How long will it take Lovie to turn around University of Illinois ?

[gojetsgomoxies]

we should list the giant state schools that just can't get it done (it's somewhat relative and i exclude some that could be on the list)....

cal
ucla
oregon state
illinois
rutgers
kansas
can't find offhand of one in ACC
same with SEC........... vandy = private university........ forgot tennessee

i think oregon state (and maybe kansas) are going to always have trouble getting good players

it's funny i don't mention indiana but i don't think there are expectations........... purdue (i think public university, non-state name) escaped this list

teams like virginia, maryland, kentucky etc seem to get it done at times.

oregon state, illinois, maybe kansas have been pretty good at getting high profile transfers..... seems like these are great programs for transfers. get your playing time in big time football.

[gojetsgomoxies]

correction, michigan had horrible game against wisconsin, not ohio state....... but bad loss by ohio state is probably coming.

i think illinois in particular would do well to get some high profile marketing ambassadors (jay-z, beyonce etc.. but not illinois people, nor college educated) and pay some students to blog and market.... just seems like the school isn't relevent to illinois high school recruits (basketball too. although i don't know much about that)

[Big Bear]

Lovie Smith has 5 more yrs on Contract

uhhhh didn’t they win today pal?


they are back!

[TheMoneyShot]

Fluke win.... he should of turned things around a long time ago.

[gojetsgomoxies]

i don't understand the lovie hate......

illinois has had about 4 definitive winning seasons in the last 30 years... like wins > 1.4 losses, that level of achievement.

for this type of analysis, fsu, ucla and michigan are more interesting debates.

lovie does make alot of $$$$ with many years to go... basically illinois competing with itself there. but i do think lovie has brought something really positive to the program.

[homie1975]

He's 12,-31 there. He's getting fired if they don't make a bowl. That means at least 3-2 the next 5 gms to finish 6-6 or better.

[jtoler]

He's 12,-31 there. He's getting fired if they don't make a bowl. That means at least 3-2 the next 5 gms to finish 6-6 or better.

he signed an extension last year so getting fired after this yr is not gonna happen. never understood the hate for Lovie its illinois who's sucked for a long time and have get no talent to compete in big ten nobody brings up that part though

[homie1975]

he signed an extension last year so getting fired after this yr is not gonna happen. never understood the hate for Lovie its illinois who's sucked for a long time and have get no talent to compete in big ten nobody brings up that part though

Trust me there's a clause in there where he can get canned. Don't hate him. Just an observation. Even Ron zook won 9 games one season at Illinois and went to the rose bowl. Just sayin

[jtoler]

Trust me there's a clause in there where he can get canned. Don't hate him. Just an observation. Even Ron zook won 9 games one season at Illinois and went to the rose bowl. Just sayin

thing with zook is he won 9 games but went downhill lovie is climbing out of a hole. after u win 9 games and go to the rose bowl then win 5 games the next season and 3 games the year after that in his last season they started 6-0 and then lost the next 7 becoming the first team in football history to start 6-0 and lose their next 6 in reg. season. I guess different ad then and different mentality. If I were an ad Id try to be realistic sure I want the program to improve but Id moreso be looking at are we losing games we are supposed to win and least competing in those games we arnt supposed to win. last yr illini didnt lose any games they were supposed to win and beat minnesota and competed until about the 3rd qtr against some supposed much better teams baby steps, the loss to eastern mich. this year a bad loss e. mich beat a much better western michigan team today. illini gave mich. a late scare and a win like today should help in recruiting, its something you can sell your program on

[gojetsgomoxies]

i don't have any knowledge of lovie situation but what's the point of a big $$$$$, long-term extension if it's not financial binding to a moderate degree?..... surely there must be a big buyout figure........

add kevin sumlin to the list of coaches i'd question before i would lovie........... sumlin has basically done nothing with the most dominant player in college football (before sumlin arrived). RichRod did have very unique personnel so i'd cut sumlin some slack for that.

