Illini Search

[colin2229]

“Bielema is not a wise choice...I’m going to leave at that!”

“Hire the right coach and I will send kids to Illinois). You must have forgot I sent the two most high profile kids from the St Louis Metro area to Illinois...Christian Morton (Gatorade Player of the year in Missouri) and Terry Hawthorne (Parade All American & Under Armour American)”

Telling comments from coach Sunk at ESTL.

 

[mc140]

He might he a terrible choice but I'm not basing my decision on the ESL coaches thoughts or any specific coach for that matter.

 

[Chicago773]

That thread is interesting, but he (Sunkett) isn't lying...recruit the damn state by hiring the right guy. Can any of these rumored guys recruit the whole state (metro east, Chicago are starting spots aka talent rich)? I'd throw in they need to recruit the 7on7s too!

 

[colin2229]

Seems super odd to fire a HC a few days before signing day. It would only hurt the class - no way it helped.

 

[brucealmighy]

The ESL coach has his own agenda. A few years ago he had players head to schools all over the country that were offered by Lovie but was bent out of shape that Illinois didn’t offer a kid that clearly was not a P5 player. Can’t have it both ways coach if you are “sending” kids to Illinois.

 

[stl705]

I love it. It isn’t about what this or that coach said but bottom line, the next U of I head coach absolutely needs to build positive relationships with the coaches and programs across the entire state. From chicago to St Louis to everywhere in between.

Iowa is closing out another solid season with a roster completely loaded with kids from northern and western Illinois and Northwestern is headed to the big 10 championship game with plenty of Chicagoland athletes.

Which one of the prospective coaches can recruit entire state of IL? Idk the answer but we all know the best fit as coach is the one who can make that happen. Monken has recruited some IL kids doing pretty well at the Academy. Idk if he’s the answer or not, but he’s a name I think would be a good hire.

Regardless, have to be feeling good about Illini AD Whitman’s track record, 1/1 so far with the basketball coach.

 

[brucealmighy]

Regardless, have to be feeling good about Illini AD Whitman’s track record, 1/1 so far with the basketball coach.

He hired Lovie so 1 out of 2.

 

[stl705]

Ok my apologies lol. That’s still better than the pro teams we got in this state.

 

[eireog]

Make a bold statement and buyout Luke Fickell’ s contract.

 

[corey90]

Make a bold statement and buyout Luke Fickell’ s contract.

My number 1 vote would be Urban Meyer if you can talk him out of his current gig. He is a winner and he definitely knows how to recruit. He knows the Big 10. Urban would have an immediate impact on the program. IMO their is no doubt he would make Illinois University a winning program.

 

[PowerI66]

My number 1 vote would be Urban Meyer if you can talk him out of his current gig. He is a winner and he definitely knows how to recruit. He knows the Big 10. Urban would have an immediate impact on the program. IMO their is no doubt he would make Illinois University a winning program.

You might as well go for Saban at that point.

 

[mc140]

Make a bold statement and buyout Luke Fickell’ s contract.

He turned down Michigan st. Doubt he would have interest in U of I.

 

[Wilmatucky]

My number 1 vote would be Urban Meyer if you can talk him out of his current gig. He is a winner and he definitely knows how to recruit. He knows the Big 10. Urban would have an immediate impact on the program. IMO their is no doubt he would make Illinois University a winning program.

Is that a joke?

 

[colin2229]

I want Urban to the Bears. Less than 0% chance he even takes a call w U of I.

Illinois brought in 4 (out of 14) Illinois kids yesterday. A whopping total of 6 last year for their complete class.

This is where it starts in my eyes. Must recruit the state. There are so many farm school kids in our state that get neglected on. They don’t even recruit these schools. Lena Winslow sent three kids to Iowa in the past two years and none of them were recruited by U of I.

There is one coach on staff from Illinois and one from St Louis. Cory Patterson has done a nice job recruiting St Louis for them. But no one cares to recruit this state for them.

Don’t you want kids that take pride in having their home state across their chest? Wisconsin and Iowa do a nice job of getting die hard local kids to be the core of their program. Illinois should look more like these programs.

 

[colin2229]

Would love to see them buyout Fleck (4.5m). Won’t happen but would love to see it. He’d crush it.

 

[eireog]

Would love to see them buyout Fleck (4.5m). Won’t happen but would love to see it. He’d crush it.

Fickell’s buyout is 4 million. I think either one would be a bold statement.

 

[eireog]

He turned down Michigan st. Doubt he would have interest in U of I.

I think I remember hearing that Fickell was wary of all the controversies swirling around Michigan State at the time.

