Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

[Arizona Bob]

Lovie also has real problem with the way he's allocating scholarships for positions, a key part of any recruiting program. With 85 schollies, you can afford no more than 4 dedicated to kickers and long snappers, leaving an average of 3.7 for each position. You need more RBs because of injury issues, AT LEAST FIVE, but next year we'll have SEVEN, one who's injury prone and 3 that haven't shown they can play at this level.

You need at least four QBs, which we have this year. IF we bring in a QB in this class, we probably need to shift one to another positions or lose them to transfer.

Receiver is where we're WAY overloaded with players who'll never reach the three deep with 16 players at TE and WR., over 5 players per position. We're starving LB and DB for this, and it shows on the field. Given the poor recruiting year we're apparently having at DB ( 12 schollies where we should have 14-15 with 5 players who likely shouldn't make the three deep anytime soon, NO competitively recruited DBs or LBs "warm" to us...) and LB (7 where we should have 11), this is MAJOR problem moving forward.

With proper personnel management and a top assistant staff I have no reason to believe Lovie couldn't be successful at Illinois. The real question is why he hasn't hired one....

 

[Twangers]

Lovie also has real problem with the way he's allocating scholarships for positions, a key part of any recruiting program. With 85 schollies, you can afford no more than 4 dedicated to kickers and long snappers, leaving an average of 3.7 for each position. You need more RBs because of injury issues, AT LEAST FIVE, but next year we'll have SEVEN, one who's injury prone and 3 that haven't shown they can play at this level.

You need at least four QBs, which we have this year. IF we bring in a QB in this class, we probably need to shift one to another positions or lose them to transfer.

Receiver is where we're WAY overloaded with players who'll never reach the three deep with 16 players at TE and WR., over 5 players per position. We're starving LB and DB for this, and it shows on the field. Given the poor recruiting year we're apparently having at DB ( 12 schollies where we should have 14-15 with 5 players who likely shouldn't make the three deep anytime soon, NO competitively recruited DBs or LBs "warm" to us...) and LB (7 where we should have 11), this is MAJOR problem moving forward.

With proper personnel management and a top assistant staff I have no reason to believe Lovie couldn't be successful at Illinois. The real question is why he hasn't hired one....

Weird that you appear so concerned about this. Your roster allocation is little more than a guideline and in no way rule, which is why every single program in FBS ball has some position that wouldn’t meet your criteria. Alabama has 16 WRs/TEs (And I believe 6 RBs but I’d have to check), Auburn has 17 or 18, LSU has 17, Ohio State has 16 and only 13 DBs. This isn’t a problem. It’s the last thing we should be worried about, actually.

Also, we have 9 scholarship LBs next season, not 7. The two freshman were pretty darn good recruits too.

 

[thunderwear]

Lovie's fatal flaw isn't game planning. it's assembling a quality staff, and keeping the good ones, and developing innovative ways to win games. Those shortcomings are what got him fired in Chicago and Tampa, and I believe an ESPN commentator called it out as such.

But that was his downfall in the pro game, NOT CFB, but they project to the main problems we're having today; inability for the staff he's hired (with LOUSY CFB qualifications) to scout and recruit the talent needed to be successful.

By my count, about 11 starters or rotating starters on this team were recruited by other than Lovie's staff:

Reggie Corbin
Dre Brown
Jamal Milan
Dele Harding
Jake Hansen
Doug Kramer
Kenyon Jackson
Tymir Oliver
Stanley Green
Ayo Shogbonyo

Not to mention the recruits he inherited that he chased off or otherwise lost:

KeShawn Vaughn (can you imagine our running game with him, Dre and Reggie?)
Patrick Nelson (starting for ranked SMU)
Cameron Watkins (Vandy with Vaughn)
Darta Lee (best freshman OL starter)

This group and the transfers are what are driving a lot of the success this team has. They're mostly gone after next year, and Lovie hasn't replaced them with better talent from the prep ranks.

Next year he's still got enough inherited talent or be successful, but once he's got all his own recruits, things fall apart. It was his choice with the staff he hired, preferring nepotism and cronyism to qualification. That's a fatal flaw he could change with staff upgrading this year, but that ain't happen' as I see it.

A comparison of our recruiting competition's staff to follow.

I’m glad you pointed this out. Think about this.

Lovie inherited roughly 14 players of note on a BIG 10 football team. And people think he was running the program into the ground.

