Hoke_Floats

December 9th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^

Don't know much about the Rockets, but they scored a bunch of points

I think this is a good hire for the Illini...should put some butts in the seats at least

JohnnyBlue

December 9th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^

Kinda funny on some level, RR brought the spread to michigan and the big ten. now we are going back to some sort of "manball" west coast style offence(in some way or fashion). and the rest of the big ten teams with openings are going with spread coaches.

cjffemt

December 9th, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^

It is truly amazing the quality coaches The University of Toledo has pumped out in the last 20 years.  Pinkle, Saban and now Beckman.  Than you take a look at BG, with Gary Blackney and Meyer.  The MAC is truly a great stepping stone to the major college football coaching careers.

FreddieMercuryHayes

December 9th, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^

He should keep their DC.  He's pretty good.  If they can keep the D quality up while upgrading the general coaching and offense, they could be pretty good down the road.  And then lose the HC to a bigger school. 

MichiganStudent

December 9th, 2011 at 11:14 AM ^

At first glance this looks like a pretty solid hire for Illinois. I thought they might have wanted Leach at first, but since that ship sailed I think this is as good of a hire as you can get (yes even better than Sumlin). 

Philbert

December 9th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^

I'm a sad panda today, Becks was a great coach at UT. He was really down to earth and would just chill in the union just to talk to kids and get them excited. Toledo fans are finicky (students that is) when something is going good they will show up like we are a top 10 team, When things are going bad (mens basketball the last 4 years) High school games get more attendance. This whole year, every football game was packed and that says a lot about a MAC school. It was great the excitement he brought back to Toledo. He recruits like a beast too. O and unlike the zooker he can coach. For all of those people that are like he gave up a lot of points.. His entire defense is freshman and sophomores, sound fimilar? 

Bronco648

December 9th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^

The Sun-Times article, this morning, states that Beckman doesn't recruit Chicago very well. That's where most of Illinois' (good) players come from (or St. Louis area). So, it'll be interesting to see what in-roads he makes (if he makes any at all). I wouldn't be surprised if other B1G schools make Chicago (and surrounding suburbs) a prime target. Although, I can't say that Zook made a big impact in the Chicago area (and I live here).

Belisarius

December 9th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^

I don't know about Chicago, but Zook recruited well wherever he coached. The amount of NFL talent on Illinois the last few years has been stunning, given theri lack of success. I assume the new boy will recruit Chicago better now that he's coaching IL. premier college team instead of a MAC school, though.

Philbert

December 9th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^

for the last 10 years Toledo has had a presence in Chicago. Toledo put on a marketing blitz in the large cities in the midwest the last few years. (morely for students though) A lot of our basketball players over the years are from their and many football players under amstutz. Becks liked the Fla region but he owned the State of Ohio when it came to MAC level talent. He was a guy that I was hoping would fly under the radar enough that he would stay in Toledo for another year and then get a chance at UC after Jones leaves next year ( all hypothetical) 

4Blue82

December 9th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^

This is funny. Didn't he just sign an extension with Toledo this year? Afterwards he was talking about how it was important to him to show recruits his dedication to this program and how he was going to be in Toledo long term.

jmblue

December 9th, 2011 at 4:23 PM ^

Since you took that so hard, I was curious enough to look up Toledo's attendance numbers.  It turns out that  Toledo averaged a whopping 19,333 fans per game a year ago, and I'm sure that figure included some free giveaways. 

Verdict: I stand by my snarky remark.