Ohio State 42, Illinois 19 Postgame

#176      
Hingle McCringleberry
Boricua Illini said:
I don't think it works that way for post game press availability. I don't think I've ever seen an Illinois coordinator post-game, or any other B1G coordinator for that matter. So I doubt that Hauck asked Bailey to answer for his coach's miscues.

Also, not that I disagree with you on handling DC's at Illinois, but curious who do you think we would have had a good chance of landing out of the "good DCs that were scooped up" last offseason?
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Here is the list of DC's hired after the end of the season (before the Playoffs though) and up until Aaron Henry took his job at ND (which is when UofI officially opened it's DC search):

Is there any on this list we wouldn't take right now over what we have?

All 25 Power 4 DC hires before February 7​


DateSchoolNew defensive coordinatorConference
Dec. 4, 2025FloridaBrad WhiteSEC
Dec. 6Mississippi StateZach ArnettSEC
Dec. 6SyracuseVince KehresACC
Dec. 7Virginia TechBrent PryACC
Dec. 7–8NebraskaRob AurichBig Ten
Dec. 9South Florida*Josh Aldridge—
Dec. 11TennesseeJim KnowlesSEC
Dec. 12Oklahoma StateSkyler CassityBig 12
Dec. 12Texas A&MLyle HemphillSEC
Dec. 15Iowa StateJesse BobbitBig 12
Dec. 16ArkansasRon RobertsSEC
Dec. 17KentuckyJay BatemanSEC
Dec. 18TexasWill MuschampSEC
Dec. 19PurdueKevin KaneBig Ten
Dec. 21Kansas StateJordan PetersonBig 12
Dec. 26CalMichael HutchingsACC
Dec. 26MichiganJay HillBig Ten
Dec. 29UCLAColin HitschlerBig Ten
Dec. 30Boston CollegeTed RoofACC
Jan. 2, 2026Penn StateD'Anton LynnBig Ten
Jan. 2UtahColton SwanBig 12
Jan. 15OregonChris HamptonBig Ten
Jan. 23USCGary PattersonBig Ten
Feb. 1IllinoisAaron Henry's replacement wasn't hired yetBig Ten
Feb. 6RutgersTravis JohansenBig Ten
 
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#177      
ChiefGritty
BZuppke said:
You know a few years ago this crowd was ready to lynch Lunney. Patience with Hauck. It is way too early to draw any conclusions.
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One of my most accurate takes is that the First Law of Football Fandom is that your team, no matter how good or bad, always has exactly one (1) Bad Coordinator.

There is always the Good Coordinator and the Bad Coordinator

Marvel Balance GIF



The only thing I want to add on Hauck is that analytically speaking I think it is MUCH MUCH more relevant that he had both (1) never been a defensive coordinator before ever, at any level, in his whole career, and also that he had (2) retired out of contempt with dealing with the realities of the new college football days earlier, than anything to do with him coming from the FCS.
 
#178      
DeonThomas
ChiefGritty said:
Would you have let Andrej Stojakovic stay in the draft in exchange for a competent linebacking corps?
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Instead, I'd have Josh first raise/surface the extra $20M to $25M we need, and then make decisions on a case by case (player by player) basis.
 
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#179      
Boricua Illini
Hingle McCringleberry said:
Here is the list of DC's hired after the end of the season (before the Playoffs though) and up until Aaron Henry took his job at ND (which is when UofI officially opened it's DC search):

Is there any on this list we wouldn't take right now over what we have?

