The Illinois Football Coaching Search

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#926      

PackofIllini12

PackofIllini12
PackofIllini12
ponchog said:
I don't dislike him as a coach, it just reminds me of what we have already been through. If we are looking at recent success, he is finishing his 7th year with a 4 and 4 record, with losses to NC state and Louisville. I am in favor of an upward projection after 7 years in. Energy and youth can build quickly.
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NC State is ranked
He went toe to toe with UNC (gag, but ranked)
He lost to Clemson (Ranked)

Beat solid VA Tech & UVA teams (both were ranked at some point this year)

I have said before the amount of opt-outs he had this year and that, as an NC State grad, I have a very real fear of lowly Wake.

Keep in mind, that North Carolina has the following D1 schools for football: NC State, UNC, Wake, Duke, East Carolina, UNC Charlotte, & App State

Sign me up!
 
#927      

othawhitemeat

O
othawhitemeat
Lake Camelot said:
I will admit I could not be more negative on Beilema. But I can"t see him being the choice by Whitman either. Why would he mention the new hire showing character? Nobody forced those comments and It just doesn't match up with that choice. I am not buying the new poster knowing anything. I still think Liepold or Monken are most likely. But there are probably two dozen possibilities.
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This is exactly it. If Josh emphasizes character, I just can't get on board with Beilema. I'm not here to judge as I am guilty of a lot of wrongdoings. However, usually at 2 stops he has rubbed people the wrong way.
 
#930      

SuperMetroid

SuperMetroid
Evanston
SuperMetroid
IlliniCaboose said:
We're so thirsty to be mediocre that Bielema will always do just well enough to never get fired. He'll go 4-8 to 7-5 every year with the occasional 8 win year to keep us hoping. And for that people will want a statue of this oaf. If he's so good how are we even able to get him? Everyone knows who he is so why hasn't he taken another college HC job yet? Either no one is pursuing him, bad sign, or he doesn't want the grind that comes with being a college HC anymore, also bad sign. Maybe he's waiting for the right job to open up? I doubt anyone who has already been a HC in the B1G and the SEC would ever consider Illinois to be the right job, a job worth waiting for. Most likely thing is no one else wants him, and for good reason.
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This sums up my gut feeling that Bielema would be a high-floor, low-ceiling kind of hire. I think he'd be able to put together a competent enough staff to avoid the 2-win dumpster fire type seasons, but I don't see him making us a perennial contender either.
 
#932      

ponchog

ponchog
ponchog
PackofIllini12 said:
NC State is ranked
He went toe to toe with UNC (gag, but ranked)
He lost to Clemson (Ranked)

Beat solid VA Tech & UVA teams (both were ranked at some point this year)

I have said before the amount of opt-outs he had this year and that, as an NC State grad, I have a very real fear of lowly Wake.

Keep in mind, that North Carolina has the following D1 schools for football: NC State, UNC, Wake, Duke, East Carolina, UNC Charlotte, & App State

Sign me up!
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If we are talking about NC State, what ever happened to the Dave Doeren talk in years past? He was at NIU before heading to NCSt. 78-49 career record, only 49 years old, from Kansas so not too terribly far from the midwest.
 
#933      

Ander1345

A
Ander1345
JFGsCoffeeMug said:
For anyone who is curious, illini0440's previous avatar was Tim Beckman. Now it's Jim Leonhard, current Defensive Coordinator/DBs coach for Wisconsin. Read into that whatever you will.
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Assuming this is the actual I'll just say I was hoping for something more exciting.
 
#934      

PackofIllini12

PackofIllini12
PackofIllini12
ponchog said:
If we are talking about NC State, what ever happened to the Dave Doeren talk in years past? He was at NIU before heading to NCSt. 78-49 career record, only 49 years old, from Kansas so not too terribly far from the midwest.
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I brought that up previously (Proud NCSU grad)

Unfortunately for Illinois, DD isn't going anywhere. Very happy living in Raleighwood
 
#936      

KrushCow31

KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
KrushCow31
SuperMetroid said:
This sums up my gut feeling that Bielema would be a high-floor, low-ceiling kind of hire. I think he'd be able to put together a competent enough staff to avoid the 2-win dumpster fire type seasons, but I don't see him making us a perennial contender either.
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I'd just be bored. It wouldn't get me running to buy season tickets or drive down for games. It's old hat. It's just another old coach who is doing an NFL rehab stint after getting trounced in the SEC. He has no history of being a dynamic recruiter. Nobody at his old schools are reminiscing about "the Bielema years". He doesn't run some impressive offense that is gonna highlight IW. He doesn't have amazing coordinators he could bring along or that he's developed at other colleges. There's just nothing there for me. It's a boring hire to me. Sure I guess I'll go to homecoming, but I doubt I'll be driving down for games other than that.
 
#938      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
SuperMetroid said:
This sums up my gut feeling that Bielema would be a high-floor, low-ceiling kind of hire. I think he'd be able to put together a competent enough staff to avoid the 2-win dumpster fire type seasons, but I don't see him making us a perennial contender eit
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That sums up my feeling as well. I think we'll compete at a little more consistent level but will never breakthrough as a program. He is a native Illinois guy, knows the B1G, and has some good experience with college and NFL. Is it bad that I keep comparing him to Charlie Wies? I just have this fear it'll turn into the Kansas debacle (I lived in KC when Wies was there, it was just abysmal - he was a horrible coach for them)
 
#940      

bdutts

bdutts
Houston, Texas
bdutts
the national said:
Is it bad that I keep comparing him to Charlie Wies? I just have this fear it'll turn into the Kansas debacle (I lived in KC when Wies was there, it was just abysmal - he was a horrible coach for them)
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Worse than Illinois has been?
 
