Kevin Sumlin Close to deal with Illini?
Herb Gould is reporting that Kevin Sumlin and the Illinois football program are close on a deal.
@HerbGould A lot of signs #illini are close on Kevin Sumlin from Houston. Offensive whiz, first black head fb coach would be historic.
Edit: Revamped the whole post, sorry guys. He would be the first University of Illinois black head coach.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
been more.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
Williams from Sparty?
December 6th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
December 6th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
I believe Bobby Williams was black when was at MSU
December 6th, 2011 at 7:47 PM ^
Actually, he was green when he was at MSU.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:07 PM ^
So were the MSU faithful.
Hell, even those of us who went to school in Ann Arbor got a little green around the gills watching the charlie foxtrot the Spartans were under Bobby Williams.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
He was American Indian at that time.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:53 PM ^
....what has he been since he was at MSU?
He's the TE and special teams coordinator in Alabama right now, so he's crimson at the moment. He's also been Honolulu blue, purple and teal with a hint of orange since his time at MSU. Bobby "Skittles" Williams, folks...
December 6th, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^
He has been relevant since he was at MSU
December 6th, 2011 at 11:02 PM ^
Michigan State is often mistaken for a glorified community college.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:51 PM ^
RT @billyliucci: Per three sources very close to the situation, no truth to Sumlin-to-Illinois rumors
December 6th, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^
December 6th, 2011 at 8:53 PM ^
Who needs defense when you have Tony Eason?
/oldsterhalol
December 7th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
Yeah, if the Illini hire Sumlin it would be an interesting hire.
I, for one, am not sold on Sumlin. His players are mostly Art Briles players (Briles is an amazing recruiter, see Griffin III, Robert and Wright, Kendall). Sumlin's team didn't make a bowl game when Case Keenum got hurt last year.
December 6th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
Question for Doug Williams: "how long have you been a black quarterback?"
"uh........."
December 6th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
December 6th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^
Well hell their greatest player Red Grange was nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost". Last I checked ghosts were white. They should break their whitish trends.
December 6th, 2011 at 9:55 PM ^
THAT'S RACIST! I'M GOING TO HAUNT THE SHIT OUTTA YOU!
December 6th, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^
I was wondering why his name wasn't mentioned from the jump seeing as how he's a Purdue guy.
Illinois could be tough with the Air Raid. Are they going to be a B1G Champion? No. But they could be Cap One Bowl/Outback Bowl bound on a decent basis.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^
Not to change the subject from race BUT fuck Kevin Sumlin and fuck the Houston Cougars. I was in Vegas this weekend and put $100 down on a four team parlay that looked like this:
Houston -13
Baylor - 2.5
Oklahoma St -2.5
Michigan State +9
Houston played like they either wanted him to leave or hadn't bother to prepare for the game so if he comes maybe Hoke can get some residual payback for the $1,000 he cost me!!!!!!
December 6th, 2011 at 8:07 PM ^
.....you know well which teams would be willing to refund the $1,000 - cash , of course.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
Or Sumlin can win back your money with some beatdowns of Sparty.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^
Even worse was that it was the first game of that parlay and EVERY other game came in big so I had to watch the other three knowing my bet was dead.
Did you see the game? They looked horrible - all I could think was that if Michigan played these guys they would absolutely kill them. For all Penn State's troubles this year I think they will absolutely destroy Houston. The fact that they were even in the BCS discussion is an absolute joke. I can't thank of any team in the top 25 they could beat.
Good luck to the Illini. If they wanted a pass-happy coach they should've gotten Leach.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:36 PM ^
Wait, didn't he just take the job at Texas A&M?
December 6th, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^
I thought Larry Fedora was in this particular conversation too...
December 6th, 2011 at 8:57 PM ^
Latest rumors I've seen have Fedora leaning toward taking the UNC job, which likely doesn't pay as well as Texas A&M, but holy hell, is it an easier job. If A&M gets shut out from Sumlin and Fedora, their firing of Sherman suddenly looks really, really bad
December 6th, 2011 at 10:14 PM ^
Is holding out for an A&M offer. If one doesn't come in 24hrs, expect him to take the UNC job
December 6th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
A&M would be an awful situation to step into. I'd much rather take the ACC route.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:58 PM ^
Fedora's comments about Southern Miss deserving a BCS Bowl were ridiculous.
December 6th, 2011 at 11:45 PM ^
Anytime you are 11-2 and have beaten the #6 team in the country who has beaten 6-7 UCLA, you gotta think you deserve that Sugar Bowl bid.
December 6th, 2011 at 9:08 PM ^
Don't think its a good fit. However,becoming a sec whupin boy isn't going to fun neither.
December 6th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
Mike Hart!
December 6th, 2011 at 11:19 PM ^
Will Hart be next? If Hoke stays fifteen more years, Hart will only have sixteen years into coaching. Think he can get far enough up the ladder at that point?
I bet we have an "interim" coach before Hart.
December 7th, 2011 at 6:29 AM ^
When will Lloyd Brady be our head coach?
Also, which one of our current players is most likely to become a coach? I vote Ryan Van Bergen or Jordan Kovacs.
December 7th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
If you read his resume from his time here so far and don't think "coach", you're...not reading it the same way I am. It seems like coaches are usually solid but not great players because they usually have to understand the game to make up for a lack of physical traits. That's Kovacs to a K. I would love to see Molk, just for the pressers.
saveferris: I was being more tongue-in-cheek, I have no idea if Hart can coach, recruit, or learn to shut up when he needs to. I do think it'd be amazing if he could end up coaching Michigan, though.
December 7th, 2011 at 9:49 AM ^
We may also want to wait and see if Mike Hart, can, you know, do things coaches are supposed to do and do them well.
Right now, the only things I know Mike Hart can do well is show passion for Michigan, avoid TFLs, not fumble, and get under Mark Dantonio's skin.
I'd like to see him demonstrate that he can recruit, hire good assistants, make sound real-time game decisions, effectively handle the media, teach and motivate his players. He's got a long way to go before he can be anointed the heir-apparent to Hoke or unknown interim coach.
December 6th, 2011 at 10:18 PM ^
I heard Lou Brown is going to take the job.
December 7th, 2011 at 6:50 AM ^
I certainly hope race was not a factor when choosing a coach.
December 7th, 2011 at 8:05 AM ^
With your question!!