All 25 Power 4 DC hires before February 7​


DateSchoolNew defensive coordinatorConference
Dec. 4, 2025FloridaBrad WhiteSEC
Dec. 6Mississippi StateZach ArnettSEC
Dec. 6SyracuseVince KehresACC
Dec. 7Virginia TechBrent PryACC
Dec. 7–8NebraskaRob AurichBig Ten
Dec. 9South Florida*Josh Aldridge—
Dec. 11TennesseeJim KnowlesSEC
Dec. 12Oklahoma StateSkyler CassityBig 12
Dec. 12Texas A&MLyle HemphillSEC
Dec. 15Iowa StateJesse BobbitBig 12
Dec. 16ArkansasRon RobertsSEC
Dec. 17KentuckyJay BatemanSEC
Dec. 18TexasWill MuschampSEC
Dec. 19PurdueKevin KaneBig Ten
Dec. 21Kansas StateJordan PetersonBig 12
Dec. 26CalMichael HutchingsACC
Dec. 26MichiganJay HillBig Ten
Dec. 29UCLAColin HitschlerBig Ten
Dec. 30Boston CollegeTed RoofACC
Jan. 2, 2026Penn StateD'Anton LynnBig Ten
Jan. 2UtahColton SwanBig 12
Jan. 15OregonChris HamptonBig Ten
Jan. 23USCGary PattersonBig Ten
Feb. 1IllinoisAaron Henry's replacement wasn't hired yetBig Ten
Feb. 6RutgersTravis JohansenBig Ten
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Not sure if you're just being facetious, but there are a few DC's in that list that you can argue are having a worst start in their new schools than Hauck, especially considering the talent that they have and their expectations going in.

Just in the B1G, I would argue that these DC's are having at the very least just as bad a start as Hauck is:
Travis Johansen
Kevin Kane (What if...)

Heck...
Chris Hampton with all that talent
 
#181      
Hingle McCringleberry
Boricua Illini said:
Not sure if you're just being facetious, but there are a few DC's in that list that you can argue are having a worst start in their new schools than Hauck, especially considering the talent that they have and their expectations going in.

Just in the B1G, I would argue that these DC's are having at the very least just as bad a start as Hauck is:
Travis Johansen
Kevin Kane (What if...)

Heck...
Chris Hampton with all that talent
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Full disclosure, I don't have the time to review each every one of these dudes. So maybe I give you couple that are as bad.

But that's not my point, my point is that we waited until AFTER all these guys had already been through the full interview cycle and been hired BEFORE we officially started our search.

And yes, I understand the concept of "unofficial" searches, but that certainly did not pan out for us at all, as our unofficial candidate(s) bailed once our search became official.
 
#182      
spotter
Good effort. Saw some strides. No CFP this year. But a December 27 cold weather bowl game is attainable.
 
#189      
ChiefGritty
ChiefGritty said:
analytically speaking I think it is MUCH MUCH more relevant that he had both (1) never been a defensive coordinator before ever, at any level, in his whole career, and also that he had (2) retired out of contempt with dealing with the realities of the new college football days earlier, than anything to do with him coming from the FCS.
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I'd say this aged rather well
 
#190      
Fly Illini Fly!
Hingle McCringleberry said:
Also, why the F is Bobby Hauck not taking questions after these losses and instead reporters are having to ask Matt Bailey about defensive communication etc...???

I have zero respect for any Coach that makes his players answer for his schematic and communication mistakes.
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I don’t think coordinators take questions after games. They only speak to the media on Mondays.

Bailey doesn’t have any control over what reporters ask him.
 
#191      
the juiceman cometh
DeonThomas said:
Instead, I'd have Josh first raise/surface the extra $20M to $25M we need, and then make decisions on a case by case (player by player) basis.
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Do we really think there was an extra $20 million out there waiting for Josh to pick up the phone and he was just too lazy to do it?

The money outside parties are going to invest in these rosters is not limitless, and I don't think it should shock anyone that people with that kind of money to burn want to be able to see big results.

Seeing a roster you invested in make a Final Four has to be more exciting than being able to say to your buddies that you helped make the Music City Bowl win happen. Boosters are going to want to see their money go towards the program primed to make bigger waves. Right now that's basketball. Even if JW wanted to allocate the NIL money away from basketball to football, I'm not sure he could (he could with revenue share). And I don't think that's a bad thing. Being honest here, maximizing our chances of winning in basketball is worth a few losses in football in the current moment.

Now, I'm sure JW will use these struggles to shake loose some more money from boosters and that would be great. But I don't think we can realistically expect to get close to the more expensive rosters in Big Ten football without taking from the basketball side of things.
 
