Beckman to Illinois is now official.
From the Chicago Tribune website:
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
December 9th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^
You're expecting a lot out of Illinois fans.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:06 AM ^
I think if you say to fans, we will outscore our opponents and every game has the possibility to go over 75 total points, people might be interested
If he can cycle through 7-5, 7-5, 9-3 on a 3 year rotation he could be the best coach at Illinois in generations
December 9th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
Actually all of his assistant positions have been defensive positions. DC at Bowling Green, CB coach at OSU, and DC at Ok State.
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.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
this former RR guy is okay with that, especially if--as some have pointed out--all your manball dudes (talking to you, Ohio) are ourz.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
any more news on Dan Mullen to Penn State?
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.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
Fickell should really go get his chops there as opposed to being Urban's bag man
But that is just me, maybe the guy is happy just chilling in Columbus
December 9th, 2011 at 11:08 AM ^
Don't forget Brian Kelly at CMU.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
get back to me in a few years on him, I think the jury is still out
December 9th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
OK, but if we're counting Beckman, than we should count Kelly. Kelly won the Big East at UC after leaving the MAC, that's nothing to scoff at.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^
Not really sure winning the Big Easy, oops I mean Big East post RR at WVU would be constituted as a "nothing to scoff at" achievement.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
True, we will see how well he does at Illinois.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^
True I forgot about Kelly, and Hoke, Bo and Ara Parsegean (I think that is how you spell his name.)
December 9th, 2011 at 4:30 PM ^
turned out a few, too.
edit -- ntMU
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.
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).
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?
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).
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.
December 9th, 2011 at 11:27 AM ^
Don't know how many chicago kids would get pumped up to go to Toledo
If I was a kid from Chicago I would rather go to NIU than Toledo, maybe even Western
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)
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.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
That was then.....
This is now.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
Both Toledo fans are going to be ticked off when they hear about this.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^
yeah those two toledo fans that lead the mac in attendance this year.. bigger fan base then you think buddy but nice try at humor
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.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
503 error.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
504 fun!
December 9th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^
I can't imagine any Toledo fan thinks their coach would NOT bolt for a B1G gig if they came calling. Its a reality of being a fan of a place like that.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
My god Toledo gave up 60 plus points in regulation in consecutive home games this season.