are TB-esque stares out to the field. Every other game I watched yesterday had a TON more sideline emotion. The 15 yd penalty by Brown? Coaches should have been all over him on that stupid play. Sorry, but its time to start with some tough love - perhaps a treadmill on the sidelines..
And, during the presser - you shouldn't have to look at the film to see where things were breaking down on O Line - seriously - do we not have people up in the box looking down on the field with, I don't know, communication type devices that could tell the coaches on the field who's butt to kick? Or how to adjust the play calling or blocking ? My concern is the game is moving too fast for Lovie who, with our talent, should rely on out coaching teams, rather than out manning them.
Seriously - does anyone who attended the game see ANY coach coaching the kids up on the sidelines? All I see from Lovie are TB-esque stares out to the field. Every other game I watched yesterday had a TON more sideline emotion. The 15 yd penalty by Brown? Coaches should have been all over him on that stupid play. Sorry, but its time to start with some tough love - perhaps a treadmill on the sidelines..
And, during the presser - you shouldn't have to look at the film to see where things were breaking down on O Line - seriously - do we not have people up in the box looking down on the field with, I don't know, communication type devices that could tell the coaches on the field who's butt to kick? Or how to adjust the play calling or blocking ? My concern is the game is moving too fast for Lovie who, with our talent, should rely on out coaching teams, rather than out manning them.
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I was over the moon excited about the hire. My brother-in-law was not. He was the only person I knew who didn't like the hire. He didn't think Lovie's defense would work in the college game.
I'll be the first to admit my football intelligence doesn't extend much beyond being a casual fan, but I have to wonder if the stoic, unflappable demeanor just doesn't work at this level. Do coaches need to jump around and "hype" their players up.....they shouldn't have to, but maybe they do.
In the NFL, if you get outplayed, you lose your job, so I'm pretty confident that the best football players in the world put out their best a majority of the time. I'm not sure that happens at this level...but I could be clueless about it too.
In the NFL, if you get outplayed, you lose your job, so I'm pretty confident that the best football players in the world put out their best a majority of the time. I'm not sure that happens at this level...but I could be clueless about it too.
Lets take the injuries out of it we had better talent than E Mich why did we lose, i am starting to think that our D game plan does not work in college football
Does anyone else wonder why we did no bump and run, we stayed in the same 2 sets all day. Look i love Lovie and i want this to work but i am starting to have my doubts hope i am wrong
No, that’s little more than something fans complain about due to the perception it carries. It has no bearing on the play. The real problem Lovie seems to have is in holding players accountable, something kids do pick up on within a program. Every time we shoot ourselves in the foot with a bad penalty, there is essentially no repercussion. The kid lines back up the next play/drive/game as if nothing has happened. This is how you find yourself in the top 25 in the nation in terms of penalties per game. It’s also how you find yourself staring down the barrel of another 4 win season. There’s a difference between having a calm demeanor while still holding the players accountable for their actions and having a calm demeanor and letting players do as they please. Lovie needs to recognize that.
It was a “name” hire but most logical folks were at least mildly skeptical, given he had no real relevant college coaching experience. Especially when he filled out his staff with unproven recruiters to support his lack of experience there.
The good news is that when you review the film defensively, almost all if not all of the issues are fixable. That means if there is a turnover at HC, there is talent and someone decent can turn things around quickly. It’s not getting fixed with the current staff, these are problems I don’t think they can fix or correct due to scheme, but talent isn’t the glaring issue - it’s coaching.
Wanna guess how many stars the EMU team had? A competent coach can make a good team out of 3 stars.
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
I have a group of folks I know who are very serious Bears fans and none of them thought it was a good hire. Mostly for the same reasons that have caused him some of his problems here (personnel decision-making). Not saying I didn't generally agree with you on the hire (I did) but there were concerns from people who were more familiar with Lovie.
