Illini fire Cubit
- Thread starter NUChicago
- Start date
Would Illinois hire John Holocek? Great player at Illinois, decade(ish) in the nfl, head coach at one of the top programs in the state, has done at least a little recruiting.
Also, he wouldn't have to deal with 'these 24 kids just signed with me' pangs that a current college coach deals with.
There are crazier ideas, anyway.
Also, he wouldn't have to deal with 'these 24 kids just signed with me' pangs that a current college coach deals with.
There are crazier ideas, anyway.
Illinois improving is good for the BIG10. Hopefully Purdump does something too. We need the West to catch up to the East and that only happens with better competition. We need Nebraska to be very good again. We don't want a weak West so we do well, we want a strong West so we can also beat the East. We want recruits to pick NU because it is in a strong conference. The West is looked at now as the JV of the BIG10.
That would be even more hilarious than Illinois hiring a D-3 athletic director.
Illinois Senior day 2015.
http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/i...948/ku-xlarge_crop_north.jpg?w=759&h=506&q=75
http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/i...948/ku-xlarge_crop_north.jpg?w=759&h=506&q=75
Many national & local media pundits, knowledgable sports fans and uninformed hangers-on recognized the raging dumpster fire that is the current state of Ill-Annoy athletics since August, 2015 and earlier. Remember that Ill-Annoy still has that fetid albatros of reported institutionalized bigotry against minorities and women athletes hanging around their necks. All I can say is "Alow me to put that dumpster fire out with gasoline." I truly hope that NU gets and signs every 4 & 5-star Land-o-Lincoln pigskin athlete who ever might have considered Ill-Annoy in his student-athlete aspiration plans. In the past, many ended-up continuing their athletic careers in the football programs residing in Sow Bend or Annie's Treehouse. Time for Fitz and his recruiting staff to make gridiron hay and keep those superior in-state players playing for the Purple while the Ill-Whine-I's self-made fire rages on.
When it comes to recruiting in state vs. illness, we have kicked their butts for about a decade.
No doubt about it, CatsDad, but I wonder how well Illinois can fund the football program, even under Fleck. They're paying Cubit and his son more than $1 Million not to coach. Also, didn't Beckman file a wrongful termination suit to recoup his lost salary? The university is certainly not rescuing the athletic department with the state's miserable finances.
The Illini had better hire Fleck because I would imagine he's an enthusiastic fundraiser and the school needs that badly.
Officially, their Spring Practice is delayed rather than cancelled. If they do not have someone ready to jump in right now, then they will end up cancelling it. If so, I would be shocked if they win 4 games next year. The next few days will either prove the new AD is decisive and makes things happen or is a moron.
No way the guy took the job without telling the administration he was going to do this. He is cleaning house to put his own people in jobs. I doubt he cares what their record is next season, he needs to get a good coach in place and no time like the present to start.
That's wild. He was a college position coach from 1982-95. He was also fired relatively late in the offseason, as Tampa feared losing their OC Dirk Koeter (sp?) who has a great relationship with Jameis Winston but was also considered a head coaching prospect elsewhere.
Smith is definitively not damaged goods.
Lovie Smith would inherit a team that has been offense-focused with less defense for the last few years. Cubit improved defensive play last year but it would be interesting to see what Smith would do out of the gates with the players there.
The Illini administration agreeing with an action is no proof that it is not moronic.
To show that hiring Singletary is just as logical as hiring Pat. Singletary at least had head coaching experience somewhere.....
DIA is completely donor-funded and independent of state funding.
Not so fast. The state university has to post the position for x amount of days. Can't imagine why Lovie would want that job. Where the hell U of I getting the cash?
I don't know for certain but Illinois could have a school athletic association that raises money and funds athletic department programs and activities that is not related to state funding. Eons ago I wrote a grad school paper on the B1G schools and the relationship to the university - even spoke with Don Canham... I was amazed at the thin lines of institutional control at some schools. However, this was a long time ago and things may have been restructured since that time.
Putting your hatred aside, the UI athletic department arguably has much more potential for success than NU's. A string of bad hires doesn't TOTALLY damage the job, IMO. And we were willing to pay Sumlin a LOT of money a few years ago; our donors aren't short on cash.
Why? What does Illinois bring to the table to differentiate itself from any other big ten school? not location, not tradition, not game day experience, not academics - maybe theres something I'm not thinking of, but why would a kid want to go to Illinois over most of the rest of the big ten?
Even more amazing...everyone is reporting that Lovie Smith will get the job. Not sure why he would want that job or whether he's a college coach, but it sure would make a splash. He's a big name.
And they're keeping Groce.
I have great respect for Lovie. An interesting hire. They need to clean up a cesspool and Lovie will do that. I'm all for big name and high achieving coaches living in the Big Ten. Good for everyone. The Illini will get a lot better and that's good for us. Fitz and company need to not be too impressed with themselves after the 10-3 season coming off of those two abortions of seasons.
Let's not kid ourselves - he's not mike ditka, he didn't accomplish what he needed to with the Bears. Most bears fans were happy to see him leave. It will be interesting to see how this impacts local recruiting, will kids and their parents be impressed by lovie or want nothing to do with him? Personally I always liked lovie and would want my kid to play for him, but I suspect I am in the minority.
Lovie is thought of a good guy and won many games in the NFL, but he is not an experienced college recruiter. In fact, he has no college experience in the last 30 years. Besides that, he was dropped from his last two HC jobs.
We can count on Tampa 2 4-3 defenses and not a lot of blitzing and weird stunting. We should assume that the defenses under Smith will be good eventually. Offensively, Lovie is not bringing Koetter, so good luck, Illini!
Can get a waiver on that since spring practice is about to start and Lovie is a minority hire.
Whitman is a smart guy. Check his resume. He had his ducks lined up before he fired Cubit. Cubit is a good guy and a pretty good coach, but Illinois needed a splash and got it.
As for money, Shahid Khan and some other big donors are behind this. He's worth about 6 billion.
Watch for some interesting names on the staff.
I just don't like Fitz. Never met him. But I dislike the way he interacts with media. I wish he could be like Chris Collins, professional every time I see an interview with him. Collins is willing to make changes when things aren't working. Fitz is stubborn, snarky and complacent. And he spends way too much time bitching about social media and what dopes like me are saying!
And I have never been negative about NU. I just don't drink the kool-ade that says they will win every game.
Lovie to 1-10inois chatter: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/blogs/...tabbed-as-illinois--next-coach-230504297.html
Ah yes, Chris Collins. Wasn't that the guy for which you have so much respect you accused him of losing his team?
This. Seems a really odd choice--outside of some name recognition and NFL pedigree. Maybe IL is just over MAC coaches (there are some good ones). But Lovie brings a sense of professionalism and order that was absent under TBeck and his schticky leadership. If Lovie wants that job, God bless him.
Yep. I hated it when he was hired. And now I'm his biggest fan. He is a class act. You would never know he came from Duke. I was completely wrong about him.
