How could you possibly know whether the D-Line will be better or worse? You have never seen any of the players we have recruited or who will be stepping up to play? With the exception of McCollum, which of down lineman or LBs that transferred would you have wanted back this year? I went to 2 games last year, both on the road and like everyone else I was able to watch the Washington and Indiana train wrecks on television. You know what the defense's greatest weakness was in those games? Technique and ability to tackle.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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I mean i guess this a reason?? Just feels a little tenuous. The D line has not been good in a few years, and we are getting to the point now in the portal season where there are not a lot of difference makers left. Idk how the roster will look next year either, but unless major things happen... it's not looking good. Adding a few more bodies from Valdosta state is not going to move the needle on this season.Why do I think the Illini D-Line will be just fine in the upcoming year?
I trust trust Coach B's process.
And what the heck, outside of the few good "insiders" here, I know at least as much about next year's Illini football team as all the other "experts" on this board.
This also means it's the defense sucks next season, we can get to rehash the coaching vs. talent level arguments for defense
I think it's very possible our defense is no better than last season. Also think it's possible certain aspects of our defense are better (secondary) and others no better or possibly worse. I know there's a lot of concern about the D-Line and I tend to think it is warranted. At the same time, maybe a part of the reason we didn't blitz as much last season is because we didn't trust our secondary. Our secondary should be better this season, particularly with X back. That could open up more blitzing options. With defense it's all interconnected, so I think I am more willing to see how it all plays out before sounding the alarm.
But let's say the defense is not good. Does that mean we are not going to be good? I don't necessarily think so. I mean, the majority consensus is the defense sucked this year - and yet we won 9 games! What's more, of our four losses, I think you can point to only one where we lost purely because defense was bad - Washington. Against IU, both sides of the ball were bad. Against OSU, the defense actually played well - we held OSU to under 300 yards. Offense dropped the ball in that game with 3 turnovers. Wisconsin, probably goes in the same category as IU, with both sides of the ball not bringing it. But the offense was really atrocious that day. If we have a good day on offense, maybe we win that one even without the defense playing well.
If we can win 8 or 9 games this season, that is a good outcome. Even 7 is not "sky is falling" territory. We have a large, talented class of freshmen coming in. We have an exciting 2027 QB commit we need to keep circling sharks away from. In a lot of ways I think this season is a bridge to the future and as much as we'd like to make a huge step forward maybe the more essential job is just making sure we don't get knocked back before we can tap into the potential that we've accumulated. Despite D-Line concerns, I don't see any reason to think, at this point, we've failed to build a roster that can do that.
But let's say the defense is not good. Does that mean we are not going to be good? I don't necessarily think so. I mean, the majority consensus is the defense sucked this year - and yet we won 9 games! What's more, of our four losses, I think you can point to only one where we lost purely because defense was bad - Washington. Against IU, both sides of the ball were bad. Against OSU, the defense actually played well - we held OSU to under 300 yards. Offense dropped the ball in that game with 3 turnovers. Wisconsin, probably goes in the same category as IU, with both sides of the ball not bringing it. But the offense was really atrocious that day. If we have a good day on offense, maybe we win that one even without the defense playing well.
If we can win 8 or 9 games this season, that is a good outcome. Even 7 is not "sky is falling" territory. We have a large, talented class of freshmen coming in. We have an exciting 2027 QB commit we need to keep circling sharks away from. In a lot of ways I think this season is a bridge to the future and as much as we'd like to make a huge step forward maybe the more essential job is just making sure we don't get knocked back before we can tap into the potential that we've accumulated. Despite D-Line concerns, I don't see any reason to think, at this point, we've failed to build a roster that can do that.
I do think how wrong the insiders were on this one should be discussed. Were they getting bad info? Were they getting mislead because the staff was blindsided? We were promised upgrades and it did not happen. Now I'm sure they coaching staff does not want to go out and say they misread the market (they clearly did), but changes in tone around this have been drastic when you consider the confident tone a few weeks ago.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
I agree with your post's sentiment. I'm expecting the program's win-loss number to be 6.5 or 7.5 for next season. I'm also over-the-moon at what this program has provided me as a fan over the past five years and I'm fully committed to Bielema being the best Illinois football coach since the early 70's.
The disagreement with posters on here about the discussion and tone regarding the defensive line is that certain folks never want to discount the hope in the future.
Example: Aaron Henry is probably the best Illinois defensive coordinator by SP+ or F+ averages across his tenure since......the history of SP+/F+? At least 20 years. If you want to highlight the special 2022 defense and say it's Walters or the 2011 Koenning defense, but those were one-year bursts. Yet, many folks have been yelling for him to be fired. There are compelling reasons for people to push back on this as "sky is falling" commentary but it doesn't happen.
On the contrary, people are raising concerns about future defensive line play and this is crossing the line for some folks. I would argue the comments on future defensive line play are much milder than Aaron Henry commentary, but the difference is we are talking about a known commodity and an unknown one.
The disagreement with posters on here about the discussion and tone regarding the defensive line is that certain folks never want to discount the hope in the future.
Example: Aaron Henry is probably the best Illinois defensive coordinator by SP+ or F+ averages across his tenure since......the history of SP+/F+? At least 20 years. If you want to highlight the special 2022 defense and say it's Walters or the 2011 Koenning defense, but those were one-year bursts. Yet, many folks have been yelling for him to be fired. There are compelling reasons for people to push back on this as "sky is falling" commentary but it doesn't happen.
On the contrary, people are raising concerns about future defensive line play and this is crossing the line for some folks. I would argue the comments on future defensive line play are much milder than Aaron Henry commentary, but the difference is we are talking about a known commodity and an unknown one.
