Lovie Smith Named Illinois Football Coach

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#1,201      

miggytorres

miggytorres
miggytorres
Heard the snarky Beavis & Butthead....I mean Boers & Bernstein....audio. They are bringing Brad Biggs on in five minutes.

If anyone thought I was lying about the bad-mouthing, tune in . Let the Lovie bashing commence.
 
#1,203      

Sybok

S
Sybok
Lovie has been very impressive in the press conference.
 
#1,206      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
mattcoldagelli
"I think it's a misnomer that I'm some old guy that doesn't know what's going on right now"

:D
 
#1,207      

Fillory

F
4th Floor Grainger
Fillory
miggytorres said:
Heard the snarky Beavis & Butthead....I mean Boers & Bernstein....audio. They are bringing Brad Biggs on in five minutes.

If anyone thought I was lying about the bad-mouthing, tune in . Let the Lovie bashing commence.
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B&B love the hire for Illinois, FYI.
 
#1,208      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
Unfortunately I have to "watch" the press conference on mute right now... but the body language says so much. He looks the part, looks very confident, and seems to command respect. I can't wait to hear what he actually says!
 
#1,209      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
BZuppke said:
Most articulate and well spoken coach we've had since Mackovic? Turner? Zook and Beckman certainly never won a news conference. And he can pronounce Illinois!!!!
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1. Mike White -- most likable; ability to win every press conference

2. Mackovic -- brightest; most articulate
 
#1,211      

The Rock Says

The Rock Says
The Rock Says
After two coaches that seemed in WAY too far over their heads, this guy is like the cool side of the pillow.
 
#1,213      

filthytacos

filthytacos
filthytacos
Honestly did not think that this hire could be any better, but he touched on all the things that people have been dreaming about for years. Sign me up baby!
 
#1,214      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Cc-Tx3UUsAA3Vcb.jpg
 
#1,215      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
mattcoldagelli said:
You know what I like? That the stakes are so low for this press conference. You - and the rest of the country - know who Lovie Smith is.
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Yep and he carried himself with that certainty without the Charlie Weis schematic bluster.

Classy
 
#1,216      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
Dinardo thinks the biggest concern with Lovie will be recruiting. I tend to agree.

The new coaching staff can help overcome that weakness.
 
#1,217      

DaytonaBlue

D
DaytonaBlue
Robert68 said:
OMG we should have hired Josh Whitman 10 years ago!!! Hyperbole I know but man this dude could be what we have waited our whole lives for from this athletics program. I think he gets what this could be & what it will take to get there.
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Agreed! Hyperbole yes, but the guy just pulled off what may well be the biggest coup in recent history of college coaching hires. And done it using someone else's (TB's) money!! Seldom does a situation present itself like this! Certainly not for Illinois! Unbelievable move by JFW!! Bravo!!
 
#1,218      

geneseo

G
geneseo
AutoPoster 3000 said:
Well, I don't want to belabor it because it's old news at this point, but this was one of Barb Wilson's quote from the 11/28/15 N-G article announcing the Cubit deal:

"This move will allow the permanent Athletics Director to evaluate the program at his or her own schedule and make decisions based on those evaluations once that search [for the permanent AD] is completed." That's exactly what ended up happening. Can't really say Cubit was not on notice.

And there were similar sentiments expressed elsewhere. I don't have the exact quote, but in another interview she said something to effect that, you hire a permanent AD first, and the permanent AD hires the coach he wants, that's how this process works. That was a explanation for why Cubit was retained rather than permit the interim AD to pick a permanent coach.
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I obviously don't know what went on behind the scenes, but it certainly looks like Barb Wilson did a great job.
 
#1,219      

Greensboro

Greensboro
Greensboro
Smacko said:
Whitman handled this whole thing well from top to bottom. From a PR perspective especially. I would bet that as soon as the leak about Cubit being fired was out, Josh had AD staff leak that Lovie would be the new coach. The word got out so quick that it had to have been purposeful, and was incredibly smart. Instead of people focusing on what a disaster the team is, the narrative was all positive about the potential for Lovie to take over. Great job of controlling the story.
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This is all good, but the real Stroke of genius was having Lovie on board. If you have the cards, then it matters a lot less how you play the hand. If the hire was mediocre, the publicity side will take care of itself in the couple of days it took to make this happen.
 
#1,220      

IrishIllini

I
IrishIllini
geneseo said:
I obviously don't know what went on behind the scenes, but it certainly looks like Barb Wilson did a great job.
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Agreed. Lots of credit to her for stepping up and managing to defy expectations. Hopefully she sticks around C-U for the foreseeable future.

:chief::shield:
 
#1,221      

Oskee67

Oskee67
Champaign
Oskee67
What a time to be alive! I've never been this excited about anything sports related. There will always be challenges, but I'd rather face them with Lovie at the helm than almost anyone else that's every coached at U of I.
 
#1,223      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
This is horrible to say but there seemed to be a lot more "polish" in the audience today with the Chicago media in town asking questions. They asked some great questions. Oh, and Ryan Baker had a front row seat.
 
#1,224      

CoalCity

C
St Paul, MN
CoalCity
Denardo just explained that in two of the head coaching jobs he got he already had agreements before the previous guy was fired and actually had a contract on one of them so nothing sleazy or cheap going on here. This is the big leagues. Nice to hear that from a guy that's been there done that.
 
#1,225      

PeoriaIllini11

P
Peoria, IL
PeoriaIllini11
EfremWinters84 said:
Dinardo thinks the biggest concern with Lovie will be recruiting. I tend to agree.

The new coaching staff can help overcome that weakness.
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I don't buy it, have you seen the players reaction to the move? They went from worst case scenario to ecstatic about their situation!
 
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