 

[ClownBaby]

He might he a terrible choice but I'm not basing my decision on the ESL coaches thoughts or any specific coach for that matter.

He most likely has an axe to grind since he sent one player to Wisconsin and Bielema tossed him of the team his freshman year. If U of I starts winning does anyone think kids from EStL won’t go there because a high school coach doesn’t like him?

 

[LakeCtyNewt]

Is a move to Illinois from Cincinnati an upgrade in Fickell’s view?
Dude at Buffalo and the coach at Coastal Carolina (Sorry dean) would be high in my list.

Regardless, whoever comes here needs to recruit this state. I can’t remember the last time a high end player in Illinois stayed in state especially skill position guy.

 

[eireog]

Is a move to Illinois from Cincinnati an upgrade in Fickell’s view?
Dude at Buffalo and the coach at Coastal Carolina (Sorry dean) would be high in my list.

Regardless, whoever comes here needs to recruit this state. I can’t remember the last time a high end player in Illinois stayed in state especially skill position guy.

Definitely not now but he could make it one . It’s still the Big Ten.

 

[ramblinman]

I don't care if the next coach recruits Illinois poorly if he can successfully recruit four and five star talent from other states. I do care if he recruits Illinois poorly and all the other states poorly.

I actually like the Urban Meyer idea from the standpoint of going after a successful coach with great national name recognition. Problem is, you aren't going to get anyone like that unless you offer him a package he can't refuse, and I doubt Illinois is willing to do that. Hiring a high profile successful head coach would send a signal to recruits that it's not business as usual at Illinois.

 

[mc140]

Lovie tried to recruit four and five stars from other states. That was his plan and failed miserably. Illinois is not and will never be a national program. You need to lockdown your state.

 

[LakeCtyNewt]

I don't care if the next coach recruits Illinois poorly if he can successfully recruit four and five star talent from other states. I do care if he recruits Illinois poorly and all the other states poorly.

I actually like the Urban Meyer idea from the standpoint of getting a successful coach with great national name recognition. Problem is, you aren't going to get anyone like that unless you offer them a package they can't refuse, and I doubt Illinois is willing to do that. Hiring a high profile successful coach would send a signal to recruits that it's not business as usual at Illinois.

I love the ambitious take on Meyer but my question is, what does Illinois have that would attract a high profile guy like this?

no problem with aiming high, but if you look at many of the top programs in the B10, they all recruit their own states exceptionally well - Iowa and Wisconsin especially.

 

[crusader_of_90]

I posted this in the Lovie thread:

Pivotal February weekend launched what could become Mizzou's highest-rated signing class

In a class that ranked No. 20 at the start of the early signing period, first-year coach Eli Drinkwitz signed eight in-state players, including seven from the St. Louis region.

www.stltoday.com

Drink says if there is kid in the state that is equal to another in Orlando, he WILL get the local kid. He's pulled in a TON from the STL area.

 

[missingwalter]

I love the ambitious take on Meyer but my question is, what does Illinois have that would attract a high profile guy like this?

no problem with aiming high, but if you look at many of the top programs in the B10, they all recruit their own states exceptionally well - Iowa and Wisconsin especially.

According to everything I've heard this week, the upgrade to their facilities is top notch and should be a great recruiting tool.

I like the idea of hiring a carpet bagger for a couple years under the condition Holecek gets a position on staff as the Heir-apparent down the line. Of course, I have no idea if Holecek wants to leave Loyola.

 

[ramblinman]

I love the ambitious take on Meyer but my question is, what does Illinois have that would attract a high profile guy like this?

Power 5 conference affiliation they have. Compensation would need to flow from an institutional commitment to do whatever it takes to turn around a mediocre program.

no problem with aiming high, but if you look at many of the top programs in the B10, they all recruit their own states exceptionally well - Iowa and Wisconsin especially.

IF Illinois were to hire a high profile coach like Meyer, for example, his national name recognition and reputation could best be leveraged by recruiting top tier talent nationally. Can't imagine someone like that coming in and saying that he is going to make a statement by doing a better job of recruiting in a state that generally isn't producing four and five star recruits anywhere close to the same degree as other traditionally talent rich states.

 

[ramblinman]

Lovie tried to recruit four and five stars from other states. That was his plan and failed miserably. Illinois is not and will never be a national program. You need to lockdown your state.

What good does it do to lockdown a state that doesn't have anywhere close to the depth of top talent that other states have? It's like Holecek saying he is going to lockdown Wilmette.

So, because Lovie failed, does that mean that someone else like Meyer or another high profile coach would fail as well?

