I think the more Lovie can personally sit down with certain schools, the better the in state recruiting will go. Letting Love go to NIU shows that there is still work to do. He is absolutely a kid you take a risk on simply because of the respect he has with other in state kids as well as coaches. Not to mention he is really good. The only difference between him and his brother at ND is height. Coaches get puzzled by an offer to Bryce who is no where close to Love as a high school athlete. These type of actions make coaches wonder what is going on. The guy who can help change the perception in the Chicago land is AJ Henning from LWE. If Lovie can recruit him that will be big for the Chicagoland.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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I think the more Lovie can personally sit down with certain schools, the better the in state recruiting will go. Letting Love go to NIU shows that there is still work to do. He is absolutely a kid you take a risk on simply because of the respect he has with other in state kids as well as coaches. Not to mention he is really good. The only difference between him and his brother at ND is height. Coaches get puzzled by an offer to Bryce who is no where close to Love as a high school athlete. These type of actions make coaches wonder what is going on. The guy who can help change the perception in the Chicago land is AJ Henning from LWE. If Lovie can recruit him that will be big for the Chicagoland.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
If this was a normal class, size wise, I fully expect we would've made Love a primary target.
FT35
- Naperville
I think picking up Matt Judd as a PWO helps there but I was under the assumption that Henning was ABI. That would be a massive get for many reasons as he's clearly the best player in the Chicago area right now. He was probably the best player in the area as a Junior.
You're right about Love. I think the scholarship situation caused some issues with who they could or could not pursue this year. I'm surprised they didn't offer Jacardia Wright of Decatur who has MSU and Iowa offers. However, the staff didn't like that he ran a 4.67 40 at their camp and thought they could do better at RB. I think Wright would be a better fit at Safety but we added 8 guys to the Secondary last year and already have Beason and Thompson in this class.
I understand the optics with Bryce but I can understand it since we hired his High School coach for The Movement, which to me meant as many Trinity kids as possible. I can understand why some instate coaches may not like this, however.
No excuses for 2017 and 2018 however as those were full classes.
EdgyTim seems to talk about this subject every year. Winning is the only solution he can come up with in terms of getting in good graces with IHSA coaches. However, even that may not matter because of the disconnect between Chicago and the U of I. We have no recruiting advantage in Chicago as the state flagship school and Chicago is recruited by almost everyone. I think it would help with Illinois kids south of I-80 however. If we can start hitting on the top OL recruits in Central Illinois then that is a good start.
Childress was committed, no excuse. What's done is done. Just have to be smart about the next class which is 2020. AJ, who has shown great interest, need to be high priority in the Chicago land. He is in the same conference as Bailey in which all of those coaches communicate with each other. Recruiting him hard will re-establish the connection and show Lovie is committed to recruiting top talent in Illinois. The worst thing you can do to high school coach is try to feed him BS. All are knowledgable about recruiting and what kids have been offered by in state schools.
Immediate playing time is starting to be a trend as well. Being competitive I think is just as important as winning. If you win 3 games but lose every game by a touchdown or less, kids will believe in what is going on.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Interesting discussion that I've been thinking about this year within recruiting discussions. I think both sides are at fault more than they're willing to admit and I'll lay out my reasons.
It's tough to decipher who gets the majority of the blame, my qualms is that every time a new coach is hired at Illinois, rumors are discussed on this board about how the previous coach didn't do a great job building relationships with in-state coaches. Now, some of the blame is on Illinois head coaches, as all of them prioritize areas outside of the state as a means for recruiting. I also agree with FT35 that Illinois has made some perplexing decisions to not be involved with in-state recruits that seem like obvious targets (with the minimal context we are provided by their location and recruiting rankings). The coaching staff seem more comfortable slow-playing in-state recruits than out-of-state recruits, which seems to have burned them a couple times (rightfully so). Illinois has had more success pursuing the late-bloomers in-state, maybe that reveals some of the bigger issues with traditional in-state recruiting? Possibly, but more time is needed to mull over that context.
