The Illinois Football Coaching Search
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I always enjoy when message board posters project their thoughts and desires on to those of 18 year old kids. "Well, I will only get excited if the new coach is someone that I watched play for Illinois years ago and makes me feel young again, so surely 18 year olds all across the country will only want to attend Illinois if they too can play for an alumni!"
London is not three hours from Buffalo even by car. Detroit is barely more than three hours (if that) and London is about halfway between.
RedRocksIllini
- Morrison, CO
Made me go and look it up. I think we've only had consecutive 8+ win seasons once (under Mackovic) since the early 1900's. This made me very sad.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Per Google maps, Detroit to Buffalo is a touch over four hours (255 miles). London is just about halfway between those two cities.
Clark Lea probably getting vandy job. He did play fullback there so it makes sense.
No where did I say that...
Understanding Illinois Athletics is important for the realistic opportunities to win for the new coach. Kids want to play for someone that cares about them, wins, can get them to the next level, and most importantly does it in an exciting and fun way. And yes, I know this. I've sent several kids to play at the D1, II, and other levels. I've sat in rooms listening to pitches and sat with families afterwards to hear the thoughts and what schools have to offer.
Deleted member 747671
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2 guys I find more interesting that most are Bielema and Butch Jones. This is probably pointless because Bielema has baggage and Jones just got hired by Arkansas State. But both guys are midwest guys that had great success at midwest schools. Then, for whatever reason (big money/SEC) they decided to test their luck in the SEC. Both struggled the first year, then had modest success for 3 years, then collapsed to 4 wins and got fired. I think there's something to a "comfort zone" argument. I think both are good enough coaches that I'm surprised midwest teams have not given them a chance. I really think they were just not comfortable/prepared for the SEC. Both are in their early 50s and have latched on with the 2 best coaches in the game: Bielema with Belichick and Jones with Saban. They both have tons of HC experience, dominated in the midwest, and now work with 2 best football coaches alive. I think these guys are overlooked and would work really well at Illinois.
Deleted member 380722
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KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
If we hired Bielema, I'd probably want Whitman to be fired. Of course, after 3 years when he's failed here, he would probably get fired anyway, so. Let's not go down that path please.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Not interested in someone who takes over a great program and maintains success for one season.
As to the recruiting, I’d guess that is in large part because of the types of recruits Monken has brought in at Army but probably more applicable what Johnson brought in at Ga Tech. Johnson had only a handful of 4 stars in his years at GT.
As to would it work in B1G, I think the ceiling is .500 conf record. Now that is better than Illini have been doing, so that is a plus, but if we aspire to get to Iowa’s level year in and year out I don’t think the triple will do it. I base that on GT being about .500 in conference during Johnson’s last 4 years when the ACC had improved overall. Not that they were a terrible conference prior to that, but not at the level of B1G these days. I’d also point to GT’s 3-6 bowl record under Johnson.
The wildcard is how much would Monken be willing to change the offense — and how successful would he be with a new “hybrid” offense. Seems to be a good coach, but I don’t think you hire a coach with the thought of him changing the offense that has led to his success that put him on your radar in the first place. He would have to be head and shoulders above other choices, and I don’t think he is.
100% support you! Most DCs tend to be ultra conservative on offense and line coaches are right behind them. Athletes are too big, fast, and strong to play smash mouth football in this day and age. It is also boring. I would much rather lose a game 52-49 than 6-3. Coaches will also stack the front against those types of offenses.
Not particularly interested in Monken. Less than zero interest in the triple option offense. Watching that crap is like watching peewee soccer, it's just a mass of kids around the ball hovering around the field like a flying saucer. The only reason people watch that is because their kids are playing.
Also hiring a coach who says he will change his offensive philosophy when he gets here is setting things up for disaster.
Also hiring a coach who says he will change his offensive philosophy when he gets here is setting things up for disaster.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
So can every human. But there's a difference between Bielema and Lovie beyond "they can both be a-holes!". And if we don't care about the differences then let's get in the mud and hire someone who has a better record than Bielema and stop having the AD mention integrity.
What a weird stance....
Does the fact that most of the schools in the B1G use to run a triple option and no longer do make any sense to you. Perhaps they realized that they could no longer be successful with it. There is also no guarantee that we could compete with it.
Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
I'd bet my house it will not be Bielema.
NS might make sense in the wishing game, and I get the appeal for some (though I’d be less than enthused with the hire) But for the guessing game it makes very little sense. I just can’t see JW going that direction when he is replacing a first hire that didn’t work out. Might make a little more sense if JW was hired today, but he has to hit on this hire and NS is way too big of a crap shoot.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
I do not understand Illinois athletics and I have been an Illini fan for 40 + years!
WRT Monken changing from triple option, I'm reminded of Roy Acuff's advice to new arrivals at the Opry: "Sing the song that brung ya "
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