The Illini

[SWsuburbs4]

Lovie may be a great guy but its hard to recruit Illinois when you don't go the best conferences. I know for a fact that ILLINOIS has not visited the DVC at all! I can't speak on the ESCC or the CCL, but he isn't even getting good recruits in Florida and Texas. He is getting the leftovers. NIU is killing the state with getting the top Illinois kids. I find it hard to believe that there are only 3 in state kids that can play at Illinois. Lovie and his staff can't evaluate talent and can't recruit.

This is laughable. NIU "killing" it currently with the 80th ranked recruiting class and Lovie can't recruit when Illinois ranks 48th. Lovie just locked up the best 3 recruits Illinois has gotten in the past 5 years.

People love to hate on Lovie Smith. How the Bears' doin' since he got ran out?

 

[UlbKA91]

This is laughable. NIU "killing" it currently with the 80th ranked recruiting class and Lovie can't recruit when Illinois ranks 48th. Lovie just locked up the best 3 recruits Illinois has gotten in the past 5 years.

People love to hate on Lovie Smith. How the Bears' doin' since he got ran out?

This seems like the Mike Davis era at IU hoops in that he did well everywhere but within Indiana.

 

[ClownBaby]

Lovie doing house cleaning firing his Offensive Cordinator and DB Coach

https://www.google.com/amp/www.chic...i-garrick-mcgee-fired-20171223-story,amp.html

 

[greatgig13]

And 0-7 in Big 10 basketball...

 

[PanthersWildcats86]

Illinois needs to do three things to greatly Improve:

1. Settle on an offensive system & QB. Jeff George Jr. & Cam Thomas are not interchangeable...you either go with the dropback for Jr.'s arm or read option spread for Thomas's feet...The young offensive line will not improve if they can't settle on a system...And then recruit QB's for the system...and send the other QB packing to ISU, or SIU, or EIU...

2. Undertake and complete the performance center improvements ASAP...And to think the program for the Louisville opener in 1986 thought the football locker room/weight room/administrative staff addition to the stadium would be good for "Another 60 years"...lol as they are on what, the third addition....

3. Student involvement. Somehow Whitman has to get the students back to the Stadium. Moving them to the new endzone seats clearly has been a failure. I'd tarp over the north endzone seats until they were needed, put the students back where they were in the east side. The secondary market for bad nonconference games starts at $3; $6 for the Rutgers/Purdue type games. Maybe they need to look at the Big Ten Office and tell them they need more Michigan & OSU games in Champaign (I've been to plenty of 70,000+ attended games against good teams). Reality is that if Notre Dame, whose season ticket wait list is enormous, is advertising for single game ticket sales that the Illini are in trouble...with students & the general public...

Surprisingly, somebody somewhere is listening to me in Champaign...saw a quip in the Sun-Times where Jeff George Jr. is transferring and the other QB's are quitting, leaving Cam Thomas as the only QB left on scholarship...

 

[wm4]

Surprisingly, somebody somewhere is listening to me in Champaign...saw a quip in the Sun-Times where Jeff George Jr. is transferring and the other QB's are quitting, leaving Cam Thomas as the only QB left on scholarship...

Reality is that Jeff George Jr. is a turnover machine who should not be a starting QB at the FCS level. Not at all surprising that he's moving on. And Chayce Crouch, while a tremendous teammate and great kid, just is not a very good passer, and that's stating it kindly. After this year, where Lovie was forced to make do with these two because there was nobody else, it's very clear both had no future opportunity w/ Lovie and Illinois. That leaves Cam Thomas as the only scholarship QB on the roster going in to the spring. Hardly ideal, but it is what it is. They have an incoming 3* QB dual threat from Texas (Rivers), who has potential, and Lovie just hired Arizona's QB coach who's had decent success developing dual threat QB's.

 

[LHSTigers94]

Rebuilding is not easy, hopefully it will work out.

 

[wm4]

Rebuilding is not easy, hopefully it will work out.

This really is akin to Theo and the Cubs rebuild in terms of patience needed and the timeline required to tear it down and rebuild it.

 

[ClownBaby]

Rebuilding is not easy, hopefully it will work out.

Losing 15 players this off season is a terrible sign, yes new coaches have guys leave after taking over but that should have happened after year 1 not year 2. Add in the terrible recruiting and you are probably looking at a 2 win season next year.

 

[wm4]

Losing 15 players this off season is a terrible sign, yes new coaches have guys leave after taking over but that should have happened after year 1 not year 2. Add in the terrible recruiting and you are probably looking at a 2 win season next year.

Right, which is why the view of the program achieving notable improvements is 2019 (Lovie's 3rd year of coaching his guys).

