Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
Gotta give it time before I judge. Still optimistic Lovie brings in a good first year class.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Lovie I would think would have time to improve on the recruiting front. Cause of all the things going against him listed before that he is just behind, period. He is playing catch up but they are also being selective it seems.
Regardless. I feel like if we don't get Awordian and/or Oladipo it's going to hurt this class a lot. These two seem like two perfect fits with Lovie and staff. We don't land the two solid instate prospects, people are going to doubt even less/get frustrated.
I'm still optimistic that Lovies class will be with players they want. But the staff is going to be in a dog fight for every single prospect that has another power 5 offer.
Regardless. I feel like if we don't get Awordian and/or Oladipo it's going to hurt this class a lot. These two seem like two perfect fits with Lovie and staff. We don't land the two solid instate prospects, people are going to doubt even less/get frustrated.
I'm still optimistic that Lovies class will be with players they want. But the staff is going to be in a dog fight for every single prospect that has another power 5 offer.
That's not what we paid for, full stop.
So your expectations are unrealistic this year. Got it
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At some point people have to realize that Lovie came from the NFL. He isn't a college coach that tried his hand at the NFL and came back, he was a pure NFL coach. That being said, it will tike some time for him and the staff to learn how to recruit. The fact that they are in the conversation with top players is remarkable in only 4 months. You can't compare Lovie to Harbaugh and Saban as both were top college coaches before they left Stanford and LSU. Once he learn the ropes, success will follow.
Double Down
- Chicago, IL
:thumb:
Half of the Illinois staff is "college". The other half is pro. Lovie started as a college coach. It's the assistants who do the recruiting, establishing relationships with high schools. The present staff is the best staff Illinois has had in umpteen years, top to bottom. I am unclear which ropes the Illinois staff has yet to learn.
Lovie's job is to produce on the field - first and foremost - then sell Illinois. Selling Illinois right now is the biggest obstacle. Recruits want to see results on the field, and if we go bowling, you'll see a nice ending to this class in January and February. Then the 2018 class will be the group to start making Illinois "cool". The 2018 class has potential to be top 20.
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It will get no easier relative to selling Purdue or Indiana or Minnesota at any point in the forseeable future. In fact it will get harder as Lovie becomes less a savior from the NFL and more the coach of a mediocre college team.
The idea that our brand is more tarnished than other lackluster Power Five schools has always been unmitigated navel-gazing garbage. That is even more true now.
The idea that expectations are different now isn't being unfair to Lovie, it is THE VERY BENEFIT of Lovie. Losing priority recruits to Indiana or Duke is no longer acceptable.
Duke IS THE BETTER program as of right now. Losing recruits to Indiana, yeah it's crap, but the Harris recruitment is far from over
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BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
I'd agree - once he's had a chance to build some relationships.
I will sum this up by saying its the HEAD Coach who solidify the relationship with the in state high school coaches as well as the parents. The assistant coaches get you to the dance.
The rope they will have to learn is going from players begging for a job in the NFL versus them begging a kid to come. It is much easier to pick from a group of 30 that you know all what to you versus going to the bar to find the one or two that maybe interested in you. If you think they are one in the same, then you don't understand recruiting.
Like I said, Lovie will do fine. It's just unrealistic to think that he and his staff would land 5 star recruits immediately.
It's a better football team. It's not a better program.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Really?
Who on their staff was abusing players?
Who on their staff has a history of trip-gate, chewing, and generally making himself look like a baffoon?
You can't say that Lovie being hired instantly wipes out the history and memory of a program. Coaches and players remember that. If Lovie or anyone else could come in and instantly erase all of that, have deep connections with coaches and players around the state and the region, then yes, we would have a program. It doesn't happen that way and we do not yet have a program. But we're working on it. Sheesh.
For the purposes of winning games? You're right. For the purposes of Tim Beckman's nonsense? That's a really bizarre claim.
Y'know, the way there are only two settings for a head coach on a college message board - utterly immune from criticism and utterly immune from credit - is really annoying. And it is seemingly specific to college, I wonder why that is.
This is what it boils down to me.
ILLINIFAN2
- Des Moines, IA
I'm with you, let's see what this weekend yields....
Recruits still remember those times. Even though their is a brand new regime, they must build relationships throughout the state and nationally. Those relationships take time, especially considering half the staff are NFL guys. You think they built relationships with HS coaches while in the NFL? Hell no. So anything this year will be a struggle. If we're losing recruits to Indiana and Vandy next year, that's troubling. But right now? Give it some damn time. JFC
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AngryOrange
- Chicago, IL
Ron Turner, who is rightly noted as not a great recruiter, started up much stronger recruiting at Illinois than Lovie. And then had a couple of horrific years, and still had a better showing recruiting in those years than Lovie. Just throwing that out there.
He also spent 13 years in college, then 4 years in NFL, and then back to college. So he still had contacts. What level were those recruits?
Lovie could have another 5-7 commits, but he's being picky on who to accept them from. Would you rather quantity, or quality in recruits? Give me quality.
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orangeswarm76
- hastings Nebraska
Anyone know what time the recruiting shindig takes off today?
orangeswarm76
- hastings Nebraska
From the names I've heard some pretty heavy hitters are going to be there.
Turner had at least a 3 month head start on recruiting over Smith ... Plus, there are at least FIVE more months before signing day. So there's that.
A ton can happen in 5 months. Just stop with all the stupid Chicken Little drama.
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