#941      

ponchog

ponchog
ponchog
PackofIllini12 said:
I brought that up previously (Proud NCSU grad)

Unfortunately for Illinois, DD isn't going anywhere. Very happy living in Raleighwood
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Is he still making 3.25 mil a year? He might think differently for a pay raise!
 
#942      

OrangeAndBlueBlooded

O
OrangeAndBlueBlooded
FollowMeDontFollowMe said:
Not trying to troll, honestly. But, we'll see what happens today. Not claiming insider status, and have no connections to staff, but have some info and running with it.

I don't know his history at Arkansas, and why he was fired, or any of that controversey, but just looking at the football aspect it makes sense.

Past success in Big10, has successfully recruited Illinois, improved Arkansas from 0-8 to 5-3 in SEC his first 3 years there, NFL experience under Belichick.
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See below, what impresses about his time at Arkansas? The 0-8 year actually belonged to him so technically he improved from 2-6 to 5-3 and then fell off again.

His winless SEC record was the first time for the school since 1942.

I don't get the love.


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#943      

Ander1345

A
Ander1345
OrangeAndBlueBlooded said:
See below, what impresses about his time at Arkansas? The 0-8 year actually belonged to him so technically he improved from 2-6 to 5-3 and then fell off again.

His winless SEC record was the first time for the school since 1942.

I don't get the love.


View attachment 6811
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This year by year tells me that Arkansas is constantly looking to magically win... wow.

Though I guess one of thise is scandal year so nvm.
 
#944      

PackofIllini12

PackofIllini12
PackofIllini12
DD did that with the Tennessee job a few yrs ago and he has a $6.6 Million buy-out currently

Not saying it couldn't happen, but I would wager it is unlikely to happen. Illinois would have to pick up his $6.6M & pay him more than $3.25M, all while paying Lovie $2.3M not to coach.

That's roughly $12M for a coach and frankly, DD isn't worth that.
 
#945      

Deleted member 747671

D
Guest
Deleted member 747671
I could be way off, but I see Bielema and Leonhard as having higher ceilings than Clawson, primarily due to perceiving those 2 as stronger recruiters. I see Clawson as having a higher floor though and think he'd bring real stability and competitiveness. I don't hate any candidate honestly. If it's Monken, I'd be most concerned but still think he could work.
 
#946      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
ponchog said:
Please no! With Clawson as their offensive coordinator, Tennessee suffered its worst statistical offensive season in over 30 years.

His career record is 130-122. Not exactly lighting a fire under the excitement box. I don't love the Lewis hire, but I would rather take a chance on a guy who might energize our program with youth and energy. I would not want to make this decision (actually yes I would), can't please all of us know it all fans!
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I don’t much about him other than what has been posted on here, but it does seem like a JW type hire. As to his overall record, if you throw out his first year record at each of his stops (given he was going into rebuilding situations each time that doesn’t seem unreasonable), his record is a much more respectable 117-88. His record and recruiting at Wake do give me some concern, but Wake is a tough gig.

Looking at the last few of his recruiting classes, there are quite a few recruits from NC, so he does seem to value in-state recruiting. Not much in the way of recruits from the traditional B1G footprint — noticed 3 players from OH and 1 from MO and IL (freshman PK) each on roster — but seems to tap MD and NJ a fair amount with 11 and 5 on the roster respectively from those states. Also has a fair amount of players from GA with 18 on the roster. I know that has been a recent priority state for Illini, but not sure if that was strictly coaches related.
 
#948      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
For whatever it's worth on Clawson, his offensive system very substantially changed in the middle of his Wake Forest tenure. He's always been a fairly new-school spread passing guy, but they went from middle of the pack to being the #1 tempo team in the nation.

Same OC, and the W-L results didn't change radically, but it's very different to watch than what he'd been doing previously. Fast fast fast.

Clawson is a good coach, I'd be happy with that. Wake's not a bad job per se, it's a humble little private school where he can have the job forever if he wants it, but it's never going to be a place with big ambitions in football.
 
#949      

Keisersose

Keisersose
Keisersose
I see clawson as a safe hire. Will usually win the games he should win, team won’t beat itself. Won’t embarrass the program. Solid, but maybe not spectacular. Will come down to recruiting.

Bielema is more of a boom or bust IMO. It would be all about if he can can get buy in from fans, coaches, and most importantly recruits.

Leonhard is a wildcard. Could be our Matt Campbell? Could be a guy that ends up a better coordinator than HC.

Excited to see where Josh goes.
 
#950      

OrangeSoda

OrangeSoda
OrangeSoda
ponchog said:
I don't dislike him as a coach, it just reminds me of what we have already been through. If we are looking at recent success, he is finishing his 7th year with a 4 and 4 record, with losses to NC state and Louisville. I am in favor of an upward projection after 7 years in. Energy and youth can build quickly.
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Reminds you of what we've already been through? How? If Lovie or any recent coach had the consistency that Clawson has had we would have built a statue for them. And Wake Forest is arguably one of the only P5 jobs worse than Illinois.

2016Wake Forest7–63–5T–4th (Atlantic)W Military
2017Wake Forest8–54–4T–3rd (Atlantic)W Belk
2018Wake Forest7–63–5T–5th (Atlantic)W Birmingham
2019Wake Forest8–54–4T–3rd (Atlantic)L Pinstripe
2020Wake Forest4–33–3
 
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