TheSecretWeapon
- ILLINI NATION!
Ron Turner's broker fee for contacting Lovie?
Did Butkus play at the same time as Whitman? Maybe doing an old teammate a solid?
Illinois Football Staff Thread
Ron Turner's broker fee for contacting Lovie?
Did Butkus play at the same time as Whitman? Maybe doing an old teammate a solid?
a little late in the game to be hiring a bunch of great assistants isnt it? I wouldn't be surprised if a few end up being "rent-a-coaches" and are gone after this season
Whitman did not have any call in this I'm guessing.
IlliniByProxy
- St. Joseph, IL
Count me as nervous about how this staff fills out. A lot of former Lovie staff offensive re-tread names have been thrown out there. My number one concern with Lovie was that he would put loyalty ahead of quality. I'm nervous that we end up with a mediocre staff that we could have brought in without massive salary additions.
Played at the same time as Whitman, and has been getting his checks signed by Shad Khan these last few years.
TheSecretWeapon
- ILLINI NATION!
NFL-Lovie re-treads /= bad college coaches. we're competing against Iowa and Wisconsin, not the packers
technically Lovie is an NFL re-tread
Mike Sherman as OC would def ease some concerns about Butkus since that is his expertise.
I would guess Lovie would want a more run oriented type of offense v a pro style specifically. So if he runs a run oriented spread, I would think Lovie would be fine with that?
OC and DC are the two most important- That's why they get the big bucks. I want a great LB coach. Our LB's have not been good lately.
So if the OL coach is locked up, does that mean we already have our OC?
BlindLoyalty
- FartNoiseMotivation
Yikes. Didn't seem that one coming. There were some issues.
You would think... wouldn't the OC want some input into his OL coach?
PaytonHighstep
- Downers Grove, IL
If he didn't get along with the initial Beckman staff, I'm ok with that after seeing how that staff performed.
Soxfreak64
- Bloomington
Lovie is making all his own hires. At most, Whitman is participating in salary negotiations and stepping in if Lovie wants to bring in somebody toxic.
Butkus may not be great, or even good, but if he was toxic he wouldn't be here.
Guessing majority of the staff is locked up, and leaks will start in the coming 24-48 hours.
TheSecretWeapon
- ILLINI NATION!
Soxfreak64
- Bloomington
With Lovie as HC, OC and OL are most important.
Id like a good lb coach as well. I think a lot of is talent and our lb's have just been so slow but they also take poor angles and make bad arm tackles.
I heard Luke Butkus was coming last night. He is a very good football coach and person who has done well at Jacksonville despite the lack of talent. Beckman's first year was a disaster- especially offensively with two overmatched, inexperienced co-offensive coordinators. You cannot fault Luke for that train wreck. That being said...I would have let the offensive coordinator pick his OL coach or at least waited until he was in place.... Did Luke play with Whitman? Regardless, I still like the hire!
illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
Robert/roughy said on another board that he coached maybe the worst OL we have had in about 25 years. If the talent wasn't there, it's hard for any coach to be successful.
IlliniByProxy
- St. Joseph, IL
I'm not writing off Lovie, but it's really silly to look at some of these names and think that they will be an upgrade compared to even some of the current staff. I was hoping he might hire an OC first and collaborate with that guy to get the offensive coaches that best fit their needs.
Does anyone on this board feel like Butkus is a better coach OR recruiter than Ricker? I'll stay patient until I see his salary but if he gets paid more than Ricker was getting paid, that would be pretty frustrating.
Hiestand would have been everyone's top choice as OL coach. Butkus played under him and then was Harry's assistant OL coach with the Bears. I would hope Butkus picked up a thing or two along the way. I won't hold year one of TB against him.
The 2012 coaching staff was a total mess, like a rare, toxic environment to be a coach (or a player). The terrible on-field performance was just the tip of the iceberg.
A lot of fingers got pointed at Luke Butkus in the aftermath. A lot of those fingers belonged to coaches who are themselves now pretty severely discredited in our and many other eyes. Tough to say exactly what went down.
If Butkus was a total clown he wouldn't have lasted on Gus Bradley's staff. Unless of course he's just Shad Khan's favorite guy. Not sure what Occams Razor is here.
A lot of fingers got pointed at Luke Butkus in the aftermath. A lot of those fingers belonged to coaches who are themselves now pretty severely discredited in our and many other eyes. Tough to say exactly what went down.
If Butkus was a total clown he wouldn't have lasted on Gus Bradley's staff. Unless of course he's just Shad Khan's favorite guy. Not sure what Occams Razor is here.
DrewD007
- Woodridge, IL
I'm pretty sure when Purdue poached Jim Bridge from us a few years ago, which led to Ricker, it was right before spring ball.
If you're willing to pay or it's the right situation the coaches will come.