I think this is spot on! The only slight "correction" I'll offer up is that in the OSU game, we essentially had 4 turnovers in our own territory...that kneel-down punt was basically a turnover. OSU was working off of short fields the whole game...if we made them start deeper in their own territory, had that missed PI in the first quarter have been called and the offense not operating from behind that whole game, it might have been different. So, yes, IMO the defense did not play that poorly in that game.
Juiceman's perspective here is how we long-suffering Illini fans need to look at it. Further, I also have the confidence that BB and his staff are going to seriously evaluate the defensive side of the ball and make adjustments going into 2026...scheme, decision making, etc. As has been noted, the secondary should be very solid, barring any injuries like we saw this year. That should change things up front. Bret said he was going to spend more time on the defensive side and I trust he will...look at what they did against Tennessee...season low 278 yards and 21 points. Will we have the 2022 defense? Maybe not but I think we will see something better than this past year. IBWT!!!
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
You seem to be stuck. I think 11,12 is what you are looking for next.
I think we saw the limitation of our funds despite having more than ever before…since everyone else’s funds increased and player prices went up.
We spent a lot on retention in the secondary, which I believe is the right choice. We know what we’re getting from those proven players. I expect the secondary to be much better than last year, assuming everyone stays healthy.
DL in the portal are very expensive and we weren’t willing to pay to retain our existing guys let alone go out and get portal guys. This appears to be where we have budget constraints. BB must think he can find guys (like Coenen) at lower levels and coach them up to be serviceable. If we can be on par with last year, I’m OK with that…as long as we take the next step with OLB/LB. We must get pressure on the quarterback and stop the run. Faster on the pass rush and better tackling…I’m hoping we improved here but uncertain. I hate the bend but don’t break approach; be aggressive with blitz packages and man coverage in the secondary.
Still a lot of questions but I do trust BB in terms of player evaluation. Not as much with his judgment about AH, but I’m not going to question too much given 19 wins over 2 seasons. Also, it appears we’re investing more on Offense when it comes to budget decisions…maybe the best Defense is a great Offense logic? Certainly was true with Luke last year.
We spent a lot on retention in the secondary, which I believe is the right choice. We know what we’re getting from those proven players. I expect the secondary to be much better than last year, assuming everyone stays healthy.
DL in the portal are very expensive and we weren’t willing to pay to retain our existing guys let alone go out and get portal guys. This appears to be where we have budget constraints. BB must think he can find guys (like Coenen) at lower levels and coach them up to be serviceable. If we can be on par with last year, I’m OK with that…as long as we take the next step with OLB/LB. We must get pressure on the quarterback and stop the run. Faster on the pass rush and better tackling…I’m hoping we improved here but uncertain. I hate the bend but don’t break approach; be aggressive with blitz packages and man coverage in the secondary.
Still a lot of questions but I do trust BB in terms of player evaluation. Not as much with his judgment about AH, but I’m not going to question too much given 19 wins over 2 seasons. Also, it appears we’re investing more on Offense when it comes to budget decisions…maybe the best Defense is a great Offense logic? Certainly was true with Luke last year.
I heard Tyler Underwood may be heading to a few neighboring states to check out some under recruited DL. Things are looking up!
I think if we just score more points than our opponents then we win! Simple right! Weak DL score more points! Math is great!
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
Hoping donors step up in $NIL based on 10-3, 9-4 seasons. We are Illinois not OSU, Michigan or USC (spent $30M on NIL to HS recruits this year).
Kayton Houser looks like a very good QB. Started 7 games for MSU before transferring when coach who recruited him was fired.
Led East Carolina to 8-5, and 9-4 seasons. Almost 3 seasons of starting experience. This is where our $NIL went. I think our offense could be comparable to last year. With better secondary Bret will be able to blitz which may help cover for DL inexperience.
Maybe we will be lucky and some freshman DL will be year 1 starters. Cory Liuget started 2 games as freshman. Simeon Rice was starter and had 9 sacks as freshman. Moe Gardner redshirted freshman year but was 2nd team all b10 first year he played.
Kayton Houser looks like a very good QB. Started 7 games for MSU before transferring when coach who recruited him was fired.
Led East Carolina to 8-5, and 9-4 seasons. Almost 3 seasons of starting experience. This is where our $NIL went. I think our offense could be comparable to last year. With better secondary Bret will be able to blitz which may help cover for DL inexperience.
Maybe we will be lucky and some freshman DL will be year 1 starters. Cory Liuget started 2 games as freshman. Simeon Rice was starter and had 9 sacks as freshman. Moe Gardner redshirted freshman year but was 2nd team all b10 first year he played.
Obviously you are describing Schrodinger's Portal.
just enough bitching! 9,10,9,10 (better than 6,7,6,7(
College coaches don't know which players are in the portal until they contact them or their agent, but the very auto of making contact may affect whether they are in the portal, thus in the moment before contact they are simultaneously in and not in the portal? Thus every college coach is both guilty of tampering and simultaneously innocent?
THIS! If you look at the people we took in the portal, how can anyone think we have the funds of other schools?
We spent 3 million Houser. I know we have funds. Not on par with the OSUs, A&Ms, Miami’s, etc. But the same as schools on our level of playing field
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I assume they aren’t done on the DL quite yet, but how do you feel about the fund allocation so far?
I assume we spent pretty big on the returnees (guys like Dixon, Clement, Bailey, Juice, X, etc, probably weren’t cheap). Plus, like you said, we spent big in the portal on QB and likely offensive line, so I assume the offense is going to be really good next year and likely much improved in the secondary.
But it seems like the staff haven’t allocated quite as much for the front 7 on defense. Is that confidence is the returnees? Confidence in Jamo to coach em up?
Also probably relevant that we brought in a top-25 prep class and are returning some guys that would have garnered a lot of interest if they portaled. Prep recruiting and retention also cost money.
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