 

[LHSTigers94]

Losing 15 players this off season is a terrible sign, yes new coaches have guys leave after taking over but that should have happened after year 1 not year 2. Add in the terrible recruiting and you are probably looking at a 2 win season next year.

This is exactly why I said hopefully. Everything I see and hear seem to be negative however, they may know something I don't.

 

[ClownBaby]

This is exactly why I said hopefully. Everything I see and hear seem to be negative however, they may know something I don't.

If they go out an win only 1-2 games next year they should strongly consider making a coaching change. I thought Lovie was a terrible hire but was giving him a chance and things have actually gotten worse which is hard to believe.

 

[wm4]

If they go out an win only 1-2 games next year they should strongly consider making a coaching change. I thought Lovie was a terrible hire but was with giving a chance and things have actually gotten worse which is hard to believe.

Lovie has assessed the need to completely tear down and rebuild the program. Whitman is keeping a close eye on things and to this point is giving Lovie all the room he needs to execute his plan. I personally don't know if Lovie can turn it around in 2-3 more years, but I can tell you that Whitman remains fully committed to Lovie's plan. Fans don't like it, they're frustrated with a decade + of awful football, but this is the course they're on.

 

[LHSTigers94]

If they go out an win only 1-2 games next year they should strongly consider making a coaching change. I thought Lovie was a terrible hire but was with giving a chance and things have actually gotten worse which is hard to believe.

It is somewhat embarrassing.

 

[LHSTigers94]

Lovie has assessed the need to completely tear down and rebuild the program. Whitman is keeping a close eye on things and to this point is giving Lovie all the room he needs to execute his plan. I personally don't know if Lovie can turn it around in 2-3 more years, but I can tell you that Whitman remains fully committed to Lovie's plan. Fans don't like it, they're frustrated with a decade + of awful football, but this is the course they're on.

You can't rebuild a roster by recruiting QB's that can't win on the High School level.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

This program is a train wreck. Lovie may be a fine gentleman, but he was out if the college game a long time. His strategy seems to be all over the place. He hired mostly his buddies from Pro connections. They sold McGee as an offensive guru and canned him two years into the rebuild. Word is many of the players weren’t fond of him.

A lot of Illinois prospects were offered late in the process and opening mocked an alleged offer to an eight grader in California. A lot of Chicago area coaches claim the staff isn’t around much and by many accounts hasn’t endeared itself to these connections. So now, they suddenly seem to be offering every 2019 Illinois prospect in an attempt change course. Whipsaw approach again.

They dumped a QB recruit out of Georgia when they got a verbal commit from a kid they like better as a second QB to Taylor from Peoria. Way to endear yourself to that kid and coach. Speaking of Taylor, he didn’t sign in the first period allegedly for grades. He booted the Oswego kid that ended up at NIU for grades. They thought they had their 2018 QB from a JUCO. Guess what grades prevented him from enrolling. What kind of due diligence does this staff do when making and accepting an offer?

Lovie was touting how Illinois was going into the St. Louis Metro and take top talent there in 2018. Laid the big goose egg, so now he goes and hires the head coach of Trinity as an Assistant. Big raise and an expectation to bring the STL talent along with him, something Lovie failed to do.

So tell me again now why a top flight in state kid would want to go to Illinois or a coach would endorse sending his prospects to Illinois when they see this plan going sideways.

 

[greatgig13]

This program is a train wreck. Lovie may be a fine gentleman, but he was out if the college game a long time. His strategy seems to be all over the place. He hired mostly his buddies from Pro connections. They sold McGee as an offensive guru and canned him two years into the rebuild. Word is many of the players weren’t fond of him.

A lot of Illinois prospects were offered late in the process and opening mocked an alleged offer to an eight grader in California. A lot of Chicago area coaches claim the staff isn’t around much and by many accounts hasn’t endeared itself to these connections. So now, they suddenly seem to be offering every 2019 Illinois prospect in an attempt change course. Whipsaw approach again.

They dumped a QB recruit out of Georgia when they got a verbal commit from a kid they like better as a second QB to Taylor from Peoria. Way to endear yourself to that kid and coach. Speaking of Taylor, he didn’t sign in the first period allegedly for grades. He booted the Oswego kid that ended up at NIU for grades. They thought they had their 2018 QB from a JUCO. Guess what grades prevented him from enrolling. What kind of due diligence does this staff do when making and accepting an offer?

Lovie was touting how Illinois was going into the St. Louis Metro and take top talent there in 2018. Laid the big goose egg, so now he goes and hires the head coach of Trinity as an Assistant. Big raise and an expectation to bring the STL talent along with him, something Lovie failed to do.