He had to make up for all of the poor recruiting and player management and we are finally out of the hole. A few more wins and he can focus his efforts on class management and shift back to recruiting. Given where we were, The quality we have pulled is stellar. Some of the lowest recruits, Witherspoon and brown, have been solid contributers as true freshmen and sophomore.

Our stable of players look good. We have several players that will play at the next level and that will help recruiting. Does Lovie have to make adjustments? Obviously. He is still new to the college game. But is there reason to believe that he won’t? I don’t see it. You expect your seniors to push you over the edge. This senior class is not his class. Next year, we will see what happens with his first senior class. And we have plenty more to follow that up. I’m still high on Illinois football. And the same reason I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel is exactly what happened. So I say great job to Lovie! And look forward to many more years with him at the helm.

 

[Twangers]

So, back to recruiting. 3 open spots if you include our soon to be announced commit. Multiple credible sources have called Tre’Von Riggings a legitimate flip candidate. We’ll obviously go all the way until final signing day holding out for Doyle. If everything stayed as is today (Which it won’t but for the sake of argument), that would leave 1 scholarship floating out there. Who would you use that on?

 

[Halloweenie]

I’m glad you pointed this out. Think about this.

Lovie inherited roughly 14 players of note on a BIG 10 football team. And people think he was running the program into the ground.

He had to make up for all of the poor recruiting and player management and we are finally out of the hole. A few more wins and he can focus his efforts on class management and shift back to recruiting. Given where we were, The quality we have pulled is stellar. Some of the lowest recruits, Witherspoon and brown, have been solid contributers as true freshmen and sophomore.

Our stable of players look good. We have several players that will play at the next level and that will help recruiting. Does Lovie have to make adjustments? Obviously. He is still new to the college game. But is there reason to believe that he won’t? I don’t see it. You expect your seniors to push you over the edge. This senior class is not his class. Next year, we will see what happens with his first senior class. And we have plenty more to follow that up. I’m still high on Illinois football. And the same reason I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel is exactly what happened. So I say great job to Lovie! And look forward to many more years with him at the helm.

Good call on your part. The Minnesota game pushed me over the edge. Lesson I learned is you have to let the season play out. We are improved but if we have an off day we could lose to most anyone. If we play well, we can give anyone a game except for Ohio State and Penn State. That is progress..last year there were at least 6 teams we had no chance of beating.

 

[Twangers]

The quality we have pulled is stellar.

This is where I’d pump the brakes. The quality of the classes has been anything but stellar. That said, it is on the upswing. Last year’s class was by far the most talented we’ve signed, across the board, in a decade. That is real and the 2020 class looks to be shaping up in much the same way. If we can win 6 games this season and get in on Antonio Doyle, look out.

Getting to a bowl game would also be a huge boon to our 2021 efforts, which as of 2 weeks ago was not going well.

 

[FiveStar]

So when does mookie flip?

 

[Twangers]

So when does mookie flip?

Unfortunately, I’ve reached out to a multiple people on Mookie and am told by all of them that the ship has sailed. I’m talking 5 highly credible people.

 

[thunderwear]

This is where I’d pump the brakes. The quality of the classes has been anything but stellar. That said, it is on the upswing. Last year’s class was by far the most talented we’ve signed, across the board, in a decade. That is real and the 2020 class looks to be shaping up in much the same way. If we can win 6 games this season and get in on Antonio Doyle, look out.

Getting to a bowl game would also be a huge boon to our 2021 efforts, which as of 2 weeks ago was not going well.

*Stellar given the state of our program

 

[Twangers]

*Stellar given the state of our program

Ah, my bad. Still a bit of a stretch in my view but fair given your clarification.

Biggest thing to note is that it’s on an upswing. If we can get to 6 wins, that will bring us into a few more quality kids in 2021. Then we’ve got ourselves a program.

 

[bombayIllini]

So when does mookie flip?

A year or two from now. In the portal.

 

[ILL_INI]

Hm, I have 5. Maybe ILL can clarify

I was thinking there might be a 5th if they can give Bobby Roundtree a non-football scholarship.

 

[Joel Goodson]

I was thinking there might be a 5th if they can give Bobby Roundtree a non-football scholarship.

Fully expect this to happen. Good call.

 

[Arizona Bob]

Weird that you appear so concerned about this. Your roster allocation is little more than a guideline and in no way rule, which is why every single program in FBS ball has some position that wouldn’t meet your criteria. Alabama has 16 WRs/TEs (And I believe 6 RBs but I’d have to check), Auburn has 17 or 18, LSU has 17, Ohio State has 16 and only 13 DBs. This isn’t a problem. It’s the last thing we should be worried about, actually.

