There’s more to it than what’s been put out there. Let’s just say McGee deserved to go and it wasn’t just due to bad playcalling.
Illinois Coaching Staff Search
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There’s more to it than what’s been put out there. Let’s just say McGee deserved to go and it wasn’t just due to bad playcalling.
Like I said earlier hard to judge McGee with the players he inherited. But heading into year 3 we have no clue who will be our QB and none of the options appear solid BIG qbs. Also the defense appears to have a much more defined system with accompanying recruits.
Some of his play calling seemed to go against risk/benefit at times.
Some of his play calling seemed to go against risk/benefit at times.
Just not a very good coach, but their dismissal is connected.
So what’s Kevin Sumlin up to?
Waiting for his next head coaching gig. I may be wrong but he didn't fail so spectacularly at A&M that he has to go back to being a coordinator. Heavens knows he doesn't need the money.
Jeffers_10
- Riverton, Illinois
RE: Player Mistreatment
So, a few things...
I certainly don't want to get into details of what I have heard because that's not my place. I don't know all the details 100% for sure so I will just wait for it to come out. If you do some digging in the right areas, follow some trends you'll figure it out.
McGee has not been out recruiting in some time. He was present for some of the officials taken recently. I was made aware of this at the end of November.
Bottom line, if what I have heard regarding McGee is true to any extent, he should have been fired on the spot but they waited until this signing day to keep the class together. I get it. Was a business move.
Williams seemed to just be caught up in the situation, but the fact that he wasn't a great position coach didn't do him any favors.
This is nothing to do with why Taylor didn't sign...that's for sure, but could be why DJ Irons didn't sign by the deadline...that's just my opinion.
Trust me. This is going to come out before long and if what I have heard is all true, Garrick McGee may never coach college football again.
So, a few things...
I certainly don't want to get into details of what I have heard because that's not my place. I don't know all the details 100% for sure so I will just wait for it to come out. If you do some digging in the right areas, follow some trends you'll figure it out.
McGee has not been out recruiting in some time. He was present for some of the officials taken recently. I was made aware of this at the end of November.
Bottom line, if what I have heard regarding McGee is true to any extent, he should have been fired on the spot but they waited until this signing day to keep the class together. I get it. Was a business move.
Williams seemed to just be caught up in the situation, but the fact that he wasn't a great position coach didn't do him any favors.
This is nothing to do with why Taylor didn't sign...that's for sure, but could be why DJ Irons didn't sign by the deadline...that's just my opinion.
Trust me. This is going to come out before long and if what I have heard is all true, Garrick McGee may never coach college football again.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Ouch.
Thanks for the post. Anything that would threaten penalties to the program, or a scandal a la Beckman?
Jeffers_10
- Riverton, Illinois
Not that I am aware of. The situation was brought to light and dealt with pretty quick by Lovie and Whitman, the I think saving the University or the program from having to deal with any fallout other than replacing the staff involved.
In the midst of dealing with the problem, a couple other things happened and a swift decision was made to let the parties involved go their own ways.
Deleted member 654622
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Personally I am more interested in who we are going to hire. If Corey Patterson is the choice, is he actually a good coach? I have read on here about him being the OC. Does he have the credentials to jump all the way to OC from HS? Obviously it would help us land some of his Trinity kids but we still need him to be a good coach for the future.
Here is hoping all is true because it could be a HUGE jump forward on the rebuild
Here is hoping all is true because it could be a HUGE jump forward on the rebuild
Whoever we hire needs to be an ace recruiter
DrewD007
- Woodridge, IL
The only game Bonner had more carries than Epstein was the Iowa game, which was the one Mike was injured. Gabe couldn’t see the field because he was getting blown by constantly. Dudek should’ve been a focal point, unfortunately you need QBs who can get him the ball. Crouch is a gritty player, just wasn’t a capable passer.
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Deleted member 3875
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Nooooooo to Ron Turner!
I would take Ron Turner as an OC all day. He runs a balanced offense, and has NFL experience. Heck, he put Aaron Moorehead and Greg Lewis, two walk ons, in the NFL. At the time, he sets offensive records for both the illni and Bears.
Not a great recruiter, but as an OC I'd be fine.
I'm a little biased though, because his style of offense is mt preferred style, run, pass balance, can deign a game khan to best you either way.
