Lou Dorsey no longer with the Illini

#51      

Qwiksilvur

Q
Qwiksilvur
“Divorce is good sometimes”
“Those are players that did not need to be in our program, and they’re not here anymore.” - Lovie Smith from Isaac Trotter’s Twitter
 
#53      

Qwiksilvur

Q
Qwiksilvur
TheGMan said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1052228291782955008

While he may be right, I'm not a fan of Lovie saying things like this publicly.

Also, not a fan of 31 dropping the punt in the background.

EDIT: Qwiksilvur beat me to it
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Too bad we can’t just combine the posts as I didn’t post the link. That being said....sorta surprised he was that strong regarding Bennett considering Bennetts post on the way out.
 
#54      

illini62707

I
illini62707
The defense is DEFINITELY something to be concerned about! How a coaching staff can't see what the rest of the world sees is beyond me. The reason we don't hear about big time program transfers is because most of don't follow other programs that closely; it happens. Recruiting is a CONCERN. The run game is something to be optimistic about and the o-line has done has performed well in some games. Have 1 possible game changing recruit coming and 1 badly needed CB coming and i think a receiver (mccrary) who will be pretty good. A transfer linebacker who will help next year and receiver (meadows)
 
#56      

illini80

illini80
Forgottonia
illini80
Not surprising, but the fact that we are so thin with talent amplifies every departure.
 
#57      

ivwilsoniv

I
Aurora, IL
ivwilsoniv
Dude said:
Man that is as strong of a statement/emotion as I think I have seen from Lovie thus far. Good for him. It seems like he is pissed, if that is the case, he cares, which a lot of people were questioning.
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I don't think anyone should be questioning if Lovie cares or not; he just doesn't show it to the media.
 
#58      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
ivwilsoniv said:
I don't think anyone should be questioning if Lovie cares or not; he just doesn't show it to the media.
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Agreed. These departures must have really rubbed him Raw and they happened catch it on camera. Lovie definitely cares, but this is a rare candid moment from him. I would love to be a fly on the wall during practice this week.
 
#59      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
Deleted member 649710
Whitman has brought a lot of stability to the DIA. We don't have coaches who act like clowns in public. We don't have stories about athletes being abused. Fundraising is up. Some long overdue investments are being made. Many sports other than FB and MBB are clearly heading in a positive direction. He is (hopefully) less than six months away from announcing plans for a new Downtown venue for VB, wrestling and two new scholarship sports (M&W Hockey). Yes, he still needs to show improvement in the two revenue sports, but much of his other work has been very positive so far.
 
#60      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Deleted member 654622
ivwilsoniv said:
I don't think anyone should be questioning if Lovie cares or not; he just doesn't show it to the media.
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I tend to agree that he cares. But I have heard that criticism in the past about him at Illinois
 
#61      

TheGMan

TheGMan
TheGMan
TheOlafRules said:
Whitman has brought a lot of stability to the DIA. We don't have coaches who act like clowns in public. We don't have stories about athletes being abused. Fundraising is up. Some long overdue investments are being made. Many sports other than FB and MBB are clearly heading in a positive direction. He is (hopefully) less than six months away from announcing plans for a new Downtown venue for VB, wrestling and two new scholarship sports (M&W Hockey). Yes, he still needs to show improvement in the two revenue sports, but much of his other work has been very positive so far.
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Obviously it is a results driven business, and if FB/BB don't improve then Whitman will be held accountable for those hires and they will be deemed failures based on their results. However, at the time of both hires they were both absolute home run hires. But again, ultimately they will be judged based on the results.
 
#62      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
Lanta92 said:
Just last week lots of people were raving about the revival on offense, now there's no reason to be optimistic. Sheesh. Is it social media that makes people so reactive? Yes - losing Williams and Dorsey sucks, but slow down on "the sky is falling" after a bad game with what remains statistically one of the youngest teams in D1 football.
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If you purge a dozen players or more every year you will remain one of the youngest teams in D1.
 
#63      

ILL_INI

ILL_INI
ILL_INI
Verified Insider said:
Right, because Illinois is stocked with talent to the point where the loss of a kid like Dorsey isn't a problem.

We don't have enough talent or enough depth to afford to lose the likes of Dorsey, Bennett Williams, etc. You're only fooling yourself if you don't see a very disturbing trend here.
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How many catches does Lou Dorsey have this year?

I'm not seeing a trend, let alone a very disturbing one.
 
#64      

Deleted member 746094

D
Guest
Deleted member 746094
Verified Insider said:
Right, because Illinois is stocked with talent to the point where the loss of a kid like Dorsey isn't a problem.