#192      
BalloonsTheElephant
I never thought we'd were going to win, but I feel like we had chances to make it a game. Missing an open throw to Trimble to get extend a drive and I think missing Dixon in the end zone were plays I feel that Altmyer and Devito make. I like Houser, but he's not at their level when we need to make a play.
 
#193      
RabidDawgClassic
AirTran said:
No - the defense a made number of big plays and the missed sack in the first half changed the complexion of the game. This goes to time of possession and the fact that offensively we strike quick. Our offense is not a ball control offense. The defense is clearly getting better. Even I could see that. I have only been watching Illini football since 1966, but Jeremiah Smith is one of the best football players in the history of college football. Texas couldn't stop him and they had $15mm more to pay for defensive players than we did. Give Ohio State credit, they are a good football team. Our guys competed and didn't give up. But we were outmanned, not outcoached
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What exactly did you see? 🤔🤷🏼‍♂️
 
#195      
Mr. Tibbs
BalloonsTheElephant said:
I never thought we'd were going to win, but I feel like we had chances to make it a game. Missing an open throw to Trimble to get extend a drive and I think missing Dixon in the end zone were plays I feel that Altmyer and Devito make. I like Houser, but he's not at their level when we need to make a play.
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agree DeVito & Altmeyer were both better in their last year here than Houser is so far . 8-9 more games left to play tho .

that said, Houser’s play or lack thereof is NOT the reason we lost . He’s doing a lot and has been a great player for us .
 
#196      
Birdus
Patricia didn't have anything to write home about either. They have to be boiling in some stew. 460 yards. We should have put up more points. Outside of Mannings 4th quarter in 110 degree heat, no one has moved the ball like that against them in a long time.
 
#197      
Illini in Italy
Hingle McCringleberry said:
Today & this season's D is a direct by-product of Brett not managing his DC's very well...bottom line. I love Brett and think he has been the best coach we've had for decades. But the difference between us an upper tier team and an average team in the B1G is consistently our defense.

We had one great year with Ryan Walters (who is a d-bag btw) and it's been underperforming ever since. Aaron Henry was in way over his head, Brett kept him waaaaay too long (due to his very close personal relationship with him).

Brett did not have a good Plan A (poor timing, holding Henry too long after season end and all good DC's were scooped up), Plan B (Seahawk's OLB Coach Partridge that backed out of his verbal commitment to Brett) or any Plan C (nobody).

Now we've got a FCS coach that made less $$ than a lot of high school coaches, and he is trying to run his D at a P4 level and his "system" simply isn't cutting it. The goal-line penalty with our 11th man running off the field on the Duke side of the LOS lost us that game. Now we have 9 men on the field against OSU. OMG, what a disaster. That is 100% on Hauck. Again, another DC in waaay over his head.
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Not even close . . . The highest paid high school coach in the US makes $220K per year. Imperfect info, but it's the highest paid coach reported in public documents. The rest of your point is valid . . .
 
#199      
Battle89
the juiceman cometh said:
Do we really think there was an extra $20 million out there waiting for Josh to pick up the phone and he was just too lazy to do it?

The money outside parties are going to invest in these rosters is not limitless, and I don't think it should shock anyone that people with that kind of money to burn want to be able to see big results.

Seeing a roster you invested in make a Final Four has to be more exciting than being able to say to your buddies that you helped make the Music City Bowl win happen. Boosters are going to want to see their money go towards the program primed to make bigger waves. Right now that's basketball. Even if JW wanted to allocate the NIL money away from basketball to football, I'm not sure he could (he could with revenue share). And I don't think that's a bad thing. Being honest here, maximizing our chances of winning in basketball is worth a few losses in football in the current moment.

Now, I'm sure JW will use these struggles to shake loose some more money from boosters and that would be great. But I don't think we can realistically expect to get close to the more expensive rosters in Big Ten football without taking from the basketball side of things.
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I wrote the below sentence in June of 2024, admittedly before Bret's biggest successes. So if you like, change '17th to 13th' to '13th to 9th' or whatever.

Nonetheless, while it does not feel good for the football team to be struggling like this, we are exactly where I thought we would be in terms of overall funding amounts and to where those limited resources would be allocated.

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