Rewatched it this morning, can’t seem to turn it off for some reason. Such an odd football game to reflect upon, one where I simultaneously feel as though we A: Were clearly out coached and out played and B: Made a number of self inflicted mistakes that if not made, would likely have earned us a win. Very rare that happens but that’s how I feel. A large number of random thoughts:
-Brandon Peters is a real enigma. The kid makes a high number of throws every game that make you believe he’s as good as it gets. The throw to Stampley down inside the 5 was perfect, the fade route to Smalling for the touchdown was perfect, he made 2 throws to Barker in the seam that were perfect. So much of what he does is outstanding and are things our other QBs are not capable of doing but as we’ve witnessed through 3 contests, he also makes multiple disastrous mistakes each week that simply cannot be made if you want to win the football game. The fumbles can’t happen, missing routine throws on manageable 3rd downs cant happen, holding the ball inside the pocket for as long as he tends to do cannot happen regardless of OL play, dropping snaps can’t happen. These are generally rare miscues for good QBs but for Brandon, they’ve been continuous. At some point, you have to undergo a serious risk analysis and decide if the good truly outweighs the bad. Yesterday, his bad cost us a chance at a W.
-Rod Smith seems to have a fairly solid grasp of Brandon the athlete but he needs to start digging into the film and recognizing what Peters can and can’t do as a passer. There is clearly a disconnect here. Best example: the pick 6 ball against UConn. That’s a ball that Brandon both fails to properly sell and fails to deliver. He doesn’t sell the seam route so the defender doesn’t bite, which you need him to do for the throw to be there. Brandon doesn’t lack for arm talent but he oddly struggles to properly drive the ball on that particular route. Make no mistake, it’s a tough throw to that outside hash but it can be made if you hit your back foot hard and drive it. Brandon isn’t doing that and the ball seemingly comes out with a lazy look, almost as if it just hangs there waiting for someone to come back to it which is not how that route is typically designed. Unfortunately for us, the player who has come back to that ball in back to back games is the defender. We all know the play against UConn as referenced above but we ran it again twice yesterday to no success. The first throw sailed on Brandon and was incomplete. On the second, the Eastern Michigan kid doesn’t buy the seam and breaks perfectly on the throw. It hits him in the hands and he drops it. If not for luck, that route to date would account for an 0-3 passing efficiency with 2 INTs and at least 7 points. Rod needs to understand that this is occurring and either spend serious time coaching Brandon on how to sell that play or he needs to quit calling it. That’s squarely on our OC. You have to know what your guys can’t do just as much as you need to know what they can do.
-Speaking of knowing your guys, the offensive line. This unit can run block as well as any in the Big Ten but in pass protection there are serious issues. Pressure came from all sides. The left, the middle, the right. Alex P got smoked off the edge twice yesterday that I didn’t catch until this morning. Richie Petitbon was forced backwards into Brandon a couple times that dramatically changed the play we were trying to execute. There were two terrible hold calls that the the Big Ten needs to look at but there were also two holding calls that were as blatant as you’ll ever see that backed us up when we could least afford to go backwards, Max coverage didn’t seem to help either. On one Peters sack, the kid off the right edge gets bumped by Barker then runs through Reggie Corbin for an easy sack. Two Illinois players touched him and he still gets to Brandon before he ever has a chance to adjust. That’s inexcusable. Rod has a QB with serious talent, a WR trio with talent coming out of their ears and a TE who is catching everything right now, I know it might pain him to do it but we need to drop the heavy pass game and get back to running the football as the staple of the offense. Our offensive line won’t hold up if we don’t.
-Speaking of knowing your guys (version 2.0), Brandon needs to understand after 3 games that even if Bhebhe has a coverage look that isn’t favorable, throwing the ball up and letting him go make a play isn’t the worst thing in the world. I’d be willing to accept a turnover if it meant we were trying to let Josh go up and make a play because right now he’s winning those battles and with his talent he’s likely going to keep winning them at a very high percentage. Put up the ball up and let the kid try and come down with it. That’s a dice I’d like to see us keep rolling.
