Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

[TentakilRex]

There are right at 70 Power 5 schools ...

For just football ... We aren't in the top 50 NIL wise ... At least based on what I've heard what we have vs. what other teams have ...

No bueno. (Might be less bad if the difference between Illinois's NIL and the 25th ranked team is than $250,000)

50 schools above Illinois yikes, with non-P5s like Boise and at least one PAC-2 team among those above Illinois. It is easier to figure what p4 schools I think are below the Illini.

Could be below the Illini in NIL:

Cal
Wake
Duke
Vandy
Syracuse
Indiana

There are definitely programs that Loyalty poster would rightfully turn their noses up at that have bigger NIL war chest and schools that will be soon be de-conferenced that do too.

 

[WeWillWhen]

There are right at 70 Power 5 schools ...

For just football ... We aren't in the top 50 NIL wise ... At least based on what I've heard what we have vs. what other teams have ...

According to Jeff Johnson, ICON currently has only $3 million in NIL for football, with targets of $6 million for the 2024 season....$8 million for 2025... and goal of 10-12 million a year after that. The first number is not good at all; the later numbers make us more competitive.

Become an ICON, people: https://www.iconforillini.com/

 

[IlliniCaboose]

 

[ChiefGritty]

According to Jeff Johnson, ICON currently has only $3 million in NIL for football, with targets of $6 million for the 2024 season....$8 million for 2025... and goal of 10-12 million a year after that. The first number is not good at all; the later numbers make us more competitive.

More competitive to our competitors 2024 levels, which will be a distant memory in two years.

 

[OskieWowWow]

Not good Bob. How on Earth are we supposed to compete is we are at the bottom of the barrel NIL wise?

We're outside the top 50 because we've made 6 bowl games in 20 years. If we can even get back to back 6-6 years, then that will help a lot

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

2 years ago, I would've agreed with you. Getting 2 in-state top 10 commits is fabulous. But, 2024 was a huge swing and miss, and 2025 is shaping up to be even worse if that is possible. We're not even on radars for top guys in '25.

Who in 2024 in state did you want us to realistically get that we didn't ??

 

[NashvILLe05]

Oof. This might be a make or break year for my fandom

Yeah, I feel that but fans punting on the team hurts the program…trust the process. It’s definitely a make or break year for Aaron Henry. Secondary was primary reason we missed out on a bowl game last year and would likely be the reason again this year if they don’t take a big step forward.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Not good Bob. How on Earth are we supposed to compete is we are at the bottom of the barrel NIL wise?

It's a good question ... We're a basketball school ... That is where our money goes ... If Whitman wasn't a football guy ... We'd be in an even worse situation than we are FB wise ...

But I think for a lot of fans ... Last year really, really hurt ... They hyped up how good this team was going to be ... All these guys to the NFL but we have so many guys back ... 7-5 was the floor I think for most people and I mean if we had all the talent we had last year and can only go 5-7 ... Why in the world would I donate my hard earned money to go 5-7 ? That is the answer I know that they get quite a bit ...

And IMO ... It's somewhat fair ... NIL can't be what gets us to mediocrity at 6-6 ... It can be what keeps us there ... But if we have to shell out $10 million a year for 6-6 ... That's unacceptable and unattainable IMO ...

It's a lot easier to get people to donate when you win and in football's case ... Just go 6-6 every year ... And the football program just hasn't even done that consistently ...

 

[ChiefGritty]

Who in 2024 in state did you want us to realistically get that we didn't ??

I mean, come on. That's not even pretending to not be post-hoc reasoning.

 

[Simeon Rice]

Who in 2024 in state did you want us to realistically get that we didn't ??

Here is the 247 2024 in-state ranking

2024 Top Football Recruits in Illinois

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.

247sports.com

We got #19 and #24 out of the top 30. It's slightly better when viewing composite rankings

Yet we certainly recruited a majority of the list. Just got beat for them. If we can land Feagin and Elzy the year before, "realistically" most should be in play

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

I mean, come on. That's not even pretending to not be post-hoc reasoning.

