It doesn’t appear that the Lovie experiment will pan out, given the fact that we’re in Year 3 and still making dumb mistakes, can’t really get good at anything, and we’re still having discipline problems. It shouldn’t take this long to show *some* kind of forward momentum. There’s a guy 90 miles from Champaign who showed a lot of forward progress with arguably as bad a roster as we had (have). It CAN be done. It just has to be done at Illinois a certain way.
So what is that way? What things should an Illinois look for in a staff (and not just the head guy)?
1. Hire a head coach who can bring an established staff.
This is #1. It’s why Kill was successful at Minnie. It’s why Tiller stepped right in at Purdue and hit the ground running. It’s why Babers will do as well as anyone can at ‘Cuse.
Staffs with established role players and longtime relationships already know how to work together. There’s no worry of punch outs over the cranberry sauce. There’s an understanding of who is doing what, and why, and where the accountability lies. A group that has worked well together knows the system that’s being run, what type of player to recruit, has established areas to recruit in, and already understands the culture the head coach wants to establish.
Coaches that have been through it together tend to stay together. How many years did Cleays work for Kill? Or how about Brock Spack (who wouldn’t be a bad choice, btw) and Joe Tiller?
We’ve not had that here at Illinois...for decades. One of the things that’s killed this program is getting the wrong guy hired at key positions. It’s so Illinois to hire a stud in one position (or get lucky and stumble into a good hire) only to negate it by having a loser somewhere else.
Find a winning coach who will bring an intact staff over. That implies loyalty and teamwork. A huge red flag with Beckman that a few of us caught was that few of his coaches came with him.
2. Understand the modern college game.
The college game is about yards per play and being aggressive. That’s the football side of the equation. The non football side of it is that fans want an entertaining, exciting product on the field to watch. In other words, a good show.
People didn’t watch Tiller’s Boilers just because they won. They watched them to see what ridiculous numbers of attempts Drew Brees would put up in a game, or how many catches a no-name local kid would get in a game. It was hugely entertaining.
Fans will at least come out and watch - or be interested in - a fun team to be around. Fans wouldn’t mind a 56-49 loss as much as watching losing a boring, grind it out game. 3 yards and a cloud of dust is 1970’s football.
3. Understand the kids an Illinois can get, and recruit them.
In today’s game with the go-go gadget offenses, it’s wxtremely hard to find the lock down corner or Mega d-linemen (they’re gold when you get them). However, even an Indiana can find a 2 star Tevin Coleman and plug him into a prolific scheme. So many high schools have kids that may not have the greatest measureables but who can play pitch and catch with anyone. Hire the right S&C guy and some of the measureables can be had.
Anyhow, we won’t be pulling the plug this year and maybe next given the size of the buyout. But even with the big buyout you can still find these kinds of staffs without breaking the bank.
Kill and his entire staff would have been relatively cheap.
So would Babers when he left EIU (now not so much).
Ideally you get a staff that does all of the above but of the list IMO #1 is the most important. That’s not saying a Beau Baldwin couldn’t come here and combine #’s 2 and 3 and do well, just that it’s more ideal (and better for a faster turnaround) if the ENTIRE staff is on the same page on Day 0.
So what is that way? What things should an Illinois look for in a staff (and not just the head guy)?
1. Hire a head coach who can bring an established staff.
This is #1. It’s why Kill was successful at Minnie. It’s why Tiller stepped right in at Purdue and hit the ground running. It’s why Babers will do as well as anyone can at ‘Cuse.
Staffs with established role players and longtime relationships already know how to work together. There’s no worry of punch outs over the cranberry sauce. There’s an understanding of who is doing what, and why, and where the accountability lies. A group that has worked well together knows the system that’s being run, what type of player to recruit, has established areas to recruit in, and already understands the culture the head coach wants to establish.
Coaches that have been through it together tend to stay together. How many years did Cleays work for Kill? Or how about Brock Spack (who wouldn’t be a bad choice, btw) and Joe Tiller?
We’ve not had that here at Illinois...for decades. One of the things that’s killed this program is getting the wrong guy hired at key positions. It’s so Illinois to hire a stud in one position (or get lucky and stumble into a good hire) only to negate it by having a loser somewhere else.
Find a winning coach who will bring an intact staff over. That implies loyalty and teamwork. A huge red flag with Beckman that a few of us caught was that few of his coaches came with him.
2. Understand the modern college game.
The college game is about yards per play and being aggressive. That’s the football side of the equation. The non football side of it is that fans want an entertaining, exciting product on the field to watch. In other words, a good show.
People didn’t watch Tiller’s Boilers just because they won. They watched them to see what ridiculous numbers of attempts Drew Brees would put up in a game, or how many catches a no-name local kid would get in a game. It was hugely entertaining.
Fans will at least come out and watch - or be interested in - a fun team to be around. Fans wouldn’t mind a 56-49 loss as much as watching losing a boring, grind it out game. 3 yards and a cloud of dust is 1970’s football.
3. Understand the kids an Illinois can get, and recruit them.
In today’s game with the go-go gadget offenses, it’s wxtremely hard to find the lock down corner or Mega d-linemen (they’re gold when you get them). However, even an Indiana can find a 2 star Tevin Coleman and plug him into a prolific scheme. So many high schools have kids that may not have the greatest measureables but who can play pitch and catch with anyone. Hire the right S&C guy and some of the measureables can be had.
Anyhow, we won’t be pulling the plug this year and maybe next given the size of the buyout. But even with the big buyout you can still find these kinds of staffs without breaking the bank.
Kill and his entire staff would have been relatively cheap.
So would Babers when he left EIU (now not so much).
Ideally you get a staff that does all of the above but of the list IMO #1 is the most important. That’s not saying a Beau Baldwin couldn’t come here and combine #’s 2 and 3 and do well, just that it’s more ideal (and better for a faster turnaround) if the ENTIRE staff is on the same page on Day 0.