We don't have enough talent or enough depth to afford to lose the likes of Dorsey, Bennett Williams, etc. You're only fooling yourself if you don't see a very disturbing trend here.
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The trend I see is a couple kids couldn’t follow the same rules that were obviously clear to 75+ other kids and instead of growing up and taking responsibility for their actions they took the easy way out. This is a trend you see across college athletics and typically these same kids end up running out of 2nd and 3rd chances ending poorly for them and not the programs gracious enough to give them opportunities to be successful young adults.
 
#65      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
Wouldn't mind seeing more P5 level transfers. Seems very hit or miss with nee freshmen. Many don't pan out due to talent and many others can't navigate being student-athletes. I bet NU kicks our butt on recruiting players who understand the 4-5 year progression of being a college level student/football player.

Think we need more Jamel Presidents/Auburn, Nickerson/Cal and AJ Bush type transfers. Possibly if we can get them for 2-3 years.
 
#66      

ILL2010MJ

ILL2010MJ
ILL2010MJ
deucemu said:
The trend I see is a couple kids couldn’t follow the same rules that were obviously clear to 75+ other kids and instead of growing up and taking responsibility for their actions they took the easy way out. This is a trend you see across college athletics and typically these same kids end up running out of 2nd and 3rd chances ending poorly for them and not the programs gracious enough to give them opportunities to be successful young adults.
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These kids are unpaid student athletes who put their bodies on the line every week for schools who reap huge profits and coaches who make millions.

Saying they should be grateful for "the programs gracious enough to give them opportunities to be successful young adults" is ridiculously condesceding. Yes, a scholarship is great, but these kids more than earn it with the work and risk they put in.

Illinois probably had no choice with Williams and Dorsey if they kept breaking rules (not sure that's "taking the easy way out" when at least Williams was dismissed), but these aren't bad kids. And I'm pretty sure both will have plenty of great transfer options
 
#67      

Deleted member 631370

D
Guest
Deleted member 631370
ILL_INI said:
How many catches does Lou Dorsey have this year?

I'm not seeing a trend, let alone a very disturbing one.
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He hasn't performed because he's obviously been in the dog house. Not because we have more talented kids ahead of him.

You and others are creating a self-soothing narrative to convince yourself that none of this is problematic. "He hasn't done anything this year!". That's true. But what you'd ideally want is for the kid to learn his lesson, settle in, and then have 2+ years of productivity. Kids get suspended at other schools all the time. Most of them come back, learn their lesson, and get back at it.

Instead, he -- like many, many other kids over the past several months -- are gone.

The defections from this program aren't all for the same reasons. But the defection pool is no less devastating. And you don't see a trend?
 
#68      

LHIllinis

L
LHIllinis
the national said:
I 100% disagree with this position. We don’t know these kids personally and don’t know if they are good kids or not. We, as fans, trust the judgement of the coaches to properly discipline the athletes but we don’t ever really know what happens behind closed doors.

Lastly, the university spends tons of money to attract these athletes with beautiful facilities and give them a scholarship. I would have been extremely greatful if I had that opertunity to get a scholarship. A scholarship is more than just a free education, it’s room and board and the other services the Univeristy has to offer.
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I can see the NCAA tweaking the play four games and redshirt rule. These would not be happening now if that rule was not in place.
 
#69      

ILL2010MJ

ILL2010MJ
ILL2010MJ
the national said:
I 100% disagree with this position. We don’t know these kids personally and don’t know if they are good kids or not. We, as fans, trust the judgement of the coaches to properly discipline the athletes but we don’t ever really know what happens behind closed doors.

Lastly, the university spends tons of money to attract these athletes with beautiful facilities and give them a scholarship. I would have been extremely greatful if I had that opertunity to get a scholarship. A scholarship is more than just a free education, it’s room and board and the other services the Univeristy has to offer.
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No idea on Dorsey, but Bennett Williams is a great kid. He just couldn't follow a rule. What he was dismissed for is something 70% of U of I students do though, so to suggest he has poor character is pretty harsh. Plus he handled his dismissal in a very classy way.

I don't question Lovie's decision, but it's tough from a football perspective to lose a kid as talented as either of these two
 
#70      

ILL_INI

ILL_INI
ILL_INI
Verified Insider said:
He hasn't performed because he's obviously been in the dog house. Not because we have more talented kids ahead of him.

You and others are creating a self-soothing narrative to convince yourself that none of this is problematic. "He hasn't done anything this year!". That's true. But what you'd ideally want is for the kid to learn his lesson, settle in, and then have 2+ years of productivity. Kids get suspended at other schools all the time. Most of them come back, learn their lesson, and get back at it.

Instead, he -- like many, many other kids over the past several months -- are gone.