Dupree ? We got Valentine ...

Luke Williams ? We never led for him once Walters left ...

Austin Alexander ? Was not going to get into school here ...

Stewart went to Michigan ... I don't think its up for debate who the better program is ...

Easley went to Georgia ... Bentancur went to Clemson ... Lightfoot and Scott went to Miami ... Cam Williams went to ND ...

That's nearly all the top 15 guys ... And we got #14 and #15 ... Griffin and Turek ...

 

[ChiefGritty]

Dupree ? We got Valentine ...

Luke Williams ? We never led for him once Walters left ...

Austin Alexander ? Was not going to get into school here ...

Stewart went to Michigan ... I don't think its up for debate who the better program is ...

Easley went to Georgia ... Bentancur went to Clemson ... Lightfoot and Scott went to Miami ... Cam Williams went to ND ...

That's nearly all the top 15 guys ... And we got #14 and #15 ... Griffin and Turek ...

If it isn't "realistic" to get the players we need to win in-state (a conclusion every Illinois staff since at least Turner has come to once their seat warms up), then we need to get those players somewhere else.

I'm not going to re-use the Herm Edwards gif, but the job is to win.

Illini Football might be in a hopeless terminal death spiral that no coach could emerge from in the new college football reality. But failure is still failure.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

If it isn't "realistic" to get the players we need to win in-state (a conclusion every Illinois staff since at least Turner has come to once their seat warms up), then we need to get those players somewhere else.

I'm not going to re-use the Herm Edwards gif, but the job is to win.

Illini Football might be in a hopeless terminal death spiral that no coach could emerge from in the new college football reality. But failure is still failure.

The coaching staff turnover really hurts recruiting as well ... I think I've made it pretty known that I am not a fan of how much turnover we've had there ...

Offensively ... Really don't have a problem at all with coaching or recruiting ... Stepp is a great coach and recruiter ... Bart more than holds his own ... He's got a special couple of guys this year ... JC is a top 50 guy in next years draft ... Thad has a stable when they're healthy ... QB room is set ...Leary has taken another step and Petty is the future ... Would like to see us get more out of the TE position ... JC Anderson needs to be priority ONE going forward ...

My issue remains defensively ... Coaching and recruiting ... Major improvement needed on both in multiple areas ...

How we send Syd, Quan and Spoon to the NFL and don't bring in above average talent in the DB room is beyond me ... Spoon went TOP 5 ... TOP 5 ... What more of a sell do we need to get kids ??? You ain't gonna get a better one ... We didn't capitalize ... That was an epic FAILURE ... IMO ...

 

[BZuppke]

I’m reserving judgment. I have such great faith in Bert and Josh and while these transfers are distressing I believe BB knows what he’s doing. We need to take a deep breath and see how things go.

And I utterly reject the notion that ‘we’re a basketball school’. Nonsense.

 

[Scoregasm]

The coaching staff turnover really hurts recruiting as well ... I think I've made it pretty known that I am not a fan of how much turnover we've had there ...

Offensively ... Really don't have a problem at all with coaching or recruiting ... Stepp is a great coach and recruiter ... Bart more than holds his own ... He's got a special couple of guys this year ... JC is a top 50 guy in next years draft ... Thad has a stable when they're healthy ... QB room is set ...Leary has taken another step and Petty is the future ... Would like to see us get more out of the TE position ... JC Anderson needs to be priority ONE going forward ...

My issue remains defensively ... Coaching and recruiting ... Major improvement needed on both in multiple areas ...

How we send Syd, Quan and Spoon to the NFL and don't bring in above average talent in the DB room is beyond me ... Spoon went TOP 5 ... TOP 5 ... What more of a sell do we need to get kids ??? You ain't gonna get a better one ... We didn't capitalize ... That was an epic FAILURE ... IMO ...

Not being able to capitalize on our amazing DB draft is like Weber not capitalizing after the national championship game. Just baffling.

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

Not being able to capitalize on our amazing DB draft is like Weber not capitalizing after the national championship game. Just baffling.

