Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#26      
MajorNathanMaxwellJanice
OB positive said:
I have been watching Illinois football for 40+ years. We have had some great years years here and there with promising outlook for building a top notch program. Unfortunately we always find a way back to mediocrity, irrelevance or flat out awful. We have never been able to sustain any type of consistency that would be characteristic of a top level program. This is why we continually miss out on the top in state players and have little to no chance of pulling any from out of state. I don't see any signs of this changing anytime soon. If it does great but I will have to see it to believe it.
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Mort Weir chose poorly
 
#27      
BashCtIllini
OB positive said:
I have been watching Illinois football for 40+ years. We have had some great years years here and there with promising outlook for building a top notch program. Unfortunately we always find a way back to mediocrity, irrelevance or flat out awful. We have never been able to sustain any type of consistency that would be characteristic of a top level program. This is why we continually miss out on the top in state players and have little to no chance of pulling any from out of state. I don't see any signs of this changing anytime soon. If it does great but I will have to see it to believe it.
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If you look a little closer, what I'm guessing you'll find is that we've had consistently mediocre recruiting. We get a big time guy occasionally, and we've had some guys much better than their ranking. Then when we've been able to put it together and have an upperclassmen led team, we've been able to have success, sometimes a lot of success. However, since we had to wait 3-4 years to get that team to gel, they graduate and we're back to step 1. Ultimately, it's the inability to land consistently strong recruiting classes that lead to this. We don't have the next wave waiting in the wings.

Honestly, I don't think it will ever happen. Especially with the conference only getting more difficult. The only way we are going to get consist success is through money. Money to land top recruits, money to bring in and keep top coaches. I just don't think that's going to happen, especially for a school like Illinois. I personally think it's ridiculous that fans have to pay the players, but at Illinois where the basketball team has much more success than the football team, how long does it take before donors say, I'm wasting my money on the football program, but if I send that same money to the basketball side, we can be consistently great?
 
#37      
ChiefGritty
Simeon Rice said:
We can't cancel this series quick enough

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754543843159019939
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If we're scared of Mizzou the war is already lost.

The problem was playing it Week 1 in St. Louis. I think making it a long-term home and home is a great idea.

For better or for worse there is no hiding from competition anymore. We could have scheduled our way to the bowl streak the program was desperate for in the 2000's, Ron Guenther murdered that with his bare hands, but that's the age of horses and buggy's now.
 
#38      
illinidarrin
Simeon Rice said:
We can't cancel this series quick enough

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754543843159019939
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I live near STL and this just makes me sick to my stomach. It's like money is growing on trees for them And we have to collect pennies to try to make things happen here. Tired of hearing Mizzou fans and media talk about how they are a powerhouse now in football, and then get more help to make them even better.
 
#39      
Simeon Rice
ChiefGritty said:
If we're scared of Mizzou the war is already lost.
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Eh, it's being smart. We get 3 games a year to schedule outside the conference. The conference is only getting stronger. We need to be 3-0 for OOC. Although it was a smart move to schedule KU at the time, if that was a patsy W, and we went bowling, the entire fanbase attitude would be different right now
 
#40      
ChiefGritty
Simeon Rice said:
Eh, it's being smart. We get 3 games a year to schedule outside the conference. The conference is only getting stronger. We need to be 3-0 for OOC. Although it was a smart move to schedule KU at the time, if that was a patsy W, and we went bowling, the entire fanbase attitude would be different right now
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I mean maybe?

I dunno, the 6-6 minor bowl does not seem to be worth what it used to, and I'm pretty skeptical those bowls will even exist in the relatively near future.

And I say that as someone who believes we would be living in Eden with flying cars if RG had paid for home cupcakes in 2002 and 2008.
 
#41      
MajorNathanMaxwellJanice
Simeon Rice said:
Eh, it's being smart. We get 3 games a year to schedule outside the conference. The conference is only getting stronger. We need to be 3-0 for OOC. Although it was a smart move to schedule KU at the time, if that was a patsy W, and we went bowling, the entire fanbase attitude would be different right now
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Mike Thomas scheduled Kansas series in 2014.

Josh, himself, set up the Missery home and home series in 2017.

So, do you believe there’s any serious possibility that Josh now cancels said series?
 
#42      
SampsonRelpenk
I understand that the logistics of a major football game require more advance planning than basketball, but it is insane to me that these OOC games should be scheduled nearly a decade out. We'd definitely have a couple more bowls under our belt if we could be more reasonably sure our opponents won't happen to be performing at historical highs when we meet.
 
#43      
Joel Goodson
ChiefGritty said:
I mean maybe?

I dunno, the 6-6 minor bowl does not seem to be worth what it used to, and I'm pretty skeptical those bowls will even exist in the relatively near future.

And I say that as someone who believes we would be living in Eden with flying cars if RG had paid for home cupcakes in 2002 and 2008.
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crappin' us? in the context of the massive crater we were in, a minor bowl is a major W (for us and that's all I'm referring to). digging out takes time.
 
#45      
fatt lacosse
MajorNathanMaxwellJanice said:
Mike Thomas scheduled Kansas series in 2014.

Josh, himself, set up the Missery home and home series in 2017.

So, do you believe there’s any serious possibility that Josh now cancels said series?
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setting up that series in 2017 was essentially setting a timer: by 2026, the football program must be Good, or at least competitive with missouri.

the implications of that same athletic director canceling it with two years left on that timer are...depressing.
 
#47      
Mr. Tibbs
ChiefGritty said:
I mean maybe?

I dunno, the 6-6 minor bowl does not seem to be worth what it used to, and I'm pretty skeptical those bowls will even exist in the relatively near future.

And I say that as someone who believes we would be living in Eden with flying cars if RG had paid for home cupcakes in 2002 and 2008.
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they will exist as long as host city/bowl committee and both teams/conferences in the game can make money.
 
#50      
Chukwuwumba
fatt lacosse said:
the 2023 class was really encouraging for in-state recruiting and it really felt like we built on the 22 class and season

we are just getting slaughtered in-state in 2024 recruiting and that is making me gravely worried for the whole bielema administration.
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what year was the last time it went well? What would you consider a good in state year recruiting? Genuinely wondering. I’m thinking of it now, and it doesn’t seem easy, for realistic expectations.
 
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