So tell me again now why a top flight in state kid would want to go to Illinois or a coach would endorse sending his prospects to Illinois when they see this plan going sideways.

I suspect most kids choose Illinois for the education. If they really thought they were good enough to go pro, they’d go elsewhere. Why not get a degree from a good school and play a little football? I started this thread because I can’t believe how far the program has fallen and that’s my beef. I don’t belittle the kids in anyway in their decisions to play there.

 

[PowerI66]

This program is a train wreck. Lovie may be a fine gentleman, but he was out if the college game a long time. His strategy seems to be all over the place. He hired mostly his buddies from Pro connections. They sold McGee as an offensive guru and canned him two years into the rebuild. Word is many of the players weren’t fond of him.

A lot of Illinois prospects were offered late in the process and opening mocked an alleged offer to an eight grader in California. A lot of Chicago area coaches claim the staff isn’t around much and by many accounts hasn’t endeared itself to these connections. So now, they suddenly seem to be offering every 2019 Illinois prospect in an attempt change course. Whipsaw approach again.

They dumped a QB recruit out of Georgia when they got a verbal commit from a kid they like better as a second QB to Taylor from Peoria. Way to endear yourself to that kid and coach. Speaking of Taylor, he didn’t sign in the first period allegedly for grades. He booted the Oswego kid that ended up at NIU for grades. They thought they had their 2018 QB from a JUCO. Guess what grades prevented him from enrolling. What kind of due diligence does this staff do when making and accepting an offer?

Lovie was touting how Illinois was going into the St. Louis Metro and take top talent there in 2018. Laid the big goose egg, so now he goes and hires the head coach of Trinity as an Assistant. Big raise and an expectation to bring the STL talent along with him, something Lovie failed to do.

So tell me again now why a top flight in state kid would want to go to Illinois or a coach would endorse sending his prospects to Illinois when they see this plan going sideways.

1st post since joining 3 years ago and laying this down. Love it.

 

[wm4]

<<So tell me again now why a top flight in state kid would want to go to Illinois or a coach would endorse sending his prospects to Illinois when they see this plan going sideways.>>

Gotta start somewhere. Verdis Brown was a great get for this class. Yes it's just one, but it's a kid who measured all the things you said, and still decided to go to Illinois.

 

[LHSTigers94]

I suspect most kids choose Illinois for the education. If they really thought they were good enough to go pro, they’d go elsewhere. Why not get a degree from a good school and play a little football? I started this thread because I can’t believe how far the program has fallen and that’s my beef. I don’t belittle the kids in anyway in their decisions to play there.

I don't believe his post belittle any kid that want to attend Illinois. It is very accurate in terms of football.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

1st post since joining 3 years ago and laying this down. Love it.

Yes, first post on Edgy. I didn’t expect my opinion to be popular on Edgy’s board focusing on IllinoisHS athletes.

My point is I think Lovie has made a bunch of “rookie” mistakes because of his unfamiliarity with the college game. He knows the Pro game and has success there, it remains to be seen if that translates to the college game. Herm Edwards will fac a similar challenge. Now contrast that to Underwood, who has the college pedigree. He results have been poor too, but it is obvious to see in the BBall program there is progress and the Illini will be back shortly in the B1G.

Since this is an Illinois HS board, I would think the focus would be on how the state flagship retains a good percentage of the top players and develops relationships with HS programs. IMO, up until now there has been a weak plan that is poorly executed.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

<<So tell me again now why a top flight in state kid would want to go to Illinois or a coach would endorse sending his prospects to Illinois when they see this plan going sideways.>>

Gotta start somewhere. Verdis Brown was a great get for this class. Yes it's just one, but it's a kid who measured all the things you said, and still decided to go to Illinois.

Yes exactly the wins Lovie needs to change the results.

 

[LHSTigers94]

This program is a train wreck. Lovie may be a fine gentleman, but he was out if the college game a long time. His strategy seems to be all over the place. He hired mostly his buddies from Pro connections. They sold McGee as an offensive guru and canned him two years into the rebuild. Word is many of the players weren’t fond of him.

A lot of Illinois prospects were offered late in the process and opening mocked an alleged offer to an eight grader in California. A lot of Chicago area coaches claim the staff isn’t around much and by many accounts hasn’t endeared itself to these connections. So now, they suddenly seem to be offering every 2019 Illinois prospect in an attempt change course. Whipsaw approach again.

They dumped a QB recruit out of Georgia when they got a verbal commit from a kid they like better as a second QB to Taylor from Peoria. Way to endear yourself to that kid and coach. Speaking of Taylor, he didn’t sign in the first period allegedly for grades. He booted the Oswego kid that ended up at NIU for grades. They thought they had their 2018 QB from a JUCO. Guess what grades prevented him from enrolling. What kind of due diligence does this staff do when making and accepting an offer?

