Illinois Football Recruiting Thread (February-April 2021)
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basically, 6-7 programs fight over:
95% of the 5* kids, and
75% of the 4* kids
they leave 95% the 3* kids for the rest of the Power 5 schools to divvy up amongst themselves, and the rest of the FBS schools battle it out for a few 3* kids and all the other 2* and non rated players .
the NCAA is powerless to do anything about it, and in reality we should all prefer it that way, as they will just make things worse with unintended consequences if they to to make things "fair" . All we can really hope for is to win the B1G West division, and maybe get super lucky and win the conference. But we will NEVER go undefeated nor get an invite to the CFP.
The playing field has changed and it is uneven. The chosen few programs will always get to run down field and we and most others will always have to run up field. The sooner we get used to that , the better. Its not unlike Major League Baseball really, although even that league is more equitable than NCAA FBS.
Its what the Power 5 have nots had to give up to get the big money TV contracts. We aren't getting 50 million/year any other way.
Or four lucky kids are about to see their ratings jump? Well maybe one of them is a boosters kid or something
illini80
- Forgottonia
Another good press conference. He mentioned they are still trying to convince a guy or two to return. That would be great! My impression was there are two slots open for transfers or recruits. I wasn’t clear but I think he said there is one more HS kid they are recruiting if they can get him.
I still wonder if they will raise the 25 man limit this year. Long term I think they have to or some teams won’t have a full roster.
its not too late for Jake Hansen or Josh Bhebhe to change their mind, correct ?
I believe they can change their minds unless they have signed with an agent.
illini80
- Forgottonia
There was a change in the agent rule too I think. Maybe can sign as long as they haven’t taken any money or something like that.
Deleted member 654622
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Ya I don't want the NCAA to do squat. Unless were talking about them getting out of the way as it pertains to students making money off their likeness. That is the only world we would have a shot to take a leap forward.
Not saying we would. But this allows essentially the fan base to have legit pull, depending on the answers to these two questions:
1. How do they compare financially to other football schools?
2. What's their willingness to spend money on players?
I will use Alabama as an example.
Champaign vs. Tuscaloosa - If the local economy is equal here are the local business owners more, less or equally willing to spend on the players to promote their businesses? Now you have to keep in mind the most lucrative deals would go to our basketball players opposed to Tuscaloosa. I would say we would lose this one.
Chicago & St. Louis vs. Birmingham - Same questions, just on a much larger scale. IMO this has got to be the best possible asset within this college world. Our big alum vs theirs. Our higher cash pocket and % willing to go to football players vs their lower cash pool but higher %? (This is an assumption but would be hard to argue with IMO)
They have signed with Agents. Bhebhe was the 1st to sign with an agent, followed by Eifler and Green and then Hansen.
altenberger22
- South Carolina
#74 nationally
#14 Big 10 (Last)
It's certainly going to be an uphill battle after we leverage all the returning seniors for one final year.
#14 Big 10 (Last)
It's certainly going to be an uphill battle after we leverage all the returning seniors for one final year.
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
Believe it or not Mac Jones was a 3 star at #399 compared to Brandon Peters at #61.
Are quarterbacks harder to predict than other positions for how well they will perform at the college level?
That Bielema press conference was nice. His approach to recruiting sounds aggressive and with purpose, which is refreshing to hear after the Lovie era.
I follow bhe bhe on IG and he’s gotten all types of gear since he declared. Idk about the other 2 but even if the rule was changed, wouldn’t look possible for him.
More important, he plays behind one of the best offensive lines in the nation, throws to one of the best receiving cores in the nation, and hands off to some of the best RBs in the nation.
We have nowhere to go but up. It's sustaining that once we do. I like our chances better now.
The 4 team playoff has really exacerbated this process. You have 3 teams that are there basically every year, which gives them a huge advantage. Maybe that is a reason to expand to 8 - it opens things up and gives more teams the opportunity to compete at the highest level.
The way things are set up now, it would take a pretty fluky season for IL or any other Big 10 West team to compete with OSU (or UM if they right the ship) for the conference championship.
Deleted member 654622
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
That totally mistakes the reason why the playoff has cemented this new aristocracy in the sport.
The playoff makes the race for the national championship the an ever-more central and narratively dominant center of the sport, it makes it the whole point of the sport and sucks all the interest toward those three games in January, so it is natural that the programs able to exist on that level will rocket away from the teams they are traditionally associated with. 8 teams doesn't make that better, it makes it much, much worse.
College football is a regional sport built around its regular season of traditional rivals and ancient grudges played out on college campuses away from the traditional major cities. Plus the quirky holiday season bowl games with their own traditions and whatnot. The "national championship" is not supposed to occupy the central position in the sport that the Super Bowl does in the NFL. The glossy, nationalized, neutral site product the sport is becoming is just eating the seed corn of what makes it special in the first place. It is voluntarily turning itself into Minor League Football.
"Get with the times man, move on, have to adapt to modernity". Well, guess what, modernity is a world where college football is irrelevant. It's the same story as NASCAR that decided they wanted to have everyone's interest and wound up with no one's passion.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I saw that last night also. The only other big ten team close to Illinois was Purdue at #72. I find it kind of interesting that even though programs like Michigan and Nebraska seem to be in disarray, they can still pull in stud recruiting classes, although I suppose a lot of those recruits had committed before this past season played out. I guess it's just more evidence to how poorly Smith was recruiting, and that they got zero bounce from the 2019 season where it looked like the program was improving. Also wonder if the seat is getting a little hot for Brohm in West Lafayette.
nope it’s all coaching
Deleted member 747671
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True, but there was also a different qb that was a headliner of that Bama class..... Tua.
Lol. Looking through their class, they had 5 players lower than a 4 star. Mac was 1 of them. An instate CB, instate OC, and then a K and LS. They're just at a completely different level.
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Traditionally, QBs and OL are hard to predict in that transition from HS to college. QBs in HS can skate on their athletic ability and may not have the mental part of the game down. EX – Harrison Beck was at NC State and then transferred to Nebraska. Kid had an absolute cannon for an arm... AND would throw pick after pick in stupid situations.
OL is more difficult to evaluate bc the average joe can't tell what blocking scheme was called and can only look at the measureables/trucking over dudes.
BB has a pretty good track record of evaluating coachable talent and getting them on campus. The whole "you might not be a 5* now, but you will leave here as one" deal.
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