Looking ahead to 2020

DrewD007 · Jan 22, 2020

Few tidbits from Lovie at the Suburban Illini Club holiday party last night:

Tony Adams is going to stay at corner for the time being
Derrick Smith will be playing at safety opposite Sydney Brown, Quan Martin will also stay at safety
Jake Hansen will be moving to Mike linebacker
Currently have 6 scholarships open. Want to use two on high school players and keep the others for grad transfers.

louisvilleillini · Jan 22, 2020

Get the kid from Georgia to sign in Feb. I hope they throw the red carpet out for him.

louisvilleillini · Jan 22, 2020

I should say the Orange and Blue carpet.

Dude · Jan 22, 2020

louisvilleillini said:
Get the kid from Georgia to sign in Feb. I hope they throw the red carpet out for him.

Got to think this is a complete Hail Mary right?

Joel Goodson · Jan 22, 2020

Dude said:
Got to think this is a complete Hail Mary right?

Absolutely. If the kid doesn't sign with Arkansas or Georgia, I'll be surprised. If we land him, I'll be shocked. #notaninsider

KevinC · Jan 22, 2020

Convinced the young man to visit. Huge step in that. Gives us a shot.

thunderwear · Jan 22, 2020

Dude said:
Got to think this is a complete Hail Mary right?

Anytime you get someone on campus, it’s not a Hail Mary. But it’s not likely. He seems committed to Georgia. But I never count Lovie out. He has a different demeanor, either guys love him or they don’t. When people love him, they give him their all. So let’s see what happens over the next few days

Joel Goodson · Jan 22, 2020

thunderwear said:
Anytime you get someone on campus, it’s not a Hail Mary. But it’s not likely. He seems committed to Georgia. But I never count Lovie out. He has a different demeanor, either guys love him or they don’t. When people love him, they give him their all. So let’s see what happens over the next few days

This. Maybe, just maybe, we'll strike a chord. Happened with Beason (different recruitments, obviously). You never know. That said, IBIWISI.

QCillini48 · Jan 22, 2020

KevinC said:
Convinced the young man to visit. Huge step in that. Gives us a shot.

Where is the tie here? Arkansas just hired the o-line coach who recruited him at Gerogia. That's Arkansas obvious tie to him... but what about us? One of the new coaches we just brought in??

QCillini48 · Jan 22, 2020

thunderwear said:
He seems committed to Georgia.

I've heard different brother

QCillini48 · Jan 22, 2020

DrewD007 said:
Few tidbits from Lovie at the Suburban Illini Club holiday party last night:

Jake Hansen will be moving to Mike linebacker

Shammond Cooper your table is ready?

Can't wait to see this kid flyin' all over the field with double digit tackles each game!

thunderwear · Jan 22, 2020

QCillini48 said:
I've heard different brother

I’m not connected to Georgia, but I’ve heard this from Florida and Texas people (neither of which are close to this recruitment).
If he is open to what we have to say, then I think Lovie can flip him. Broderick would be a match Lovies personality.

thunderwear · Jan 23, 2020

thunderwear said:
I’m not connected to Georgia, but I’ve heard this from Florida and Texas people (neither of which are close to this recruitment).
If he is open to what we have to say, then I think Lovie can flip him. Broderick would be a match Lovies personality.

to keep the record straight, I’m not holding my breath on this recruit. I just wouldn’t be surprised.

PtownIllini8 · Jan 23, 2020

DrewD007 said:
Few tidbits from Lovie at the Suburban Illini Club holiday party last night:

Tony Adams is going to stay at corner for the time being

Derrick Smith will be playing at safety opposite Sydney Brown, Quan Martin will also stay at safety

Jake Hansen will be moving to Mike linebacker

Currently have 6 scholarships open. Want to use two on high school players and keep the others for grad transfers.

Thanks for the info, Drew.

Joel Goodson · Jan 24, 2020

Really insightful article on roster balance by Robert: https://www.illiniboard.com/story/2020/1/23/projected-roster-balance/

Our massive senior class is no longer massive. And that's a good thing.

Illwinsagain · Jan 24, 2020

Joel Goodson said:
Really insightful article on roster balance by Robert: https://www.illiniboard.com/story/2020/1/23/projected-roster-balance/

Our massive senior class is no longer massive. And that's a good thing.

Good article, thank you for posting.

Illini_05 · Feb 5, 2020

Randomly found myself watching the Michigan State game highlights, one thing that I noticed, after a 5 yard penalty, we ran a little swing pass with Reggie coming out of the backfield, with BP rolling in the opposite direction, got us an easy 18 yards, really wondering why we didn’t run that play more often? Hoping we’ll get to see that wrinkle a bit more this upcoming season, we never really got Reggie and Dre involved in the passing game.

Dan · Feb 5, 2020

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1225227822744178688

Ander1345 · Feb 6, 2020

Illini_05 said:
Randomly found myself watching the Michigan State game highlights, one thing that I noticed, after a 5 yard penalty, we ran a little swing pass with Reggie coming out of the backfield, with BP rolling in the opposite direction, got us an easy 18 yards, really wondering why we didn’t run that play more often? Hoping we’ll get to see that wrinkle a bit more this upcoming season, we never really got Reggie and Dre involved in the passing game.

Because that play is likely a tendency breaker and will result in negative yardage if used too often.

ATR2019 · Feb 7, 2020

Returning production for 2020
We are ranked in something guys! Unfortunately so is several teams on our schedule.

soupy17 · Feb 7, 2020

ATR2019 said:
Returning production for 2020
We are ranked in something guys! Unfortunately so is several teams on our schedule.

Other than Illinois State, here is where our schedule ranks on this list in comparison to us:

ILLINOIS - 12th (78% Overall production returning)

UConn - 49th (68%)
Bowling Green - 115th (47%)
Rutgers - 15th (78%)
Nebraska - 17th (76%)
Purdue - 20th (74%)
Minnesota - 86th (58%)
Wisconsin - 34th (72%)
Iowa - 100 (53%)
Indiana - 11th (78%)
Ohio State - 92nd (56%)
Northwestern - 1st (84%)

AO3 · Feb 9, 2020

He's growing.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1225576255543762944

Dude · Feb 9, 2020

AO3 said:
He's growing.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1225576255543762944

That was my first thought. You can really tell in his face

Illini_05 · Feb 10, 2020

soupy17 said:
Other than Illinois State, here is where our schedule ranks on this list in comparison to us:

ILLINOIS - 12th (78% Overall production returning)

UConn - 49th (68%)
Bowling Green - 115th (47%)
Rutgers - 15th (78%)
Nebraska - 17th (76%)
Purdue - 20th (74%)
Minnesota - 86th (58%)
Wisconsin - 34th (72%)
Iowa - 100 (53%)
Indiana - 11th (78%)
Ohio State - 92nd (56%)
Northwestern - 1st (84%)

UConn has 24 players in the transfer portal, shocked they're top 50.

ILL_INI · Feb 10, 2020

gapillini said:
I certainly consider 6-6 to be the team's floor. I don't choose to go the what if route, but I cannot imagine the Illini winning less than 8 games in the 2020 season. I am optimistic that the team won't be so decimated by injury like last year. Hanson, Wole, the two receivers, Beason, etc.... I also think the coaches will use their non starters this year preparing them for the next man up approach. Isaiah Williams, Cumby, D Campbell and others were not properly used last year. That has to change.

I would love to hear the reasons for your optimism, especially since it appears you have a very poor imagination.

Looking ahead to 2020

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