Lovie was touting how Illinois was going into the St. Louis Metro and take top talent there in 2018. Laid the big goose egg, so now he goes and hires the head coach of Trinity as an Assistant. Big raise and an expectation to bring the STL talent along with him, something Lovie failed to do.

So tell me again now why a top flight in state kid would want to go to Illinois or a coach would endorse sending his prospects to Illinois when they see this plan going sideways.

As a person from the STL area, I knew and posted that they will fail in terms of getting those 18 kids. Hiring Patterson will pretty much guarantee getting the four Trinity kids who have played for him since they were 6 or 7. Outside of that, Patterson hasn't been coaching High School long enough to have the respect of STL where coaches will push their kids to him. On the flip side, he is a good guy so no one will be negative towards him at all. In short, Illinois really need to learn how to recruit and step their game up.

 

[jwarigaku]

Clown,

I couldn't agree more with you and the problems keep getting worse and telltale of a house in trouble. Nate Scheelhaase has made a decision to make a lateral move to coach the RBs at Iowa State. I realize that Coach Golesh is there and there are other connections at Iowa State from the prior staff but when you leave your AlmaMater for a recovering program it speaks volumes about the current program status and its stability.

Losing 15 players this off season is a terrible sign, yes new coaches have guys leave after taking over but that should have happened after year 1 not year 2. Add in the terrible recruiting and you are probably looking at a 2 win season next year.

 

[wm4]

Clown,

I couldn't agree more with you and the problems keep getting worse and telltale of a house in trouble. Nate Scheelhaase has made a decision to make a lateral move to coach the RBs at Iowa State. I realize that Coach Golesh is there and there are other connections at Iowa State from the prior staff but when you leave your AlmaMater for a recovering program it speaks volumes about the current program status and its stability.

Huge Yawn. Scheelhouse is 3 years into his coaching career and made a decision he felt was best for him. Really doesn't impact what Lovie's doing one way or another. Nate is a highly regarded alumni and that doesn't change just because he left for "recovering" ISU.

 

[PanthersWildcats86]

Huge Yawn. Scheelhouse is 3 years into his coaching career and made a decision he felt was best for him. Really doesn't impact what Lovie's doing one way or another. Nate is a highly regarded alumni and that doesn't change just because he left for "recovering" ISU.

Gotta leave the program to grow...doesn't matter what program, if you want to coach straight out of college the kid needs to bounce once or twice or more...Valpo basketball is not the norm...

 

[jwarigaku]

WM4,

Yep you are spot on, everything is fine with the Illini, gonna be a 10-2 season and a huge success. Bet you still think you're in a relationship with Cindy Crawford, don't you?!

Huge Yawn. Scheelhouse is 3 years into his coaching career and made a decision he felt was best for him. Really doesn't impact what Lovie's doing one way or another. Nate is a highly regarded alumni and that doesn't change just because he left for "recovering" ISU.

 

[wm4]

Don’t mean to burst your bubble, but the Illini will probably be 3-9 again next year. If they get lucky, 4-8. Firm grasp of reality here, thanks for your concern though.

And I know the dude who dated Cindy Crawford in high school.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Broehm took Purdue to a bowl game his first year with a Program is equally bad shape as Illinois and much maligned former coaches recruits. Just saying.

 

[epicbret]

NIU beats Illinois by 10 this year and 17 next year if they played.

NIU has two legit All-American candidates next season, arguably three.

 

[epicbret]

Broehm took Purdue to a bowl game his first year with a Program is equally bad shape as Illinois and much maligned former coaches recruits. Just saying.

Jeff Brohm is a top ten college football coach.

 

[wm4]

Broehm took Purdue to a bowl game his first year with a Program is equally bad shape as Illinois and much maligned former coaches recruits. Just saying.

Yeah, that was impressive. Purdue's roster going in to Brohm's first year was in worse shape than Lovie's going into his first year. Yet Brohm goes out and blows Lovie away in terms of first year performance. When the coaching comparison is made, Illini fans tend to be delusional, thinking that Purdue was just on the cusp of success and Brohm had a shorter path to travel to get to a bowl. In fact it was completely the opposite. Brohm is a college coach, knows how the process works and it showed with immediate success on the field.

I don't know if Brohm is a top 10 college coach yet, but he's doing a fantastic job so far. For Illinois to have success, they're going to have to climb over the Purdue's and Minnesota's and Northwestern's in the West division. Brohm just made that task that much harder.

 

[Bwm57]

WM4Bet you still think you're in a relationship with Cindy Crawford, don't you?!

Yes.