-Daniel Barker needs to give a lot more effort in protection if he wants to be a complete tight end but right now, overall, he’s balling. He’s getting open, he’s running fantastic routes, he’s catching the ball in traffic. He’s been light outs catching the football. We need to utilize him a lot more in the pass game going forward.
-If Oluwole Betiku doesn’t get to the quarterback, we don’t get to the quarterback. That’s all I need to say for the defensive line. That kid Glass played a good game yesterday but fair is fair, he had ALL DAY to throw the football and our QB didn’t. That’s game changing.
-Take away that monster hit in the Akron game and it’d be hard to prove that Milo Eifler is even playing. This is one area where Lovie as a defensive coordinator is failing. If he blitzes from the LB position, 9 times out of 10 it’s Harding or Jake through the A or B gap. Nothing against those two but Milo is the most athletic LB we have. We need to create more opportunities for him to try and make an impact on the football game. Right now, he’s essentially invisible unless he’s helping to gang tackle the ball carrier. Through 3 games, Milo has 7 solo tackles and that hit. That’s it. That doesn’t cut it.
-I need to back off Quan Martin a tad bit and remember he’s only a true sophomore and that he’s going to make mistakes but right now, he’s not a Big Ten cornerback. He just isn’t. This is more a recruiting failure and a tough break with Marquez Beason than it is an issue with Quan, however. It’s not the kids fault that he’s playing 70 snaps a game when he isn’t ready for this.
-Our safety play is too terrible to discuss. Kerby in coverage is lost. There appears to be a serious issue with this understanding of the combo coverages Lovie is calling because he’s consistently out of position. The penalty on Sydney near the end of the 2nd quarter is inexcusable. The rules don’t allow defenders to run with reckless abandon into a defender with no understanding of where you’re at on the field. Those are the types of plays that are killing us and they’re happening in the defensive back half. That’s 3 personal fouls in 3 games from that position alone. Again, inexcusable.
-I won’t even begin to touch the embarrassment that was our clock management at the end of the 2nd half. I don’t know how to try and explain what occurred there. Bizarre.
-Our kicker is a serious weapon. Could have been a huge advantage this season but alas, spilled milk.
-Brandon Peters is a real enigma. The kid makes a high number of throws every game that make you believe he’s as good as it gets. The throw to Stampley down inside the 5 was perfect, the fade route to Smalling for the touchdown was perfect, he made 2 throws to Barker in the seam that were perfect. So much of what he does is outstanding and are things our other QBs are not capable of doing but as we’ve witnessed through 3 contests, he also makes multiple disastrous mistakes each week that simply cannot be made if you want to win the football game. The fumbles can’t happen, missing routine throws on manageable 3rd downs cant happen, holding the ball inside the pocket for as long as he tends to do cannot happen regardless of OL play, dropping snaps can’t happen. These are generally rare miscues for good QBs but for Brandon, they’ve been continuous. At some point, you have to undergo a serious risk analysis and decide if the good truly outweighs the bad. Yesterday, his bad cost us a chance at a W.
-Rod Smith seems to have a fairly solid grasp of Brandon the athlete but he needs to start digging into the film and recognizing what Peters can and can’t do as a passer. There is clearly a disconnect here. Best example: the pick 6 ball against UConn. That’s a ball that Brandon both fails to properly sell and fails to deliver. He doesn’t sell the seam route so the defender doesn’t bite, which you need him to do for the throw to be there. Brandon doesn’t lack for arm talent but he oddly struggles to properly drive the ball on that particular route. Make no mistake, it’s a tough throw to that outside hash but it can be made if you hit your back foot hard and drive it. Brandon isn’t doing that and the ball seemingly comes out with a lazy look, almost as if it just hangs there waiting for someone to come back to it which is not how that route is typically designed. Unfortunately for us, the player who has come back to that ball in back to back games is the defender. We all know the play against UConn as referenced above but we ran it again twice yesterday to no success. The first throw sailed on Brandon and was incomplete. On the second, the Eastern Michigan kid doesn’t buy the seam and breaks perfectly on the throw. It hits him in the hands and he drops it. If not for luck, that route to date would account for an 0-3 passing efficiency with 2 INTs and at least 7 points. Rod needs to understand that this is occurring and either spend serious time coaching Brandon on how to sell that play or he needs to quit calling it. That’s squarely on our OC. You have to know what your guys can’t do just as much as you need to know what they can do.