I've seen others hint that HS coaches in the state are wanting UI to take on some of their less unheralded (underrated? diamonds-in-the-rough? However it should be labeled) recruits and that many of the more sought-after recruits leave the state. Your argument about Love feeds into this same narrative. You are mentioning the frustration of Illinois not taking on the 50th ranked recruit in the state. This is the exact concern that Illinois fans have had about IL HS coaches for over a decade. Now, area coaches may have believed Love was much better than his ranking (which very much could be true), but where are the other offers from P5 schools? If area coaches are upset that Illinois offered Childress (who has an obvious connection with a member of the coaching staff), is there equal frustration against Iowa, NW, Wisconsin, ND, Minny for not taking this kid over another recruit they have in their class? If the answer is no, this feeds into the belief of Illinois football fans that certain in-state coaches believe Illinois owes them something that is not expected from other schools. If the answer is yes, those schools don't seem to be punished in the same way (publicly) that Illinois is for passing on a talented in-state recruit.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
And this is the pinch that happens for low-success football programs like Illinois. A new coach comes in and promises playing time to new recruits. Some of them bite and get immediate playing time but often struggle against more experienced teams. The next recruiting cycles are promised less-and-less playing time because they already have true freshmen/sophomores playing their position, so they need to sold on similar pitches that are also being made at more prominent programs. This creates the need to show significant improvement for on-field success, to show the incoming recruits that they are joining a winner. Hence the vital importance for Illinois to win 6 - 7 - 8 games this year. It may not move the needle much for 2020 but it will make huge difference in 2021 and beyond.
A few posters wrote about how selective the coaches would be with this class due to size and need. Not much to complain about with the 12 scholl's and transfer additions. Some of the lower rank guys may turn out to be very valuable. Still probably going after guys like Domonic Moore and more trsnsfers.
Luke Ford announces on twitter his transfer to the beloved.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
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Deleted member 533939
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In regards to AJ Henning, what is ABI?
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
"Anyone But Illinois", used as a phrase for in-state kids that may mention Illinois' interest but will not choose UI under any circumstances.
illinipioneer
- Richmond, VA
So is this what it feels like when things go our way?!
Glad to see this come to fruition. FWIW he was ranked 51st, currently above both Beason and Williams, and would be ranked as our 4th best recruit since 2000, according to 247.
Wasn't Jeff Thomas no. 40 or something as well?
Yes, so sadly Luke Ford will be our 5th best since 2000, Jeff will be our 3rd.
What a great few days for Illinois Football! Excited!
ivwilsoniv
- Aurora, IL
To know high school football is to know prospect ranking, Recruiting rankings and stars relate more to the kids ability to bet recruited, not by their talent level. This is where the problem exist. There are times you chase the stars and there are times you chase talent. Baker Mayfield had to walk on correct? In state schools are expected to have more time to evaluate true talent thus held to a different standard than out of state schools. There are only a hand full of schools that can load their roster with top recruits from different states. Most schools in the Big 10 can't do that. You need to have a strong recruiting department that can evaluate talent.
I have never agreed with coaches wanting to push off the lower recruits. I don't believe in that practice. What I also think is missed is that certain schools can't get recruits without help. Example would be Illinois compared to Alabama. If both schools offered, Illinois would have to do three times more than Alabama which is understandable. This is where you might hear a high school coach say hey, if you take his friend, you might have a shot. In most cases, the friend can play but may not be as high of a recruit. This is not dumping a kid on Illinois, it is saying that Illinois need more things to entice a kid than Alabama. No different than Bryce in the situation mentioned above. Why is okay for out of state (Missouri) but not okay for an instate Illinois High school coach?
Beason wanted to leave Texas and be great. Advantage Illinois. Isaiah wanted a shot at playing QB, advantage Illinois. This is why Illinois is now in the conversation because this staff is willing to establish themselves and take risk. The previous staff didn't. Now all they need to do is take that same energy with in state kids. That is why I am impressed with Lovie sitting down with Sunk because that showed he is willing to meet half way. Timing couldn't be more perfect because now he will have support and a shot at the 2020/2021/2022 and 2023 kids from ESL. There are some kids in the 2024 class that will probably be in the UA up next game next year.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I definitely may be wrong (#notaninsider), but I don't think Henning is ABI.
Even if he is, three to four coaches coming to visit him 2 hours away can change that immediately. No different than sitting in Coopers house eating dinner. The same energy will land both players. This is the point I am making. Unfortunately the energy as a whole isn't the same for in state recruits which is what most coaches see. Again, the good thing is the current attempt to change that. Should help out in the long run.
Deleted member 633632
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I don't know the validity of this currently, but i've heard good things about Henning and Illinois. TIFWIW
Illinois has spent plenty of time recruiting in state guys. The first class had plenty of lower ranked guys, from Illinois. What was missing was the higher ranked guys, from Illinois. Being the head coach at Illinois means you cannot please anyone at any time. I would like them to make the state a priority. But, at the same time, they do that at risk. Disagree or not, they do. There is not the state loyalty you would like. This class and the next are going to be small and they cannot take to many chances on guys. If they did not have Cumby, maybe they offer Love. They did offer a guy to play TE in their back yard, that nobody else did. They had a WR from Chicago, who backed out. That is not on them.
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