True, but take out his first two years of the rebuild and he was essentially a .500 coach for us. Also, if i remember correctly, wasn’t Mike Thomas chomping at the bit for any reason to fire the guy in 2011? I remember hearing stories of absolutely no support, even after starting 6-0 from MT and the Zooker and the boys collapsed. There was still plenty of talent on those teams. I wish Zook never would’ve been fired.34-51 in 7 years at Illinois. Basically the same record as Ron Turner (35-57 in 8 years), but without a Big 10 Championship.
A process facilitated by losing Littrell as OC (and Gene Chizik at DC).
Littrell is definitely a good candidate, though the chances are good he'll be snapped up by somebody else this offseason (maybe UNC) if we stick with Lovie and in general guys at the top of the mid-major food chain might say no to Illinois and either take or wait on something "better". Or they might not. Nobody thought Matt Campbell would take the Iowa State job. The point is you can't get too locked in on one guy. What we're looking for is someone with good qualifications who understands what the Illinois job requires, has a well thought out plan to succeed and relishes the challenge.
And that could be Lovie, right?
34-51 in 7 years at Illinois. Basically the same record as Ron Turner (35-57 in 8 years), but without a Big 10 Championship.
Ouch. Pretty strong stuff
Kliff Kingsbury is likely done at Texas Tech a guy I wouldnt mind here.
And that could be Lovie, right?
I agree emphatically with this. Yes, Lovie needs to add a goodDC. For those of you who want to start over with a new coaching staff, do you think we'd get an upgrade at OC? Is there some magical pied piper HC who will turn Champaign into an national destination overnight? I'm tired of the "magic beans" approach to college football.
Our woes this year have been clearly personnel related. And those personnel woes are primarily youth/depth related.
We do not have a Big Ten caliber receiving corps. Full stop. Our current QB play is not Big Ten caliber. Rivers and/or others on the roster may mature into top flight quarterbacks, but 2018 QB play was unequal to the conference. There's no way to scheme around that. Our players on defense are getting manhandled by bigger and stronger upperclassmen. 18 and 19 year-olds against 21 year-olds is a case of boys against men. Has there EVER been a competitive program that relied primarily on underclassmen? It's almost impossible to scheme your way out of an athleticism deficit.
Whether the Lovie era ends in failure or success, I at least want to see this experiment all the way through. Until we see what Lovie can do with upperclassmen, we still don't know.
So when do we get the Brock Spack for DC train rolling?
but but but we have alot of money to offer!He’s not leaving. Especially not for a dead end DC position w/ a lame duck HC.
I kinda wonder how difficult the buy out actually is. There’s a lot going on in that contract. The buyout is in the form of monthly payments, not lump sum. Lovie has a $1 million retention bonus hitting Jan 1. And a $4 mil salary next season.I think there's a lot of truth in both of those perspectives. And that there are 12 million reasons why the former will win out over the latter at the end of the day.
We did not have enough recruiters on this coaching staff at the beginning. Did Lovie adjust?
Um reallyUm. Not really.
Well, everyone who followed his Monday morning press conference, which apparently wasn't you, thinks that.The defense is crap this year. Now everyone thinks Lovie isn't going to adjust.
Um really
Rod Smith, Austin Clark, Cory Patterson are all new to the coaching staff and all get after it hard in recruiting.
What did he say that was false?Well, everyone who followed his Monday morning press conference, which apparently wasn't you, thinks that.
Nothing false, just that "The [defensive] system is proven." Interpret that how you want, but I'm pretty sure everyone else takes that as he isn't going to adjust.What did he say that was false?
What? Who cares how much experience they have currently. Do they have connections and were they brought here mainly because of recruiting? YesRod has filled the QB room just fine, but that's not ultimately why he's here.
Clark and Patterson had a combined 0 years of experience in college recruiting.
We have the 12th ranked recruiting class in the conference and our CB and LB coaches are currently Lovie's kid and nobody, respectively.
If Lovie adjusted, he needs to re-adjust.
have been recruiting hard core.