-Speaking of knowing your guys, the offensive line. This unit can run block as well as any in the Big Ten but in pass protection there are serious issues. Pressure came from all sides. The left, the middle, the right. Alex P got smoked off the edge twice yesterday that I didn’t catch until this morning. Richie Petitbon was forced backwards into Brandon a couple times that dramatically changed the play we were trying to execute. There were two terrible hold calls that the the Big Ten needs to look at but there were also two holding calls that were as blatant as you’ll ever see that backed us up when we could least afford to go backwards, Max coverage didn’t seem to help either. On one Peters sack, the kid off the right edge gets bumped by Barker then runs through Reggie Corbin for an easy sack. Two Illinois players touched him and he still gets to Brandon before he ever has a chance to adjust. That’s inexcusable. Rod has a QB with serious talent, a WR trio with talent coming out of their ears and a TE who is catching everything right now, I know it might pain him to do it but we need to drop the heavy pass game and get back to running the football as the staple of the offense. Our offensive line won’t hold up if we don’t.
-Speaking of knowing your guys (version 2.0), Brandon needs to understand after 3 games that even if Bhebhe has a coverage look that isn’t favorable, throwing the ball up and letting him go make a play isn’t the worst thing in the world. I’d be willing to accept a turnover if it meant we were trying to let Josh go up and make a play because right now he’s winning those battles and with his talent he’s likely going to keep winning them at a very high percentage. Put up the ball up and let the kid try and come down with it. That’s a dice I’d like to see us keep rolling.
-Daniel Barker needs to give a lot more effort in protection if he wants to be a complete tight end but right now, overall, he’s balling. He’s getting open, he’s running fantastic routes, he’s catching the ball in traffic. He’s been light outs catching the football. We need to utilize him a lot more in the pass game going forward.
-If Oluwole Betiku doesn’t get to the quarterback, we don’t get to the quarterback. That’s all I need to say for the defensive line. That kid Glass played a good game yesterday but fair is fair, he had ALL DAY to throw the football and our QB didn’t. That’s game changing.
-Take away that monster hit in the Akron game and it’d be hard to prove that Milo Eifler is even playing. This is one area where Lovie as a defensive coordinator is failing. If he blitzes from the LB position, 9 times out of 10 it’s Harding or Jake through the A or B gap. Nothing against those two but Milo is the most athletic LB we have. We need to create more opportunities for him to try and make an impact on the football game. Right now, he’s essentially invisible unless he’s helping to gang tackle the ball carrier. Through 3 games, Milo has 7 solo tackles and that hit. That’s it. That doesn’t cut it.
-I need to back off Quan Martin a tad bit and remember he’s only a true sophomore and that he’s going to make mistakes but right now, he’s not a Big Ten cornerback. He just isn’t. This is more a recruiting failure and a tough break with Marquez Beason than it is an issue with Quan, however. It’s not the kids fault that he’s playing 70 snaps a game when he isn’t ready for this.
-Our safety play is too terrible to discuss. Kerby in coverage is lost. There appears to be a serious issue with this understanding of the combo coverages Lovie is calling because he’s consistently out of position. The penalty on Sydney near the end of the 2nd quarter is inexcusable. The rules don’t allow defenders to run with reckless abandon into a defender with no understanding of where you’re at on the field. Those are the types of plays that are killing us and they’re happening in the defensive back half. That’s 3 personal fouls in 3 games from that position alone. Again, inexcusable.
