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Tate respects Rod Smith a lot. Illinois would be in the mix for his services.
Illinois Football Thread
- Thread starter GatorLandMike
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11 man class for Lovie today.
1/3rd of it is 2* players per Rivals(tho I prefer 24/7)
Yeesh.
1/3rd of it is 2* players per Rivals(tho I prefer 24/7)
Yeesh.
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Tate is staying at AZ, BTW. Probably can't graduate yet and it wouldn't make sense to sit out a year at this point.
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Stinks. Isaiah Williams won't be ready for at least one year.
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Sounds like Illinois is in really bad shape class wise at OL and LB. Whiffed on almost everyone there. Jeff Thomas has been cleared by Illinois admissions so he made the grades. Kid is a headcase though but Illinois needs talent. Beggars can't be choosers here.
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He is young. Rivers looked good throwing the ball, but that won't do much good if most of the receiving corps consistently channels their inner-Featherstone. If Rivers can get quicker with his feet and be a good enough runner to just offer the threat, the offense could still be in good shape. And I wouldn't put it past Rod Smith to figure out how to use Willliams and his playmaking ability. He earned his paycheck last season. Big upgrade over McGee.
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The LB situation is the trouble spot for next season. The OL has everyone back except Allegretti. They were thin at LB before and needed Mathis, who signed with Oregon. They may add a 5th year xfer receiver, too.
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Rivers really seemed to tail off last season. Looked good early but his last 2-3 appearances were terrible. Haven't heard much on Coran Taylor so I would assume he's dead in the water when it comes to QB. You'd think Illinois would have to get Williams on the field early but he's really small. Not sure he can hold up as a QB. Most other of his P5 offers wanted him at WR or DB
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OL has no depth. Desperate there as well. I think we missed on our top 4-5 targets and got left with almost nothing. Reminds me of a Ty Willingham class. It may not matter a ton next year but in 2-3 season I feel bad for whoever the QB is.
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Don't forget about Boyd for OL. They had another player who wasn't ready to go last year, too, but I do agree they don't have much margin for injury. I tend to think they will find a DL to move over like Green, who I believe will be the C at some point in his IL career.
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Didn't Green already move over and start all of this season? or are you saying they will find another guy do what they did with him?
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Yes. Green moved over this year at LG. I think they will find another DL to move over next year.
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Got ya. Thought maybe there was another Green on the roster I had somehow missed.
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Sidenote: Talking to my BinLaw and I guess he says Butkus is a flipping joke as an OL coach and it's really hurting recruiting. Kid got hired as a "name" and isn't well respected at all.
The Boletarian
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Well that's just wonderful... I just want them to not suck anymore. Why is that too much to ask? And by not suck I mean like be 8-4.
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I've heard this for quite a few years. The OL was much improved this year and that chatter has seemed to have died down somewhat. I don't know what to think personally. Butkus had to deal with year 1 of Beckman and 2 years with the worst OC possible at Illinois in McGee. He has been trained by the best in the business as an assistant under Harry Hiestand and IIRC, HH was the OL coach at IL when Luke played in Champaign, too.
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Yeah this was kind of out of nowhere a few weeks ago. FWIW my BinLaw knows Butkus and is someone that has dealt with him in the past. Whatever Heistand taught him it didn't stick apparently. Heistand is a special guy too. He has "it" as an OL coach. Especially for a guy who teaches technique that is slightly outdated but he makes it uber effective.
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I'm sure they try their best to exploit the name, and maybe it just goes to his head.
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It looks like Illinois has finished the 2019 class strong (better than expected anyway) between the transfers and Cooper committing at the UA game this evening.
JimJohnson
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Recruiting arrow appears to be pointed up but next season will tell all we need to know. If we see an improvement on the field and if recruiting keeps up, then good. If either of those things falls off, I think Lovie probably needs to get bounced.