The defections from this program aren't all for the same reasons. But the defection pool is no less devastating. And you don't see a trend?
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Cam Thomas
Reuben Unije
Bennett Williams
Lou Dorsey

Is this the "many, many other kids?" I'm sorry, I'm still not seeing a trend. Feel free to connect the dots for me. I wish all were still on the team, but I don't find their departures "devastating," "problematic" nor "very disturbing."

I believe the season-ending injuries to Mike Dudek, Edwin Carter and Shaedon Meadors have had a greater negative impact.
 
#71      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
TheOlafRules said:
Whitman has brought a lot of stability to the DIA. We don't have coaches who act like clowns in public. We don't have stories about athletes being abused. Fundraising is up. Some long overdue investments are being made. Many sports other than FB and MBB are clearly heading in a positive direction. He is (hopefully) less than six months away from announcing plans for a new Downtown venue for VB, wrestling and two new scholarship sports (M&W Hockey). Yes, he still needs to show improvement in the two revenue sports, but much of his other work has been very positive so far.
Click to expand...

No level-headed Illini fan (perhaps a disturbingly small majority anymore?) is anything but fully supportive of Whitman at this juncture. For the state our football program was in post-Beckman, to get an NFL Super Bowl coach with ties to the Bears and Chicago to try to come clean it up was incredible. To get a sitting coach of a program with the prestige of Oklahoma State to come to Illinois in basketball was incredible. Will either one or both not work out? Maybe. But Whitman's job isn't to predict the future with his first/second big hires; it's to create winning programs for Illini athletics. Time will obviously be the judge of that, so logic follows the other way, too - we can't judge Whitman too harshly on bad results early (this especially applies for basketball right now).

Additionally, Whitman seems to have maneuvered the impossible so far by both positively changing the culture around Illini athletics and taking measures to catch us up with our peers while also maintaining the strong support of the donors ... it takes a special person to both keep great relations with his funding base and to snap some alumni out of the East Central Illinois Guenther delusion that viewed Illinois as some "local school" for Champaign County and not as the flagship university for the fifth biggest state in the country. If Lovie has to be fired eventually, I have full confidence that Whitman will find a replacement that can get it done. Won't even speculate on basketball at this point.
 
#72      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Deleted member 654622
Verified Insider said:
He hasn't performed because he's obviously been in the dog house. Not because we have more talented kids ahead of him.

You and others are creating a self-soothing narrative to convince yourself that none of this is problematic. "He hasn't done anything this year!". That's true. But what you'd ideally want is for the kid to learn his lesson, settle in, and then have 2+ years of productivity. Kids get suspended at other schools all the time. Most of them come back, learn their lesson, and get back at it.

Instead, he -- like many, many other kids over the past several months -- are gone.

The defections from this program aren't all for the same reasons. But the defection pool is no less devastating. And you don't see a trend?
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This is not a negative or positive reply. I am just going to point out that I do see a trend.
Ruben did not want to be coached by a guy who pushed him hard
Bennett struggled at "juggling his social/school/football" schedule - You can interpret that as you wish.
Lou missed meetings and showed up late for practices.

Now all three are gone. Sucks? Yep. Lovie's fault? Nope
 
#73      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Deleted member 654622
Fighter of the Nightman said:
No level-headed Illini fan (perhaps a disturbingly small majority anymore?) is anything but fully supportive of Whitman at this juncture. For the state our football program was in post-Beckman, to get an NFL Super Bowl coach with ties to the Bears and Chicago to try to come clean it up was incredible. To get a sitting coach of a program with the prestige of Oklahoma State to come to Illinois in basketball was incredible. Will either one or both not work out? Maybe. But Whitman's job isn't to predict the future with his first/second big hires; it's to create winning programs for Illini athletics. Time will obviously be the judge of that, so logic follows the other way, too - we can't judge Whitman too harshly on bad results early (this especially applies for basketball right now).

Additionally, Whitman seems to have maneuvered the impossible so far by both positively changing the culture around Illini athletics and taking measures to catch us up with our peers while also maintaining the strong support of the donors ... it takes a special person to both keep great relations with his funding base and to snap some alumni out of the East Central Illinois Guenther delusion that viewed Illinois as some "local school" for Champaign County and not as the flagship university for the fifth biggest state in the country. If Lovie has to be fired eventually, I have full confidence that Whitman will find a replacement that can get it done. Won't even speculate on basketball at this point.
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To add on to this post, I just want to point out that Lovie also has ties to the St. Louis area as well. From the outside, this seemed like a homerun hire
 
#74      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Deleted member 654622
I would also like to add that I know helping young men mature into positive men is not the easiest thing and it sometimes can be very time consuming. Considering the state of the football program, I am just going to say the more time they spend trying to get a kid to follow a rule they know is in effect, is less time they can spend on growing the football team.