illini80
- Forgottonia
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Lovie Smith Named Illinois Football Coach
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illini80
- Forgottonia
Love GoT references.:thumb:
Hey man, if this thing doesn't work out, the hiring of Lovie will have been a reckless, imprudent lunge taken without the full vetting and consideration of a coaching window. You know how this stuff works.
In retrospect, I gotta admit it was pretty funny watching everyone completely lose their minds for months because we kicked the can down the road with Cubit. As a result of that "horrific, insulting, idiot, insane, etc" move, it put our new AD in a position to get a blockbuster, diversity-stigma-erasing coaching staff that is generating regional and national buzz.
Just because something good came from it doesn't mean it was the right move.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
Exactly.
Probably one of the worst hiring decisions in history worked out, but there was absolutely no way that anyone could anticipate that a new AD could have a blockbuster coach identified and lined up before he even started on the job. Blind squirrel found an acorn.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Maybe it was a good move. They may have known that when the official AD came in, he could either:
A. Fire Cubit
Or B. Give Cubit an extension.
That move was the *only* way they could keep Cubit on board in the short term and still give the permanent AD a chance to make up his own mind on the situation.
It might've been a genius move.
Listening to the DP show, and he says, "three teams are close to breaking out - Oakland, Jacksonville, and Tampa."
Who helped build that Tampa team; that's right, Lovie. Our head freaking football coach. I Lovie it!
Who helped build that Tampa team; that's right, Lovie. Our head freaking football coach. I Lovie it!
Stop it.
We are just blindly lucky that Lovie was available and willing to take the job. This was the Bret Bielema to Arkansas or Gary Andersen to Oregon State move. The kind of thing that there is no reason to expect, is vanishingly unlikely, but you're not doing proper due diligence if you don't keep your ear to the ground looking for that kind of move.
Cubit would not have been fired if a miracle hadn't fallen into Whitman's lap. Period. This was never part of the plan, and came as a total shock to the administration when it came together.
Nor would any AD, worth his salt or otherwise, have extended Cubit. Not before the season and barring a miracle not after it. This was an explicit one year commitment to muddle through, throw in the towel on the 2016 season and both the 2016 and 2017 recruiting classes, and let new leadership build up from a toxic waste dump. End of story.
That the Coach Fairy came and visited us in the night is awesome and exciting and cures some (but not all) of the damage done to the program by that move, and is a stroke of luck that is no less than we all deserve, but it changes NOTHING about what the Cubit extension was.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
Nothing even close to genius about it at all. We were just so amazingly lucky in how things fell into place. The stars all just happened to align for us. Ever heard the expression, "I'd rather be lucky than good!" Well, in that situation (Cubit 2 yr deal), we were lucky, very, very lucky.
I'm going to disagree only in that saying Lovie fell into Whitman's lap doesn't give proper credit to JW for making this happen. However, +1 to the rest.
When Cubit got the two year deal Lovie was 5-5 with the bucs and nobody could predict if they would make the playoffs. Even 2 weeks later he was 6-6 with a chance at the post season. So nobody had any idea about Lovie when making this decision. This was one of those rare occurrences where luck met oppurtunity.
We now know the plan was to not let the interim AD hire a new coach because for some reason we didn't want to enter a carousel that we could have been competitive in (Dino Babers appeared to be highly interested in our job).
The plan was to extend Cubit even though he couldn't do better than 5-7 against a weak B1G West and allow the new AD to make a decision. That "unwillingness" to make a decision was not genius, it showed a lack of leadership.
Yet, they still could do the right thing and give Cubit a 4 year deal even if it was actually a "faux" contract so he could recruit with the perception of stability. But, as we know they didn't do that.
Kicking the can down the road was never a good idea, and it was made worse by the 2 year deal. Thank goodness Lovie didn't make the playoffs, didn't burn his Ron Turner bridge and that Ron Turner thought so much of Josh and Illinois to help set up a meeting with Lovie before the oppurtunity passed.
Oh sure, I mean, many AD's would likely not have been able to pull this off. But Lovie could have easily said no. And it would be wrong to believe that Whitman had any other rabbits waiting in his hat as day-one replacements for Cubit.
This was not boldness for the sake of boldness. This was boldness because the opportunity to be bold happened to present itself.
Most ADs would not have been able to pull this off. Lovie didn't say no and I truly believe that was because of JW. I don't believe that JW had anything else lined up.
Deleted member 16340
D
Guest
Being a good businessman means taking advantage of those opportunities that present themselves. Being a GREAT businessman means having the relationships that bring more opportunities to you than the good businessmen get...Never undervalue JWs connections!
Robert @ALionEye tweeted this: "llinois jokes on [social media] because it's Illinois? Meet Lovie Smith." Pretty much sums up my feelings. Maybe we succeed, maybe we don't. But for the next few months at least, if you want to mock us, you're going to have to articulate an actual valid point; just saying "it's Illinois" is no longer a self-contained punchline. And man, that feels great.
illinifan87
- The Windy City
Been a few years since I've posted here, but for me the sign of a great hire, especially for a program like ours that desperately needed a huge jolt of energy is the momentum the hire creates and how long it lasts.
Reading the message boards and Twitter, it's insane how much positivity and excitement there still is about Lovie. That's invaluable. Being 'on the map' is extremely important and we're definitely being noticed now.
Reading the message boards and Twitter, it's insane how much positivity and excitement there still is about Lovie. That's invaluable. Being 'on the map' is extremely important and we're definitely being noticed now.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Welcome back!
I haven't posted here for a while either. Everything has changed. We've finally committed to a truly successful football program. No more playing around with projects as coaches. We're going for the big time now. I can hardly believe it. We have to be patient, but I expect the Zook/Beckman style sideline embarrassments to cease immediately. We've just moved into the world of big time football. I can't wait to see this staff and these players take the field.
The Pontiff
- Chicago, IL
Yep, Kaplan is probably just being a contrarian to rile up folks, like you said. But it's such a joke to think that this doesn't happen a lot.
When Gerry Dinardo was on B&B I believe, they asked him the exact same question, as to whether it was bad form to have offered the job to Lovie before Cubit was fired. He said something to the effect that's just how it's done at big-time schools, that it's part of the business.
Maybe, as I think others have speculated, if Lovie says no, Cubit is still here. Unless he had another card up his sleeve.
Go
illinifan87
- The Windy City
Ha! Had no idea that was my signature.
Well I renewed my season tickets, I thought about not doing it. However, I think Lovie can bring some excitement to the program. Personally I don't care too much about wins the first few years as long as he brings in some decent talent and gets a quality win or two. Build a base and then go with it. 2016 should have a goal to win at LEAST 6-7 games.
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