[gojetsgomoxies]

DOUBLE POST.....

but i'll add this......... to me, is the coach at a level that is consistent with the program's medium to long term success rate? and is the team moving in the right direction?

moving in the right direction from a position that is historically horrible (FSU for one, and not really moving in the right direction YET) is a much tougher call

[jtoler]

definitely not easy trying to get the right coach that fits. arizona is another school that doesnt have a good history of overall good football seasons. with conferences I guess somebody has to suck there has to be teams with losing records guess Id at least give a coach time to recruit some of his players and judge from there usually a new coach comes in because the last guy was fired and fired for a reason so he has to work with players he knows nothing about, probably dont fit the system he wants to run, and could hate the fact their coach that recruited and believed in them is now gone thats not easy

[homie1975]

i don't have any knowledge of lovie situation but what's the point of a big $$$$$, long-term extension if it's not financial binding to a moderate degree?..... surely there must be a big buyout figure........

add kevin sumlin to the list of coaches i'd question before i would lovie........... sumlin has basically done nothing with the most dominant player in college football (before sumlin arrived). RichRod did have very unique personnel so i'd cut sumlin some slack for that.

Oh no u didn't just call that running Arizona QB the most dominant player in CFB before sumlin got there did you? He had 5 or 6 great rushing games then the conf figured him out. It was a gimmick more than anything

[Chi_archie]

Back to back flukes

[Chi_archie]

unreal

[homie1975]

Lmfao !!

[gojetsgomoxies]

another giant comeback... can't say i saw this coming.

good for lovie.......... i understand early results weren't good but i think his hiring made illini football relevent again and he's got very recruits and transfers. he's even done this losing his best returning defensive player bobby roundtree (all Big10) to severe spinal injury.

i listed big public schools that can never get it going........... i should have apologized to indiana. they have been and are currently sneaky decent. kind of like mid-lower level pac12 team. they do really well against many teams but very tough division (and i guarantee indiana's offense causes some stress even for the top B10 teams)

[jjgold]

They have done really good with no talent got to give him credit

[gauchojake]

Sammy Odom's finest "I told you so" moment

[Sam Odom]

Sammy Odom's finest "I told you so" moment

That is saying a lot considering Sammy has many...

[Sam Odom]

Back to back flukes

Back to back to back flukes

[gojetsgomoxies]

They have done really good with no talent got to give him credit

they have a former 5-star recruit shortlisted for NCAA defensive player of the year...... of course, Lovie picked him up as transfer from USC.

non-QB transfers helped a few teams this year, illinois and oregon state are two big obvious ones

[gojetsgomoxies]

3 flukes in a row......... hey, if you can 7 or 8 of them, you can be national champion.

[jtoler]

they have a former 5-star recruit shortlisted for NCAA defensive player of the year...... of course, Lovie picked him up as transfer from USC.

he's been hurt for 3 weeks Lovie has the rest of the 1 star recruits believing and playing like they are 5 stars

[gojetsgomoxies]

he's been hurt for 3 weeks Lovie has the rest of the 1 star recruits believing and playing like they are 5 stars

thank you... didn't know that............. wondered why his production wasn't higher. seemed stuck at lower levels.

[gojetsgomoxies]

i'll just stick this here. not related to lovie but related to disapppointing coaches on the hot seat.

apparently, chad morris (ark) and taggart (FSU) were two of the quicker firings in history that were football-related. never been two like that in the same or consecutive weeks.

i know nothing about arkansas but horrible results....... FSU, that was unacceptable although i do think taggart is a good coach

[homie1975]

chad morris and taggart both good coaches but just not the right fit at the schools they were at.

they will be successful again, it will just take some time.

[homie1975]

in iowa city this week. where are our Illini guys who keep bumping this thread every week ??

[stacyleighhanson]

I've been complaining to people here for the past 3 years that Lovie is just terrible. Most of the students feel the same way haha only a few hold outs, but the main issue they raise is that if you keep having coach turnover we're not going to get better anyway....so might as well believe for another couple years now that he's playing solely with the people he recruited. They are going bowling for the first time in like 5 years so who knows.

[homie1975]

i am rooting for them vs iowa

[hubie69]

Raise your hand if you got a good number on this IA/Ill game early in the season...and max bet it......twice.

[homie1975]

northwestern 17
illinois 7

wildcats moving the ball at will in champagne. 8 mins left in the 3rd qtr

[Sam Odom]

LOL

[homie1975]

they were what we thought they were.

[pilebuck13]

god hindsight anyways I throttled northwestern +7 this morning