Illini Football 2026
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Great for you to have that experience as a student. I arrived in the cornfields of Champaign from the steel mills of Pittsburgh in '76 in the middle of the Steelers' heydey. Beckman's last team and then Moeller. Which included attending the 0-0 game. Since I took the "tourist" route through college, I was still there for the introduction of White. Most significant culture shock I have ever experineced! A number of us continued season tickets (stopped when the kids became priority) and drove from Chicagoland. We were there in 1983 and had a hotel since we planned to stay in town that weekend. What a great day, night, and next day. I have more to share to your point about the history of Illini football. In another thread.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- Batavia
Ryan Walters sure has built a capable defense in Seattle quickly.
Wish we had a strong relationship there instead of a BS Twitter war.
Wish we had a strong relationship there instead of a BS Twitter war.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
If we are 15th in nil in conference spending next year it tells the world we should no longer bother caring about the football program. Tbh it’s the same as it was in 1991 when mackovic left for Texas. We had a legit top 20 program that could have hired a competent coach. Instead we pussed out went cheap and hired Tepper. This year when it was time to really elevate the program we shied away yet again.
Help me remember the timing of our defense leaving and Henry leaving. Did Henry leave and then the defections started or did the players all leave before Henry left?
I am just trying to remember if Henry left because of NIL and no players or if the players were leaving because Henry left and no NIL. Would we have had a chance of keeping some of the players if Henry was still here?
I am just trying to remember if Henry left because of NIL and no players or if the players were leaving because Henry left and no NIL. Would we have had a chance of keeping some of the players if Henry was still here?
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
We do not.
Which is the kind of ultimate bitterness of it all. It would be satisfying, in its way, to look at today as the moment we all knew it was over.
But the reality is we never had a chance. Or maybe some Google founder comes out of the woodwork and we turn into Ohio State in some random moment.
Not a sport that's giving a satisfying narrative to its fans anymore.
(And it is fully recognized that this is a pity party after losing to two schools in Duke and Purdue that have *less* NIL than we do)
I’ll take your word for it; that was a bus trip and there may have been some schnapps involved!
What’s very discouraging is BB has been here for awhile and the program has sunk this low again. As bad as Ahen was last year we probably would’ve been better just to bring him back. Yesterday we went back to trying to limit big plays. When all offseason we talked about this being an aggressive defense that would cause chaos. We paid a ton of money in defensive backs to have them play in a soft zone coverage. I will say Bailey has definitely earned his pay checks. X and Juice need to pick up their checks with a ski mask and a gun because it’s stealing money at this point.
I agree again. In football, we got ahead of the NIL in 2024 (kudos to Josh). In 2025, we had several key players stay for less (thanks Luke). In 2026, we are at the back of the BT in NIL. We are a back quarter BT program until something changes. Even if we double our NIL from $5M to $10M we are an average BT school. We have to triple our NIL to get to top 25. We have a problem that we can’t address unless somehow a major change happens in NIL.
The destruction of the sport by a financially uneven playing field won’t occur in a single season or several. It will wound and eventually cripple the poorly funded schools, leaving them to bleed at the bottom for years, as the well funded schools get stronger.
We witnessed our first big wound yesterday. Will it affect recruiting, further dampening fan and financial support? Maybe. Meanwhile we’ll still be able to defeat more severely wounded opponents. Financial attrition will destroy college sport as we knew it. It’s just going to take time and won’t be fun to watch. Gladiator games.
100%. All sports have gone to salary cap to prevent what you are describing. Baseball is the last holdout which will have a lockout in 2027 and a salary cap when they return.
It’s shocking to me schools can get $5M-$10M in NIL from donors which gets you a below .500 conference record. Who writes checks for that? I kinda understand getting $25M to go to CFP. I don’t get how the other 100 schools get NIL donations. For instance, at Illinois $7M in NIL next year gets you a 2-7 BT record. Thats a tough sales pitch.
Talentwise, agree we are in the bottom 4. Our coaching is below par. Yet we are a few better decisions and execution from being 4-1 with a good path to a bowl game.
We have problems, but they are all fixable (not this season unfortunately). Job 1 is to find a solid DC; we don't need a Phil Parker, but we do need a serious upgrade here. Job 2 is better roster management. Our talent level has declined significantly the last few years - I know we have less NIL $ than most, but the differential vs Minny, NW, UCLA, etc isn't that great. We can be successful with our current level of spend, but we need better recruiters and talent evaluators. Job 3 is get rid of the coaches and staff members who are Bret's buddies but who aren't P4 quality - Miller, Tank, etc.
An OSU can get away with being sloppy or inefficient in some areas, an Illinois can't. We have to execute well in all phases of the program, and we aren't right now. However, if we do the right things in the offseason, no reason we can't be back to being a bowl team next year.
Bielema is too loyal to his guys.
Bart Miller can't scheme X's and O's upfront.
We have serious injury problems every year and not enough recruiting depth to cover.
Is anyone in the building even taking a closer look at Tank Wright or Embleton and asking why we have these problems in Year 6?
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I think you are pretty optimistic there. Our schedule this year and the last couple years has been easy. Next year, we are looking at 2-10 with 7+ potential blowout losses.
Missouri, Indiana, PennState, Michigan, USC, UCLA, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue
We have to beat Northwestern and at Purdue just to get to 4 wins.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
As much as I hate to type this, it gives much more respect to what Ferentz has done in Iowa. They get to that 7-8 win total year in and out (even in what would be a "down year").
Many of us knew that we would have at least somewhat of a rebuilding year, and it looks like for us, those are 3-5 win seasons.
Unfortunately, unlike three years ago, when we had a down 5 win season, there are many more questions than answers (that year was the beginning of the Altmyer years).
Hopefully this is just a bump in the road, but it is hard to not be at least pretty concerned about the longterm outlook. I trust Coach B to right the ship, but the pressure will be on him after how this year is unfolding (coaching staff troubles on down).
Many of us knew that we would have at least somewhat of a rebuilding year, and it looks like for us, those are 3-5 win seasons.
Unfortunately, unlike three years ago, when we had a down 5 win season, there are many more questions than answers (that year was the beginning of the Altmyer years).
Hopefully this is just a bump in the road, but it is hard to not be at least pretty concerned about the longterm outlook. I trust Coach B to right the ship, but the pressure will be on him after how this year is unfolding (coaching staff troubles on down).
I don't recall the weather
By my "50 year association" count this would be the 5th bump in the road. I haven't yet seen a bump that didn't turn out to be dirt road. I will not be fooled again.
If this is a money issue, it's a mismanagement of money issue. Lots of way better football teams out there with no more money than Illinois.
While what you say is true, it’s also true that the average conference record for teams in the BT with our money is about 3-6. You can’t expect better with our spend.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
I’ll go back to my teaching days . . . show your work.
*Blackman's
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