Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

#26      
Second place is 1st loser
Illinicpa14 said:
I think a school like IU has shown you can get the investment in both as a non traditional football power but I don’t disagree with your overall point.

$3-4MM in basketball may get you a really good final piece to make a championship run but in terms of actual wins and achievements I’m not sure what that does in football (I.e if that gets you 1 more win; does 8-4 vs 7-5 really move the needle as a fan.
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I don't think that $3M is even half of what it costs to get an ELITE player outside of maybe a kicker or punter. What did Olano get from A & M?

Throwing $15M at the basketball program, when you're filling out a starting 5 + 3 reserves, can get you, if spent correctly, a nationally relevant team.

That same $15M MIGHT get you an upper third of the conference offensive line.

Unless that additional $3M is the second half of a QB payment, with a team that's already extremely well constructed.... It doesn't get you an extra win.

If that's all that's left, give it to the basketball program and win a national championship.

We are a basketball school and that will never change. We'll always be a threat to get to the 2nd and 3rd weekends. The football team will sometimes be a threat to finish in the top 1/3 of the conference, but more times than not be 6-6, 7-5 playing in December Bowl game. Like I mentioned prior, after what Bret has done with the program......he deserves better.
 
#27      
ChiefGritty
therealmiket86 said:
That’s why losing to wisconsin and Washington are killers. You win those and sneak into the playoffs a lot more nil money would be coming in. Same with not getting bowl eligible in 2023. If those things happen the perception of the program are different
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1. I think this effect is just a little overrated generally. Particularly the notion that getting blown out by Alabama in a first round playoff game suddenly changes anything

2. Some, not all of it but a non-negligible amount of it, of this additional money would be taken from basketball. Are you willing to do that?

But I think by far the most importantly:

3. We were 8-0, read that again, EIGHT AND OH, in games decided by 7 or less over the past two seasons. We got the absolute best outcomes those teams could have hoped for, and understanding the limitations we've dealt with I feel like it's truly crazy to be asking for more.
 
#28      
therealmiket86
ChiefGritty said:
1. I think this effect is just a little overrated generally. Particularly the notion that getting blown out by Alabama in a first round playoff game suddenly changes anything

2. Some, not all of it but a non-negligible amount of it, of this additional money would be taken from basketball. Are you willing to do that?

But I think by far the most importantly:

3. We were 8-0, read that again, EIGHT AND OH, in games decided by 7 or less over the past two seasons. We got the absolute best outcomes those teams could have hoped for, and understanding the limitations we've dealt with I feel like it's truly crazy to be asking for more.
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Who says we get blown out by Alabama. I definitely don’t think we win but it would be a competitive game

Money wouldn’t be taken from basketball. More donations came in after the final 4. That money was donated for basketball. When football gets to the next level of success bigger donations will start coming in

I don’t think it’s crazy to ask for better performances in the Washington and Wisconsin games. We got our embarrassed in games 2 winnable games. Obviously Indiana was a lot better but you can’t get your !!! kicked like that on national tv.
 
#35      
the juiceman cometh
therealmiket86 said:
Who says we get blown out by Alabama. I definitely don’t think we win but it would be a competitive game

Money wouldn’t be taken from basketball. More donations came in after the final 4. That money was donated for basketball. When football gets to the next level of success bigger donations will start coming in

I don’t think it’s crazy to ask for better performances in the Washington and Wisconsin games. We got our embarrassed in games 2 winnable games. Obviously Indiana was a lot better but you can’t get your !!! kicked like that on national tv.
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I think the point is that getting to that next level requires a financial commitment that at this point we can't swing without going all in on football to the detriment of basketball. I imagine many of us (myself included) would be against doing that.
 
#36      
Fly Illini Fly!
therealmiket86 said:
That’s why losing to wisconsin and Washington are killers. You win those and sneak into the playoffs a lot more nil money would be coming in. Same with not getting bowl eligible in 2023. If those things happen the perception of the program are different
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2025 was the wrong year to go 10-2 ... very unsure that we would've gotten in.

At this point, if 19 wins in two years isn't enough to gain that financial commitment... then I doubt one or two extra wins would move the needle all that much.
 
#38      
NashvILLe05
therealmiket86 said:
Who says we get blown out by Alabama. I definitely don’t think we win but it would be a competitive game

Money wouldn’t be taken from basketball. More donations came in after the final 4. That money was donated for basketball. When football gets to the next level of success bigger donations will start coming in

I don’t think it’s crazy to ask for better performances in the Washington and Wisconsin games. We got our embarrassed in games 2 winnable games. Obviously Indiana was a lot better but you can’t get your !!! kicked like that on national tv.
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I agree. Keeping A-Hen as DC and not upgrading really hurt. Perhaps some donors are questioning why BB couldn’t seal the deal with Partridge. Hauck may turn out to be a great pivot but thus far hasn’t helped create excitement with recruits.

If the big money donors have questions about your judgment and ability to lock down talent both on the field and the sidelines, it’s going to be tough to raise competitive funds.

I’m one of those grateful for the success of the past 2 years even if we slightly regress. At the same time, more than a few folks think BB wasted a generational QB talent and whiffed on a CFP due to a relationship…and it doesn’t feel entirely wrong.
 
#39      
WyattEarp
Second place is 1st loser said:
I don't think that $3M is even half of what it costs to get an ELITE player outside of maybe a kicker or punter. What did Olano get from A & M?

Throwing $15M at the basketball program, when you're filling out a starting 5 + 3 reserves, can get you, if spent correctly, a nationally relevant team.

That same $15M MIGHT get you an upper third of the conference offensive line.

Unless that additional $3M is the second half of a QB payment, with a team that's already extremely well constructed.... It doesn't get you an extra win.

If that's all that's left, give it to the basketball program and win a national championship.

We are a basketball school and that will never change. We'll always be a threat to get to the 2nd and 3rd weekends. The football team will sometimes be a threat to finish in the top 1/3 of the conference, but more times than not be 6-6, 7-5 playing in December Bowl game. Like I mentioned prior, after what Bret has done with the program......he deserves better.
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I understand that take. But “never” and “always” are a little too absolute for me.

This post isn’t remotely about Indiana. But it quite nearly reads like something off a Hoosier fan board from 4-5 year ago. Just sayin…

Forever ain’t what it used to be.



yogi bear GIF
 
#40      
therealmiket86
NashvILLe05 said:
I agree. Keeping A-Hen as DC and not upgrading really hurt. Perhaps some donors are questioning why BB couldn’t seal the deal with Partridge. Hauck may turn out to be a great pivot but thus far hasn’t helped create excitement with recruits.

If the big money donors have questions about your judgment and ability to lock down talent both on the field and the sidelines, it’s going to be tough to raise competitive funds.

I’m one of those grateful for the success of the past 2 years even if we slightly regress. At the same time, more than a few folks think BB wasted a generational QB talent and whiffed on a CFP due to a relationship…and it doesn’t feel entirely wrong.
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We’ve had a lot of success but we’ve also gotten embarrassed a lot in the last 2 years. Indiana, Wisconsin and Washington were all brutal losses. We had 2 weeks to game plan for Washington and had one of the worst game plans in modern history.
 
#43      
BZuppke
I think Josh and Bret have a much better handle on things than we do. I’m confident We Will Win
 
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