Illinois 120, Fairleigh Dickinson 45 Postgame

Fly Illini Fly! · 2026-11-05T09:00:21-0600

It’s kind of crazy the record of 127pts against LSU still stands today.

BalloonsTheElephant · 2026-11-05T09:14:50-0600

lstewart53x3 said:
Here's the way I look at it:

Today, Tyler is one of the brightest offensive minds in the country. He's crafted 4 offenses and all 4 will finish top 15 in efficiency with 3 of the 4 in the top 5. He innovated the way Illinois scouts and recruits talent and his evaluations have resulted in an E8 and F4.

Did he work his way up the ladder quickly? Yes.
More quickly than he deserved? Maybe to the outside world. But inside the program, I'm sure his value was obvious then just like it is to all of us now.

This is basically what I was saying. Obviously he's one of the top offensive minds in the country. At the time he was elevated to Assistant, there were real and rational (thanks Lovie and Miles) concern over another coach hiring his son to a position he may not be ready for, even if it was an underpaid end of the bench assistant. The amount someone is paid is not always equivalent to the amount of power they hold.

Obviously he has exceeded all of our expectations and has helped not only our offense, but our recruiting and player evaluation process. Brad, as he often does, made the right call and we are the beneficiaries of that choice.

B1G Ben 4-3 · 2026-11-05T09:29:11-0600

mysterio2525 said:
you did. he was there.

B1G Ben 4-3 · 2026-11-05T09:52:21-0600

#205 Was my inadvertent, fat thumbed, mistake of a first post.
Back to lurking.

grue2 · 2026-11-05T13:34:42-0600

NarrowJ said:
Feels like splitting hairs a bit with the “questioned it” vs “criticized it”. I think the salient point is that no matter which of those camps you were in: you were wrong.

Work environments where everything is questions, scrutinized, and thoroughly vetted can be quite productive (depending on the type of work). Work environments where everything is criticized are just toxic.

Consider your reaction when someone says: I don't know if that is right vs. That is wrong.

DReq · 2026-11-05T13:39:32-0600

B1G Ben 4-3 said:
#205 Was my inadvertent, fat thumbed, mistake of a first post.
Back to lurking.

But it was as informative as a fair percentage of posts on this forum. Good start! (and try again soon)

plooger · 2026-11-05T14:19:54-0600

ILFaninFL said:
Every recruit we are interested in should get a copy of this game and be asked, "Do you want to play in this system?" The answer should be, "Where do I sign?"

Chuckle. Yeah, probably a marginally more inspiring game film than Weber's 2009 classic against Penn State.

NarrowJ · 2026-11-05T14:44:28-0600

grue2 said:
Work environments where everything is questions, scrutinized, and thoroughly vetted can be quite productive (depending on the type of work). Work environments where everything is criticized are just toxic.

Consider your reaction when someone says: I don't know if that is right vs. That is wrong.

I don't disagree with this. My point was whether you criticized the hire or questioned whether he could do the job: both people were wrong.

Maybe the Athletic Director was wrong to promote him. Maybe the Administration was wrong to approve it. Maybe the Hiring Committee was wrong to push it through. Maybe the Board of Directors was wrong in giving it the final stamp.

The thing I highly doubt is that random people on the internet have enough knowledge of the situation to know these layers of approval all failed.

1970 John · 2026-11-05T15:28:38-0600

Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2117768789316002035

Illinois video squad is sooo good.

JKR · 2026-11-05T16:16:57-0600

wc_illini said:
I think jumping from recruiting/scouting to offensive coordinator is a fast-track, at least at a program with top 10 aspirations. Perhaps it was obvious to everyone involved that he was an offensive genius, making it a justified fast-track, but it's still a fast-track. That he was family made it easy to wonder

It took his dad about 25 years.

grue2 · 2026-11-05T16:27:35-0600

NarrowJ said:
I don't disagree with this. My point was whether you criticized the hire or questioned whether he could do the job: both people were wrong.

Maybe the Athletic Director was wrong to promote him. Maybe the Administration was wrong to approve it. Maybe the Hiring Committee was wrong to push it through. Maybe the Board of Directors was wrong in giving it the final stamp.

The thing I highly doubt is that random people on the internet have enough knowledge of the situation to know these layers of approval all failed.

I think we still have a nuance difference. I believe it is almost always okay to question a decision. Whether or not the decision works out, they still were not wrong for questioning it. On the other hand, if they criticize the decision, they should know what they are talking about, and take responsibility for being wrong. Almost everyone here is an armchair quarterback. I interpret their posts accordingly.

Illinois 120, Fairleigh Dickinson 45 Postgame

Always Illini