100% agree ...

 

[Tre11]

The problem that we run into with in-state recruiting is that until the program becomes a consistent bowl-eligible team we only have a shot at a few of the top prospects. Top schools have NIL resources that can pay way more than us to get these guys as freshmen, while most of our NIL is used to keep players from leaving or to find someone in the portal.
We just have to keep recruiting in-state to show high schools that we are still interested, and not hurt relationships that we have bettered over the last few years. If we can develop what we have now, get under-ranked recruits from other states in the meantime, and become a slightly above .500 team we might start making more headway with NIL and in-state players.
Bret has raised the floor of the team these past few years. I've gone into the past few seasons seeing that there is at least a chance of a bowl game, which is something that hasn't been realistic for awhile now.

 

[illinidarrin]

So how much Cap Space have we saved with all the transfers?

 

[TheodoreRex]

on the verge of Weber after the National Championship swinging and missing majorly on talent. Brian Carlwell and Richard Semrau were not exactly what I was hoping for after that run.. (edit, I see someone beat me to it). I'm still completely baffled how our hardest sell right now feels like DB and oddly enough, TE. Shockingly, Tip put up horrible numbers and just went 3rd in the draft (credit to him, though I do think Bret helped him with blocking and doing all the little things). But can we please start getting our TE more involved in the passing game?

 

[DocMorgan]

The coaching staff turnover really hurts recruiting as well ... I think I've made it pretty known that I am not a fan of how much turnover we've had there ...

Offensively ... Really don't have a problem at all with coaching or recruiting ... Stepp is a great coach and recruiter ... Bart more than holds his own ... He's got a special couple of guys this year ... JC is a top 50 guy in next years draft ... Thad has a stable when they're healthy ... QB room is set ...Leary has taken another step and Petty is the future ... Would like to see us get more out of the TE position ... JC Anderson needs to be priority ONE going forward ...

My issue remains defensively ... Coaching and recruiting ... Major improvement needed on both in multiple areas ...

How we send Syd, Quan and Spoon to the NFL and don't bring in above average talent in the DB room is beyond me ... Spoon went TOP 5 ... TOP 5 ... What more of a sell do we need to get kids ??? You ain't gonna get a better one ... We didn't capitalize ... That was an epic FAILURE ... IMO ...

So…

Henry equals Hamer?

 

[Simeon Rice]

How we send Syd, Quan and Spoon to the NFL and don't bring in above average talent in the DB room is beyond me ... Spoon went TOP 5 ... TOP 5 ... What more of a sell do we need to get kids ??? You ain't gonna get a better one ... We didn't capitalize ... That was an epic FAILURE ... IMO ...

It was capitalized on, just amazingly not by our staff. In the 24-25 class, Purdue has commitments from:
- 3 DBs that are 4* ranked
- 2 DBs that are high 3* ranked

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

So…View attachment 34363
Henry equals Hamer?

We had transition on the defensive staff this year that was decided mid way through the year ... Should tell you all you need to know ...

A Hen wasn't the problem ...

 

[TentakilRex]

No bueno. (Might be less bad if the difference between Illinois's NIL and the 25th ranked team is than $250,000)

50 schools above Illinois yikes, with non-P5s like Boise and at least one PAC-2 team among those above Illinois. It is easier to figure what p4 schools I think are below the Illini.

Could be below the Illini in NIL:

Cal
Wake
Duke
Vandy
Syracuse
Indiana

There are definitely programs that Loyalty poster would rightfully turn their noses up at that have bigger NIL war chest and schools that will be soon be de-conferenced that do too.

I will make one more wild prediction of a school who Illinois is above in the NIL rankings or can pass with a good membership drive....

UCLA?!?!?

 

[One Man Fast Break]

Back to 3-9 it is

 

[therealmiket86]

We had transition on the defensive staff this year that was decided mid way through the year ... Should tell you all you need to know ...

A Hen wasn't the problem ...

Fenelus was such a bad hire. Even if they missed on their top guys, he never should’ve been a candidate.