Lovie Smith to become Illinois head coach
Whoa. Well that was quick.
Bruce Feldman
Lovie Smith is expected to become the new #Illinois HC, source told FOX Sports. 1st reported by CBS/Chicago: https://t.co/bsTXfTNJqM
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) March 5, 2016
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As a Bears fan... NOPE. The game has past him by even more so in college.
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not sure why they didn't consider hiring Bill Belichek or Nick Saban though.
I dunno if he can even do that. Though I would think he'd be a decent recruiter as everyone seems to like him. I just think about him trying to stop a modern spread offense and laugh and laugh. I'd think they should have just hung onto Cubit for a year or two and see who's available who has actually coached in college within the last 20 years.
you honestly think they should keep their no-name intern who has done little to nothing instead of getting a respected former NFL coach? Absolutely asinine.
He's had success coaching defenses; if he can get himself a decent staff this could be great for Illinois. Had to keep up with the rival, you know...
I don't know how outdated he is. Especially relative to Illinois.
Besides we're not going to run something too dissimilar from a cover two with speedy LB/secondary hybrids, as I understand it (though we're certainly not calling it that). It's a flexible defense. Definitely bend-don't-break, so should keep other teams from running the score too much on them, even if they're undertalented. With a little luck on the offensive phase, I think Lovie will do just fine with that in the B1G.
Not a bad hire at all for Illinois.
Actually, I think Lovie's biggest potential problem won't be the quality of his game, but his reputation as an accommodating "player's coach."
He'll need some disciplinarian skills to manage the college kids, I'm afraid. So that, I think, might be his biggest challenge.
Nobody does that anymore.
Looks like spelling passed you by...
This is exactly what Illinois needed. For good of the program, he'll be around for many many years.
Great, there goes our recruiting and scheming advantage of having a staff that's NFL connected.
Didn't think it necessary but... /s
I'm stunned. If they had a deal with Smith before they fired Cubit, then I have to take back every thought I had about how "incompetent" they were for firing him now.
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after living in lovely Tampa!
Illionois did we really well, hiring him. I don't like other Big Ten teams hiring NFL coaches. But we have Harbaugh, I am not gong to complain. With the way Harbaugh was getting these amazing coaches, maybe there was a chance he would go to Michigan as an assistant.
He's a "name" coach for whatever that's worth. But one thing that's become a constant in the Big Ten is Illinois hiring lousy or mediocre coaches. I've been watching Big Ten football since the 70's and they honestly haven't had one good coach. And don't bring up Mike White either. He was dirty and didn't last long.
He has won in the NFL. That makes him more than a 'name' coach. There is nothing about this hire that says mediocrity. Hiring Toledo's head coach does that...hiring a coach who was in the NFL last season is impressive for a school that hasn't won anything.
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granted, but a average NFL coach should be able to be more than an average NCAA coach, especially if he gets the right recruiters and assistants. I bet he becomes a great recruiter and makes Illinois into an 8-9 win team...maybe more
Keep some Illinois kids from leaving out-of-state. They're in the B1G West. They could hold their own with some decent recruits and running a great defense with vanilla offense. After all, isn't the latter what Nebraska and Iowa do?
But excite the fan base, upgrade facilities, start winning and things can turn around. Look at Wisconsin... Though, I can't argue with you that that's a steep hill to climb.
The only schools with more Big Ten Football Championships than Illinois are Michigan, Ohio State, and Minnesota.
Grange, Nitschke, Butkus, Grabowski. Yeah they do have some history to build on.
If Lovie can recruit then he might be able to do what Alvarez and Tiller did.
Don't forget about Juice Williams.
Baylor is a great example of a schools that brought in the right coach and turned the entire program around. Plus Illinois has some pretty good talent and some top talent will go to a school to be the guy. As others have said, they are placed in the easier division. All said and done, I don't see why 8 or 9 wins is impossible.
He has been in the NFL too long and it will take him too long to adapt to the rigors of college football and the recruiting load. Plus we're still talking about Illinois. There is nothing to suggest he will become a great recruiter.
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of parity inthe NFL
Saban did not have a great NFL record.
Not saying that L Smith is even close to Saban.
Just saying that a .500 record in the NFL does not always mean the coach is no so great.
No matter how you slice it, a good hire for Illinois.
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It gets people talking about Illinois football which hasn't been a thing since 2007.
Solid hire for them. Our game with them will have some extra eyes, I'm sure.
It's great for the B1G because now there may be some actual competition in the West.
It's clear they had a plan. I think after the Cubit firing earlier, most thought this was the first tire to show smoke in the fire but it's obvious they had a plan. And considering it's Illinois, Smith brings a level of professionalism from the NFL that our biggest rival ever could severly use.