Beckman's highest class was 82.94, any doubts that recruiting is getting better? I don't believe they are done at LB,WR, and See further upgrades at those positions.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Beckman's highest class was 82.94, any doubts that recruiting is getting better? I don't believe they are done at LB,WR, and See further upgrades at those positions.
Hope so a little nervous he goes to FSU to visit.
FT35
- Naperville
Three of the fourteen players that have signed with FSU are listed as LBs:
https://247sports.com/college/florida-state/Season/2019-Football/Commits/
Two of them are ranked higher than Cooper.
I would be more worried if Oklahoma found a scholarship for him.
What I have heard is Shammond has already faxed in the paperwork. They kept it quit for the pub.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
I have no inside info but I saw Illinois football retweeted Cooper's announcement, which I thought you couldn't do unless the paper had signed.
Made that mistake for 5 mins an switched back
This is a great interview. Thanks for sharing it. You can see what the current coaching staff brings.
Deleted member 654622
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Guest
I listened to the podcast his morning. It really seems like Sunkett is on board with Illinois. That would be a HUGE to have him as a supporter.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
So, Ford. When does the Spring term start? Taking it a step farther, I expect we'll see who the incoming transfers are very soon.
SampsonRelpenk
- Edwardsville, IL
Wow. That's the most nakedly positive interview from a high school coach about Illinois football I've ever seen. Shore up the holes in the staff and somehow, someway win 6 this year and we might be in business.
Deleted member 645583
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Keep it holy. There should be no talk of nudity, not on this family-friendly phorum.
Good that ESL coach is promoting Illinois. Hate to be cynical: does he want a job at Illinois? And that's OK in my book.
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Coach Sunkett turned down jobs with both Turner and Zook at Illinois when he was younger. He has no interest at his age in being an assistant coach.
Deleted member 645583
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Thanks. I had a Latin/English teacher in junior high who always said "your ignorance is showing" to all of us; and so it was and so it is some decades later.
I will do some research before I post again.
Bravo Coach Sunkett!
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that's interesting a great news. I have a family friend and long time high school coach in Illinois now retired who keeps up on what's happening
that tells me that relationships with Illinois staff has never been worse in his memory. coaches are no longer welcome at spring practices or
during the coaches clinics and lovie has not attended those clinics as past coaches have. maybe our staff is concentrating on a few key schools
like ESL?
that tells me that relationships with Illinois staff has never been worse in his memory. coaches are no longer welcome at spring practices or
during the coaches clinics and lovie has not attended those clinics as past coaches have. maybe our staff is concentrating on a few key schools
like ESL?
FT35
- Naperville
Illinois High School coaches have been bashing U of I coaches for as long as I can remember. This is nothing new. They seem to want to push their two and low three star players to Illinois but then push their high 3 Star kids to other programs.
The coaching staff should reach out to as many instate coaches as possible but you have to question how much time and resources they should pour into this when there is such little payoff? It seems like if any instate kid has a P5 offer other than Illinois then we have little to no chance.
If we can have classes where we can get two of the top 10 in state kids then that is a major victory. Hoping for anything more than that at this point is probably unrealistic. We are just better off focusing our attentions on St. Louis, Texas and Florida where their isn't as much angst towards Illinois football.
Focusing on a couple high schools like ESL and Philips is probably the way to go. Troy McAllister, the head coach at Phillips, at least said publicly that Illinois has done all the right things in terms of recruiting his players. This was in reference to the recruitment of Jahleel and before McCray de-committed, however.
Ward has been recruiting the CPL for years and he seems to be making inroads there.
Other than that, it seems like Cory is doing a great job in the Metro East. Maybe something with Belleville West can also develop as well since we landed Randolph.
The other thing we have been doing that previous staffs have failed to do is build up our walk-on program with instate kids from quality programs. Matt Judd is a good example of this as he is from Lincoln Way-East. Stover from St. Rita was also a fantastic pick up for us. In turn you hope that these kids earn scholarships and then recruit for us.
Butkus has struggled big time with recruiting instate. He does appear to be making some inroads with the Suburban Catholic schools but it will always be an uphill climb in the Chicago area since it's so over recruited.
Central Illinois lacks talent for the most part and there will never be a steady stream of reliable P5 players. Kendrick Green was a big win for the staff a couple of years ago but this staff hasn't been able to close the deal with guys like Broeker, Guedet, Miamen, Mangieri, etc. I'm not sure I know of any successful program that misses so consistently on kids like this who are within a 100 mile radius of the University.
FT35
- Naperville
I never realized this. He's got a good thing going at ESL so it makes sense to stay where he's at.
Anything new on Estes? Is he going to stay at Minnesota?
He's more than a Coach at ESL. He is a mentor and father figure to these kids. Coaching in a city like ESL, isn't your average HS football job. He seems like he loves trying to help and motivate his kids to go to College and get away from all the crime. I think he would have a hard time leaving.
Deleted member 654622
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Most certainly not arguing this point. But the exact same could be said about Corey Patterson
The issue with Illinois High School Coaches is Illinois attempt to recruit other kids harder than the kids in their back yard with the same talent. Keep in mind, this was Sunkett issue as well. I remember posting on the Green kid from Miami Central when most folks on this board told me I was clueless about his talents. What they didn't know was I repeated some of the things his actual Head Coach said about him. He is the one that said no other school in Florida wanted him because he was inconsistent. He also is strong about pushing his top kids to any school in Florida before they leave out of the state. Sunk and Miami Central coach became real close friends after coaching in the UA All American game together a couple of times. It's been talks of Miami Central coming up to play in the Classic over the last couple of years.
Sunk felt that he kept Terry Hawthorne committed to Illinois after he became the parade all American as well as caught for 150 yards in the first under armour all star game, which brought schools like Oklahoma out. Not to mention that Nick Saban practically called every day trying to get Terry to play opposite of Julio Jones and kick start what we now know as ALABAMA. The reward for such loyalty with Illinois was recruiting a so so kid from Florida over kids that he recommended. Not all coaches are interested in dumping players on Illinois.
That being said, the heart to hear went a long way as you can see and Sunkett is definitely on board with Lovie. This will also help with other schools in both states because he is very well respected in Missouri and Illinois.
FT35
- Naperville
Good points and great insight as well.
The way the staff handled offers and recruiting instate during their first year was puzzling.
The recruitment of Kendrick Green is a good example of this. Kendrick camped with Illinois in June of 2016 and the staff passed on him. Kendrick, at the time, had offers from Minnesota and Syracuse. Kendrick went on to have a monster Senior season on the DL which got him an Iowa offer. The staff still waited until November to offer him. This was an obvious P5 talent in their own back yard that they slow played.
I remember a couple of instate kids were joking on twitter about how Illinois "offered" 10 year-old Bunchie Young. However, there were a number of obvious P5 kids who weren't even getting courtesy offers.
I think they've done a better job of offering and prioritizing instate recruits since then. I can see how instate coaches are reluctant to be forgiving because of the initial missteps, however.
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