If you don't aspire to be a national program, then you are doomed to being mid tier, at best, in the Big Ten and grateful to receive invitations to post season games like the Red Box Bowl.

 

[crusader_of_90]

What good does it do to lockdown a state that doesn't have anywhere close to the depth of top talent that other states have? It's like Holecek saying he is going to lockdown Wilmette.

So, because Lovie failed, does that mean that someone else like Meyer or another high profile coach would fail as well?

Landing any of the three ESL stars would have helped, MO and UCLA got them instead. ESL has a trio of linemen going to be juniors. Any or all will do well in the Big 10. Chicago will always produce about six four stars, the the one-off that pops up in the cornfields.

That's 10 studs a year in IL. That makes for a top 20 class.

 

[JCHillmen]

What good does it do to lockdown a state that doesn't have anywhere close to the depth of top talent that other states have?

So, because Lovie failed, does that mean that someone else like Meyer or another high profile coach would fail as well?

100 percent spot on. Illinois prep talent is already "over-recruited" relative to its talent (Holocek just said as much). This is largely because neighboring football powers don't have enough talent in their home states, so they have to come into IL for talent (ND, Michigan, Nebraska, etc).

You do not need to "lock down" IL. In fact, you never will as long as IL is a regional hub of talent in a larger region that struggles to field talent relative to other parts of the nation. You do, however, need to do much better in IL than Lovie did. Although his issue wasn't just Illinois recruiting, but the overall recruiting strategy and effort (or lack thereof).

So you need to do a serviceable job of keeping "some" of the Illinois talent home to supplement a recruiting strategy that utilizes connections in Texas, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, and the mid-Atlantic. Recruiting Illinois is important, but really it is more important to have an effective recruiting strategy that has Illinois as an important piece. The only ones using the "lockdown" words are IL HS coaches and sports writers too lazy to look into the actual facts.

Liepold looks to be the frontrunner. Solid choice, but not a home run for recruiting.

Monken is my personal choice as I think he would do a tremendous job recruiting, building a culture, and scheming.

Bielema is my "do not want." Also lukewarm on Clawson and Lewis.

Although Whitman has a tendency to pull out the surprise swing for the fences and hire a name nobody was mentioning during the search. I don't expect it, but can see a potential emptying of the bank accounts to pull in a premier name (Fickell, Stoops, Meyer, etc.)

Of those I think only Meyer is the immediate difference maker in recruiting, but he is not coming for anything south of 10 million a year, which is not realistic. Especially when he knows he could probably leverage Texas or USC into that kind of coin next year.

 

[LHSTigers94]

The ESL coach has his own agenda. A few years ago he had players head to schools all over the country that were offered by Lovie but was bent out of shape that Illinois didn’t offer a kid that clearly was not a P5 player. Can’t have it both ways coach if you are “sending” kids to Illinois.

That NEVER happened!! Ask before assuming.

 

[ramblinman]

Landing any of the three ESL stars would have helped, MO and UCLA got them instead. ESL has a trio of linemen going to be juniors. Any or all will do well in the Big 10. Chicago will always produce about six four stars, the the one-off that pops up in the cornfields.

That's 10 studs a year in IL. That makes for a top 20 class.

Sure, if Illinois were to get all 10, but that isn't realistic. No university 100% locks down their own state. Does Texas get all the top Texas studs? Georgia the Georgia studs? OSU the Ohio studs?

 

[missingwalter]

Sure, if Illinois were to get all 10, but that isn't realistic. No university 100% locks down their own state. Does Texas get all the top Texas studs? Georgia the Georgia studs? OSU the Ohio studs?

I'd settle for a couple of them each year.

 

[crusader_of_90]

Sure, if Illinois were to get all 10, but that isn't realistic. No university 100% locks down their own state. Does Texas get all the top Texas studs? Georgia the Georgia studs? OSU the Ohio studs?

So MO is a hotbed producing more than IL? Mizzou locked down MO.

Eli Drinkwitz planted the seeds to his first full Missouri football recruiting class the first weekend in February when Mizzou welcomed several high school juniors on campus.

From those weekend visitors, the Tigers landed East St. Louis quarterback Tyler Macon and wide receiver Dominic Lovett, De Smet defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, Washington tight end Ryan Hoerstkamp as well as offensive lineman Connor Tollison, from Jackson, Missouri.

In late April came a big one, defensive end Travion Ford. If there’s a headliner in this class it could be the edge rusher from Lutheran North. He’s one of five four-star prospects in the class, as rated by Rivals.com — a class that ranked No. 20 nationally as of Wednesday night.