-I won’t even begin to touch the embarrassment that was our clock management at the end of the 2nd half. I don’t know how to try and explain what occurred there. Bizarre.
-Our kicker is a serious weapon. Could have been a huge advantage this season but alas, spilled milk.
I was one of those skeptical folks. I don't think college/pro coaches generally translate well. There's just too much difference in the games, business model, etc. Whitman's in a bind because he's responsible, for better or for worse. I don't follow it closely, but my understanding is we're stuck with Lovie, which is the AD's fault. It never ceases to amaze me how ADs fail to negotiate contracts with a workable exit clause.
People say you HAVE to give these guys long term stability because recruiting. Well, guess what? He shouldn't have a long term deal with his results! And kids know when a coach is on the hot seat regardless of what the contract says. I just don't get why we're in this situation.
Anyway, we have a lot of great kids on the field, and I'll root for them. It's just sad that we're so outclassed by the better teams in the conference, and don't have the kind of ceiling that generates a sense of excitement even when we're the underdog. We're going to get Vegas lines that no team should have...
Deleted member 645583
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I really don't think I'd have put Williams in the game. Peters doesn't appear to be the guy, bu
If you're gonna hire an ex-Bears coach, give me Ditka.
Mike Thomas was a poor AD, but he at least knew how to structure a contract. Both Guenther and now Whitman are abysmal at that. Part of it is overconfidence in their own hiring ability, part of it is lack of negotiating tact. I could forgive it more if Lovie would have been a hot commodity but he simply wasn’t. A name yes, but nobody else was pursuing him. Giving him a golden parachute was unnecessary.
Deleted member 649710
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The videos posted by Illinois Football Breakdown are eye-opening in a very bad way. Make one think that our assistants with very little teaching experience...might not be very good at teaching. Go figure.
This twitter account had some real good insights also. Good follow.
Cook
- Richmond, VA
And my beach house goes to any reporter who will ask Whitman how he thinks things are going with the FB program, specifically: the bad assistant hires/position coach choices, record breaking bad defenses from a defensive HC, consistently out coached by what should be inferior opponents, inexcusable clock management, total lack of discipline resulting in repeated personal fouls and targeting penalties, embarrassing home game performances and attendance. He can't be proud of any of it.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Herm Edwards, a MUCH less credible hire than Lovie Smith (older, out of the game for way longer, not as successful or highly regarded of an NFL coach, much less college experience), seems to be doing quite well at Arizona State.
Asking the question of WHY Lovie seems to be failing here, I would point to two anecdotes.
1. The theory back in 2017 was that we were going to play our kids, and that when the wheel turned around we were going to have a depth of experience that were going to make those players better upperclassmen than they would have been if they just rode the pine. But a bunch of our young gems from that team (Boyd, Dorsey, Bennett Williams) got kicked off the team, and now that we've arrived at the end of that process, our best players are guys that transferred in five minutes ago (Betiku, Bhebhe, Peters), and our now-experienced Lovie kids are leading the nation in penalties.
2. We were bad in a lot of areas yesterday, but if you had to pick one that cost us the game, our linebackers being just awful in coverage would be a pretty good choice. So what kind of instruction are they getting? Their coordinator is their moonlighting head coach who has a million other duties and who by the way has never been a college DC in his life, and their position coach is that head coach's laughably unqualified 20-something son.
Which is to say, I reject the idea that it was determinable in March 2016 that Lovie was "a good one" or "a bad one" based on knowable facts at that time. The Lovie ship is going down because Lovie (with input and guidance and permission from DIA leadership) has made a number of extremely poor choices *since* March 2016.
I don't post much and have some trepidation about doing so now but here goes. I was going to post immediately after the game went final yesterday but thought better of it and I'm glad I did. I don't remember ever being as cynical as I was after the game regarding the football program.
