I always enjoy these because no one holds back......at all. And we know what others think of Illinois.....YIKES
Illinois
"I don’t care who you are, the Lovie Smith hire was a strange one. He certainly has the resume for it, but everything about that hire screamed strange. He’s an NFL guy. The last thing anyone would say about Lovie is he’s a great college fit. So what do you do? You throw him into this league, and set him up to fail with a program that botched the last hire and is now in need of a complete engine overhaul."
"Are we really that surprised that Illinois has been absolutely atrocious, and has won five games in the last two years?"
"I’m not buying the idea that Illinois gave up early in the season and started playing a bunch of freshmen, and that’s why it got so ugly. So that’s why there were so many coaching changes in the offseason? I think this was a lot tougher of a job than Lovie first realized. The guy before him left a mess, and digging out of that was going to take more than just a year of transition. I’d be shocked if they won more than three games this fall."
"(RB) Mike Epstein is a tough runner, a guy who definitely doesn’t look the part but sure as heck plays it. He’s fun to watch. Lovie needs about 20 more Mike Epsteins."
"They don’t have a quarterback, they are terrible on defense and they are one of the worst teams we’ve played in the last six or seven years. At one point last year, I remember watching film on them and thinking this team looks completely disinterested."
https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...s-talk-anonymously-about-conference-foes-2018
Illinois
"Are we really that surprised that Illinois has been absolutely atrocious, and has won five games in the last two years?"
"I’m not buying the idea that Illinois gave up early in the season and started playing a bunch of freshmen, and that’s why it got so ugly. So that’s why there were so many coaching changes in the offseason? I think this was a lot tougher of a job than Lovie first realized. The guy before him left a mess, and digging out of that was going to take more than just a year of transition. I’d be shocked if they won more than three games this fall."
"(RB) Mike Epstein is a tough runner, a guy who definitely doesn’t look the part but sure as heck plays it. He’s fun to watch. Lovie needs about 20 more Mike Epsteins."
"They don’t have a quarterback, they are terrible on defense and they are one of the worst teams we’ve played in the last six or seven years. At one point last year, I remember watching film on them and thinking this team looks completely disinterested."
https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...s-talk-anonymously-about-conference-foes-2018