Counting the two standouts from East St. Louis — Macon and Lovett — the Tigers landed eight players the staff considered in-state targets, including Ford, Hoerstkamp, Wingo, Butts, Tollison and Trinity Catholic safety Tyler Hibbler.

 

[missingwalter]

So MO is a hotbed producing more than IL? Mizzou locked down MO.

Eli Drinkwitz planted the seeds to his first full Missouri football recruiting class the first weekend in February when Mizzou welcomed several high school juniors on campus.

From those weekend visitors, the Tigers landed East St. Louis quarterback Tyler Macon and wide receiver Dominic Lovett, De Smet defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, Washington tight end Ryan Hoerstkamp as well as offensive lineman Connor Tollison, from Jackson, Missouri.

In late April came a big one, defensive end Travion Ford. If there’s a headliner in this class it could be the edge rusher from Lutheran North. He’s one of five four-star prospects in the class, as rated by Rivals.com — a class that ranked No. 20 nationally as of Wednesday night.

Counting the two standouts from East St. Louis — Macon and Lovett — the Tigers landed eight players the staff considered in-state targets, including Ford, Hoerstkamp, Wingo, Butts, Tollison and Trinity Catholic safety Tyler Hibbler.

But Macon and Lovett aren't In-state products, no matter how much he considers them to be.

 

[johnndoe]

I question the wisdom of stocking a roster too heavily with student-athletes from the State of IL at this particular time. Academically, many will soon be about 2 years behind in grade level equivalents for Math and English making college work all that much more difficult. Athletically, interruptions/eliminations of normal weight training, conditioning, summer contact days, 7-on7/linemen challenges, practice time and actual game competitions would seem to put IL high school prospects on unequal footing compared to many of their out-of-state counterparts.

 

[crusader_of_90]

So they got the SIX top MO players. And IL should produce about 10, give or take.

 

[mc140]

Macon is a Missouri kid. He transfered to East St. Louis from Trinity. Lovett is also a transfer but went to one of the Bellvilles.

 

[mc140]

Illinois needs to stop losing in state kids kids to Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri. You stop most of that you have a 7-8 win team every year. Going down to Texas or Florida and beating UT- San Antonio and Florida Atlantic for kids is not going to help you.

 

[colin2229]

There is plenty of talent in Illinois. I refuse to accept the thought otherwise.

The Illini DID NOT GET ONE TOP 30 PLAYER IN THE STATE from this 2021 class - Rivals IL top 2021
Not one is 2020 class - Rivals IL top 2020
(2) for the 2019 class - Rivals IL top 2019
(2) for the 2018 class - IL Rivals top 2018

they didn't even offer the #1 in the state a scholarship!!! MAC UIHLEIN & he's going to NW. He's not going to OSU, Alabama, USC, etc. He's going to NW and not even an offer from U of I???

Their highest rated recruit, QB Samair Collier...chose U of I over Toledo and New Mexico St.
Their recruit that got the most pub in the newspapers yesterday was Olin Kreutz boy OL Josh Kreutz. I hope he is a heck of a player but he didn't have one other power 5 offer.

J.J. McCarthy never even took a visit there. But did visit NW (2x) & WI.

Indiana, Minnesota, Purude, Wisconsin, Toledo, NIU, NW, Iowa, Western Freakin Michigan all come in and out recruit U of I in their own state each year.



There is loads of talent here in Illinois. They would be a heck of a program if they would spend some time recruiting it. No reason they couldn't have 50% of their class each year be Illinois kids and have a top 25 program.

 

[ramblinman]

So MO is a hotbed producing more than IL? Mizzou locked down MO.

Eli Drinkwitz planted the seeds to his first full Missouri football recruiting class the first weekend in February when Mizzou welcomed several high school juniors on campus.

From those weekend visitors, the Tigers landed East St. Louis quarterback Tyler Macon and wide receiver Dominic Lovett, De Smet defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, Washington tight end Ryan Hoerstkamp as well as offensive lineman Connor Tollison, from Jackson, Missouri.

In late April came a big one, defensive end Travion Ford. If there’s a headliner in this class it could be the edge rusher from Lutheran North. He’s one of five four-star prospects in the class, as rated by Rivals.com — a class that ranked No. 20 nationally as of Wednesday night.

Counting the two standouts from East St. Louis — Macon and Lovett — the Tigers landed eight players the staff considered in-state targets, including Ford, Hoerstkamp, Wingo, Butts, Tollison and Trinity Catholic safety Tyler Hibbler.

You do realize you are arguing out of both sides of your mouth, right? In a previous post, you included ESL within your average of 10 studs per year in Illinois. In the post above, you are counting them in MO.