Like many of you here I have been a dyed in the wool fan for decades and my football expertise is limited to the obvious. What doesn't require expertise to understand is that the Illini Football program is a total embarrassment to everyone remotely connected to it. Except for some brief flashes of competent success the program has been of lower tier grade going all the way back to a period before most here can recall, myself included. The program has descended to depths that render it a veritable laughing stock which is accentuated (mostly justifiable) by the availability of social media scrutiny. The most hearty laughter is coming out of Chicago, Illinois. The 3rd largest urban area in the nation desperately needs to take the football program of the flagship university in the state seriously and that hasn't been the case for a very long time and for good reason.
It seems that there is a growing feeling among even the most ardent Illini Faithful that nothing can be done to bring the brand and the program to levels of success that aren't an embarrassment. Who, pray tell, could the University find that is competent to a successful degree to coach this punch line of a program? Who would want the job? It was earlier suggested in this thread that possibly the program is simply over it's head and should go to a lower level. I'll leave that to folks more learned than I to determine if that is the case or not but it certainly is worth ponderance. Any semblance of a rebuild has gone down in flames after a very short period of moderate success time and again. The program seems to be on the cusp of yet another wholesale change and it's very possible the program will be as bad or worse in another 5 years as it most certainly is right now.
It pains me to have these feelings about something as dear to me and my family as the University and it's overall image. The most disheartening factor is there seems to be little optimism that the ship can be righted in it's present situation and circumstances. The program cannot/should not be allowed to perpetually flounder and wallow in an unacceptable degree of success indefinitely but unless/until something drastic happens it seems that will be the case.
Like many of you here I have been a dyed in the wool fan for decades and my football expertise is limited to the obvious. What doesn't require expertise to understand is that the Illini Football program is a total embarrassment to everyone remotely connected to it. Except for some brief flashes of competent success the program has been of lower tier grade going all the way back to a period before most here can recall, myself included. The program has descended to depths that render it a veritable laughing stock which is accentuated (mostly justifiable) by the availability of social media scrutiny. The most hearty laughter is coming out of Chicago, Illinois. The 3rd largest urban area in the nation desperately needs to take the football program of the flagship university in the state seriously and that hasn't been the case for a very long time and for good reason.
It seems that there is a growing feeling among even the most ardent Illini Faithful that nothing can be done to bring the brand and the program to levels of success that aren't an embarrassment. Who, pray tell, could the University find that is competent to a successful degree to coach this punch line of a program? Who would want the job? It was earlier suggested in this thread that possibly the program is simply over it's head and should go to a lower level. I'll leave that to folks more learned than I to determine if that is the case or not but it certainly is worth ponderance. Any semblance of a rebuild has gone down in flames after a very short period of moderate success time and again. The program seems to be on the cusp of yet another wholesale change and it's very possible the program will be as bad or worse in another 5 years as it most certainly is right now.
It pains me to have these feelings about something as dear to me and my family as the University and it's overall image. The most disheartening factor is there seems to be little optimism that the ship can be righted in it's present situation and circumstances. The program cannot/should not be allowed to perpetually flounder and wallow in an unacceptable degree of success indefinitely but unless/until something drastic happens it seems that will be the case.
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The safeties and the outside coverage were bigger issues yesterday (And the young season as a whole) than linebacker play. And Gil Byrd is more than qualified to coach that position.
Miles Smith was a poor perception hire but in reality, he’s the least of our problems.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
This is the thing that really turned it up to 11 for me yesterday - Herm going into East Lansing, holding Sparty to single digits and coming out with a win. Do you know how far we are from that?
I don’t profess (or frankly, care) to know a ton about how ASU is running their program, but presumably they aren’t doing brazenly irresponsible things like “not hiring a DC” or “giving his son a really important job that he’s not qualified for.”
I’m laying a good chunk of this on Whitman, too - when Bill Cubit did this, it was (rightfully) a part of the case for his dismissal. But he’s now stood by as his guy has done the same thing.
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