Also, we have 9 scholarship LBs next season, not 7. The two freshman were pretty darn good recruits too.

Twanger, the numbers can vary if you're filling your roster with 4 and 5 star recruits like the programs you mention. When every player's a solid prospect, you can recruit by talent instead of just position. The problem comes when you have a lot of reaches on your roster like we do. Then sometimes a program recruits for quantity rather than quality, and you wind up not so good.

Who are the 9 LBs? We have Eifler, Hansen, Kholson, Barnes, Cooper, Degroot (safety?) and Derrick Smith (Miami transfer) there. Are you assuming that Ware and Knight will also be there next year? The 24/7 data base doesn't show us in on any competitively recruited LBs or DBs. Are they missing anything significant there?

 

[Arizona Bob]

I was thinking there might be a 5th if they can give Bobby Roundtree a non-football scholarship.

I believe there's a medical exemption to ensure that an injured player can keep their schollie and still graduate. I'm not sure if that only applies to football related injuries, though. I'm confident that the University will find some way of taking care of Bobby, though....

 

[Arizona Bob]

Unfortunately, I’ve reached out to a multiple people on Mookie and am told by all of them that the ship has sailed. I’m talking 5 highly credible people.

Seems like the best we can do is keep up good will with him as he goes to tOSU. He's only the fourth rated WR in this class for tOSU. After practices next Fall, he may want to go somewhere where he won't be riding the pines so much, and we'll be there with open arms...."retread" recruiting will become a big deal in the future given the new transfer rules....

 

[ILL in IA]

In his commentary on Bears football, I have heard Olin Kreutz mention Lovie and what he has done at Illinois several times since the Wisconsin win. Speaks really highly of him. Are we in on Olin's son at all?

 

[squeezegame]

newbie portal question... we seem active in the transfer portal... so active... do you leave a space for those types? or do you just assume some leave so therefore some will come in and it's a wash yet for us an upgrade?

 

[Deleted member 654622]

Saw Verdis tweet at a Miami WR that entered the transfer portal last week. Anyone have any info on that kid? No it is not Jeff Thomas

 

[Joel Goodson]

Saw Verdis tweet at a Miami WR that entered the transfer portal last week. Anyone have any info on that kid? No it is not Jeff Thomas

Probably a teammate of his at IMG.

 

[SouthFLILLINI]

Probably a teammate of his at IMG.

It is. Brian Hightower went to IMG with Verdis.

 

[Qwiksilvur]

Thought this was kind of an interesting article. We always talk about how we can’t keep the top players in state. It looks like USC and UCLA are beginning to have the same issues with top recruits heading east. None of top 13 in 2020 are staying in state

https://sports.yahoo.com/departure-...ing-sign-for-california-school-211326724.html

 

[Illiniboss33]

So that tweet fro
Doyle today is that supposed to be his top 2?
Mizzou and illini??

 

[Qwiksilvur]

None of the top 13 in the nation or in California?

Doesn’t matter, it’s incorrect either way.

So, your quick dismissal/I don’t know what to call it (odd attitude toward what was essentially a ‘hey this is a mildly interesting article’ post) aside, Yahoo owns Rivals and will therefore use Rivals data. The Top-13 prospects in California are listed on the link below and none of them are committed to a California school. The first one comes in at 14 to Stanford.

https://n.rivals.com/state_rankings/2020/california

 

[thunderwear]

So, your quick dismissal/I don’t know what to call it (odd attitude toward what was essentially a ‘hey this is a mildly interesting article’ post) aside, Yahoo owns Rivals and will therefore use Rivals data. The Top-13 prospects in California are listed on the link below and none of them are committed to a California school. The first one comes in at 14 to Stanford.

https://n.rivals.com/state_rankings/2020/california

Thanks for the article. Definitely interesting. I think tea gets takes issue with the point because we actually don’t land in state talent, but usc and UCLA will likely land Multiple of, Justin flowe, Gary Bryant, lvbs, and ngata are all good shots at California schools.

Also, 4* recruits in California stop at roughly the top 30, compared to Illinois, which has 4* talent at roughly the top 5. We have rarely landed top in state talent in recent years. We currently have one top 20. Last year one top 20. On the flip side, Lovie has celebrity status and has recruited Missouri well and pulled some good pickups from Texas and Florida. I think we have a competitive team (talent-wise) this year and can compete for the west next year. I am happy with how recruiting has gone and think it will improve immensely in 2021. Twangers has some inside connections in state/area and has a different vantage point and frustration. I appreciate both your and his perspective.