I didn't watch a ton of UAB while he was there for the obvious reasons, but I'd say it's a bit more spread-ish than anything. Which is why I don't really know how to feel about this, because I would think Lovie is much more interested in running a pro-style kind of offense.
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I didn't watch a ton of UAB while he was there for the obvious reasons, but I'd say it's a bit more spread-ish than anything. Which is why I don't really know how to feel about this, because I would think Lovie is much more interested in running a pro-style kind of offense.
Eh, I wouldn't necessarily call the Petrino style "spread" any moreso than all college offenses (and even where the NFL is trending) is spread. Certainly pass-happy. But Lovie is also the guy who hired Ron Turner and Mike Martz and Jeff Tedford as OC's. I'd say McGee is of a piece with those guys philosophically.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
He gets paid to?
Straight from the horse's mouth at the introductory press conference when he took over at UAB: "Offensively, we'll always be attacking, trying to put pressure on the defense." I watched Louisville twice last year and they ran a fast-paced modern pro style offense with read option elements, changed up their formations and personnel frequently, ran a lot of bubble screens and intermediate crossing patterns, took a few shots downfield. Petrino was calling the plays, but the scheme in general looked aggressive.
http://247sports.com/Coach/Garrick-McGee-274/AllTimeRecruits
Not sure how updated this is, but interesting to look at nevertheless.
Not sure how updated this is, but interesting to look at nevertheless.
McGee didn't run Petrino's offense at UAB, nor did he at Arkansas, and he isn't running it at Louisville. Petrino is.
While at UAB his offense was very pass-heavy in his first season. In his second season, however, there was a lot more balance. They ran the ball 53% of the time and passed 47% of the time.
Eh, semantics.
In any event, I think it's fair to say that McGee (and Sherman, for that matter) isn't some doctrinaire mad scientist with a very unorthodox, specific scheme. The similarities well outweigh the differences for most college offenses outside of the service academies and Oregon and such.
It's about fitting the same old football ideas to your personnel and the weaknesses of next Saturday's opponent. Which presents both micro and macro questions.
I think the best way to put it is, if they hire McGee, the offense, schematically anyway, won't look all that different than what we saw the last two years. Only with less swing passes (I hope).
Any knowledge of McGee's ability as a recruiter? Presumably if you give a guy $854,000/year and it's not technically his offense and he doesn't call the plays, he's probably a monster recruiter and terrific teacher, right? I know he was a finalist for the national Assistant COY award a few years back.
Ryan Tannehill was coached by Sherman at Texas A&M though.
Soxfreak64
- Bloomington
Not enough recent/current college experience here for me
McGee looks to be a pretty damn good all around football coach whose stock suffered enormously due to a poor decision to take a death trap of a head coaching job. We know now that apathy wasn't the problem at UAB so much as a conspiracy to ensure the program's failure and eventual closure.
Jeff Brohm was McGee's OC in his first year at UAB, saw what was going on, and then bailed for a pay cut to become Bobby Petrino's OC at Western Kentucky. He took that job when Petrino left for Louisville, the program was in great shape, and now he's one of the hottest Power 5 candidates.
McGee is two years younger, comes from the same coaching tree, has more experience, was very recently Brohm's boss, and makes more money than Brohm currently. But that 5-19 as a head coach is what's going to keep McGee from being offered the same kinds of jobs. Coaching is a cruel business that way.
But you look at it that way and you can see what would be appealing about Illinois for McGee. Illinois looks on the way up, he trusts Lovie, and he will get more credit as Lovie's offensive head coach than Bobby Petrino's understudy. It's a path back to the top.
Purely speculation here, but Nathan is young and since he was a 4 year starter at QB in the BIG, I am guessing he is a natural leader and intelligent. (not implying that Bellamy is not those two things - I am a huge fan of Coach Bellamy)
It could be that Lovie wanted to retain one of the two former Illini players so that he automatically appears to be loyal to Illinois players, even former ones. Likewise, he probably didn't want two spots taken up on the offensive coaching staff by holdover coaches when is needs to lure a really good OC and hand him the reins to the offense. (Who knows, Bellamy, Hecklinskii and Ricker may have the opportunity to interview with the new OC - though I doubt the new OC would not bring in his own guys.
He chose Nathan because he is younger and can relate to the QBs and help them if they struggle. He can also help with the RB or WR position. He offers more versatility than Bellamy and experience of playing QB in the BIG quite recently. All positives! I have a feeling AD Whitman put in a good word.
My gut feeling is that Lovie brings in an experienced Ed Orgeron type recruiter and name him Special Teams Coordinator. I have no idea who. But he can really stack his staff with $4 million. Coach Smith may not feel the need to hire a great special teams coach b/c he knows he can do it himself.
Maybe, but I'm more worried about recruiting coordination when I think of college football experience over NFL experience.
Give me as much NFL experience and someone who can recruit.
I think in a perfect world we will have a nice combination of both.
McGee seems like a good hire to me. Let's get him!!
My guess would be Lovie first choice is McGee. If McGee can't be persuaded then call Sherman?
Dan
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Jacksonville Jaguars asst. OL coach Luke Butkus will be new OL coach for Illinois HC Lovie Smith per sources.
https://twitter.com/ThayerEvansSI/status/707312395832709120
https://twitter.com/ThayerEvansSI/status/707312395832709120
TheSecretWeapon
- ILLINI NATION!
wasn't Ricker widely considered an upgrade over Butkus?
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Huge upgrade. On the positive side, Butkus likely won't come too pricey, so still a lot of money to be spent...
midastouch11
- New York, New York
Yes, but Ricker aside, I thought the offensive line position coach would be someone that arrived with recruiting connections and established relationships. From some of the names thrown out, this doesn't do much for me. Here's hoping he came cheap and they're putting big bucks elsewhere.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
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