http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/03/05/illinois-fires-bill-cubit-head-coach
Good grief. They have to push back spring practice. What is the real story?
Good grief. They have to push back spring practice. What is the real story?
Wow. I thought we were a mess
- Thread starter uelnesm
- Start date
Hiring lovie smith.
Cubit was an interim guy that was only retained because of the ad situation
Cubit was an interim guy that was only retained because of the ad situation
Kudos to the new AD........came in and cleaned house..................tired of putting up with mediocrity! Hope our new AD comes in and does the same.Not just in football,,,,,,Baseball has been a dumpster fire for gong on four years now.....Womens BB program keeps regressing too! Time to start striving for "EXCELLENCE"!
Love it! Their new AD has a huge set. Fires the coach first day on the job and has an NFL coach lined up by night. Hope we get someone just like this!
Josh Whitman, the new UI AD, is from West Lafayette. Played football at Illinois and in the NFL. Quite a student, too. Heard Purdue was interested in him if Illinois had hired someone else. Glad they didn't.
Just remember Lovie is barely a .500 Head Football Coach and has never been a HC in college! Yes there will be an immediate bump in interest but he is such an easy rider on the sideline and in practices one HAS to wonder if it will translate into long term success! I will say they will be better on Defense but like us when you are near or at the bottom the only way IS up!
Yes, because I remember Darrell Hazell or Danny Hope or whoever the next Bozo is coaching in Super Bowls. Smith brings instant credibility to the program. Outstanding move by Whitman. Simply outstanding. First day on the job! We have a guy who won't make a bold decision his 6,000 day on the job.
I loved his press conference that was honest. No condescending comments. No talking down to the fanbase. No whining about arms races.
No letting the players know BEFORE he went public...starts off his tenure with a mistake in his second move....Lovie was run out of Chicago due to his lack of passion and wins on the field and the Tampa Two does not stop the spread run in college so he will have to adapt fast!
Lovie was run out for his lack of an offense and to be frank, because of Jay Cutler. Players loved him and Bears have been a disaster since he left. Can Illinois be a Michigan or OSU? No. But is Lovie Smith the best Illinois football hire in 20 years? Absolutely.
I sure don't want a loser like Lovie Smith. I am encouraged that he might make Haze look like a BT coach.
I don't get the "Loser" label. 92-90 overall including a 2-14 and 5-11 in transition seasons trying to clean up someone else's mess.
His defense will work if he can recruit enough stud pass-rushing DL. The Tampa 2 depends on them.
If he tries a vanilla pro style offense, it will be a huge failure.
The timing is just horrendous. manage to make it through the recruiting and the complete coaching changes and then make a change. Per the article they will delay spring practice. Sounds like the right move. But a big wow on the timing.
If I'm an Illini fan I hope lovie has a staff ready to go.
If I'm an Illini fan I hope lovie has a staff ready to go.
It's definitely a gamble, but for the shape our football program is in ... we just killed it with this hire. Tim Beckman to his assistant to Lovie Smith? I'll take it.
As far as timing, this was Whitman's first official day on the job (i.e., first day he could make any moves). It's not ideal, but he clearly had someone lined up (a luxury we haven't exactly had with our previous AD!), and why stick with something you know isn't going to work?
