ABT-Anybody but Turner. Great football mind, hated recruiting. No!
Lovie Smith Named Illinois Football Coach
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ABT-Anybody but Turner. Great football mind, hated recruiting. No!
Well, Holecek is coaching at Loyola Academy. If he's serious about a career in coaching, this would be as natural a next step as I can imagine. Someone else mentioned Tedford, so I'm just piggybacking there. Sure, guys like Frazier and Hardy Nickerson are unlikely. I guess we'll see.
I just wanted to drop in and eat my crow for saying. "Lovie Smith will NEVER coach at Illinois".
Very very happy with this outcome.
Chicago media (cough Kaplan cough) have no idea what they're talking about. I couldn't have seen this playing out any better in Illinois' favor.
Very very happy with this outcome.
Chicago media (cough Kaplan cough) have no idea what they're talking about. I couldn't have seen this playing out any better in Illinois' favor.
New poster here, please don't shoot the messenger. My daughter is good friends with the daughter of Lovie's former personal assistant for his Chicago years. We have become friends with she and her family as a result. I texted her husband jokingly this afternoon that they may have to move to Chanpaign (Lovie tried to get them to Tampa too). In any case, he replied that she just talked to him and he confirmed new HC of Illinois football. Just passing along. ILL!
Kramer116
- Chicago
I'll say I NEVER thought this was even remotely a possibility
Crazy Joe Davola
Sic Semper Tyrannis!
I'm still holding out hope for Les Miles. 
USNIlliniFan
- Jacksonville, FL
Reading Tampa Bay news about Smith the Bucs get part of any salary he may make as a result of some sort of strange contract language after they fired him?
Look for Luke Butkus and Tim Brewster to be on board.
Kramer116
- Chicago
That sure works for me.
I've never liked Kaplan, mostly since he called Gale Sayers the "Galloping Ghost" a few years back during the Wrigley Centennial Celebration.
Was not that pumped at first but after mulling it over this is really a very solid hire for the beloved!
This is a home run hire as far as I am concerned. A long way to go to get the program on track and Lovie will need an excellent O.C. in addition to skilled recruiters to get there. The future looks much brighter than it did when we started the day though.
Soxfreak64
- Bloomington
Uhhh, Tim Brewster as a positional coach. Hello recruiting.
Love the idea of Lovie, but won't judge anything until his name is on the dotted line and staff is announced.
Tim is not a for sure but is definitely a contender
frankfortillini
- Frankfort, IL
If Lovie surrounds himself with recruiters and some solid coaches - wow.
Trakis
- Chicago, IL
I like this.
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
Having an AA head coach would make the board of trustees happy.
large_illini
- Buckeye Country-Columbus, OH
This. This is why this could be a huge hire.
Long-time lurker, barely ever post, but this is about as excited as I've been for Illini football since the Big Ten Championship season.
How do you know this could be a huge hire? When I mentioned to my wife that the rumors were pointing to Illinois hiring Lovie Smith, she said, "The Bears coach?" Never mind that he hasn't been the Bears coach for a few years, the fact that: 1) she knew who he was, and that 2) he was an NFL coach - she even got the team correct! - tells you all you need to know about name recognition. This is huge. To steal Robert's phrase, this is, like, 5 Tom Cruises.
Also, has Josh Whitman, in his first day as an AD, out-AD'd our previous 2 ADs? This is a serious question.
Next up, women's basketball!
Like it!
I like this hire. Worst case you have all this added buzz...and you get some recruiting momentum like in the early Zook years when you could pitch the coach's resume and lots of playing time. See what happens from there.
Much better than waiting a year, getting no recruits due to instability, firing everyone in 2017, hiring the next MAC coach, and more slow climbing while building off 2 star character guys. I'll pay to see this drama play out any day.
I like this hire. Worst case you have all this added buzz...and you get some recruiting momentum like in the early Zook years when you could pitch the coach's resume and lots of playing time. See what happens from there.
Much better than waiting a year, getting no recruits due to instability, firing everyone in 2017, hiring the next MAC coach, and more slow climbing while building off 2 star character guys. I'll pay to see this drama play out any day.
I just can't get over all the naysayers. I am ecstatic. Illinois, known as the place where football coaches come to die, has an in on a big name football coach. Go back to list of "realistic" (eg. not Les Miles) coaches on the list from before we signed Cubit, and tell me single one of them is better than Lovie. This hire is at much higher level and actually makes us look like we're playing big boy football. It legitimizes Illinois. Doors will open on his name alone, especially in Chicagoland. Lastly it's our first minority hire of either revenue sports, I think this alone will open new doors for us.
There are people all over the internet with good credibility saying it's likely to happen.
a "Snoop Dog's chimney" amount of smoke
Wow. I wasn't a huge fan of Lovie when he was the Bears coach but he was solid. Regardless of coaching ability this would be hug for perception. It would be great for people to be talking about Illinois in a positive light. This also would be the kind of hire that could pump some much needed life back into the fan base. This would be a great hire considering the current state of the football program. What a day!
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