Support him with good recruiters and he gets a :thumb: from me.
Would need all new Qb's for his style.
Probably receivers too
FT35
- Naperville
I think his beef with the staff is that he was buried on the depth chart after the Ball State game. I can understand Epstein getting carries over him but Bonner? This made little to no sense seeing as how this staff named him the MVP of the offense in 2016. This would be the equivalent of Nick Allegretti getting benched after the Kent State game next year if he had a bad game.
The same thing happened with Christian DiLauro. He came into the season with 31 consecutive starts and by the Iowa game he was behind Lowe on the depth chart. Can anyone honestly tell me that Lowe was a better option than CD? Unless there is an injury I don't know about, it doesn't make sense.
This seemed to be the M.O. for the entire staff, not just McGee, however. I get that some of these players were not recruited for particular schemes but some of these guys have shown they can play well at this level. Use them! If there was any favoritism it was/is for the younger players as the upperclassmen are very expendable when it comes to playing time and I don't blame a number of them for transferring out of here.
I'm not disappointed to see McGee go based on the on-field performance alone. Just look at how many points Ball State and Nebraska gave up this year and look at what our offense did. We didn't get better as the season went along which was even more discouraging. How many meaningful touchdowns did our offense score in conference play? 6 or 7? There are very few seasons I can remember in which the offense looked as hopeless as it did this year. I remember feeling the same about the 2012 offense. Whether you like him or not, Cubit stepped in and the offense improved quite a bit in 2013. We won't have a 5th year Senior leading the way at QB but we have to get better. Any continuation of what we saw last year on Offense nearly guarantees 9+ losses in 2018.
Hopefully the new O.C. can bring in a Graduate Transfer who can bridge the gap to Thomas/Rivers as they need time to develop. I also hope they make NS the QB coach to help develop these guys.
The same thing happened with Christian DiLauro. He came into the season with 31 consecutive starts and by the Iowa game he was behind Lowe on the depth chart. Can anyone honestly tell me that Lowe was a better option than CD? Unless there is an injury I don't know about, it doesn't make sense.
This seemed to be the M.O. for the entire staff, not just McGee, however. I get that some of these players were not recruited for particular schemes but some of these guys have shown they can play well at this level. Use them! If there was any favoritism it was/is for the younger players as the upperclassmen are very expendable when it comes to playing time and I don't blame a number of them for transferring out of here.
I'm not disappointed to see McGee go based on the on-field performance alone. Just look at how many points Ball State and Nebraska gave up this year and look at what our offense did. We didn't get better as the season went along which was even more discouraging. How many meaningful touchdowns did our offense score in conference play? 6 or 7? There are very few seasons I can remember in which the offense looked as hopeless as it did this year. I remember feeling the same about the 2012 offense. Whether you like him or not, Cubit stepped in and the offense improved quite a bit in 2013. We won't have a 5th year Senior leading the way at QB but we have to get better. Any continuation of what we saw last year on Offense nearly guarantees 9+ losses in 2018.
Hopefully the new O.C. can bring in a Graduate Transfer who can bridge the gap to Thomas/Rivers as they need time to develop. I also hope they make NS the QB coach to help develop these guys.
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FT35
- Naperville
Someone has probably already addressed this but Williams was a holdover from the previous staff. He was hired by Cubit in January of 2016 and Smith simply held onto him as part of the staff.
Once Abraham was hired the writing was on the wall for Williams. You don't need two guys coaching the secondary. Abraham has the advantage in recruiting as he has obvious ties to IMG as well as most of Central Florida since he was a High School coach there for a number of years. He also did a great job with the Safeties this year. He'll do fine with the CBs.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Ron Turner as OC would greatly shake my faith in what we’re trying to do. We’ve recruited for a style of offense that couldn’t be more different than what Turner has traditionally run. We need to hire someone who runs an offense that we’ve recruited to and who is a great recruiter. For all of these reasons, Turner would be a terrible hire. (Good person though - just not the right person for us).
I agree with you, and probably a main reason he is not even considered. I even posted in another thread changing styles at this point would be highly detrimental.
At any rate, looking forward to the search.
To clarify, we are now looking for THREE new coaches: replacements for McGee and Williams plus the expected tenth assistant?
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