In answering a recruiting question posed to him after a recent spring practice, Illini football Coach Lovie Smith said:
“When you’ve done it at the highest level, you should have an eye for talent. I wanted our staff to have a strong NFL flavor to it, but with a good mix from college, too, and I think we have that.”
There have been questions and concerns regarding Lovie’s ability and interest to adjust to the recruiting demands of power five conference college football, and he’s been answering those concerns directly each day.
Coming off of 2015 and entering into 2016, anybody with even an entry level knowledge of current Illini football realizes the defense will be way ahead of the offense. The D improved from 109th to 30th last season and now you have the Lovie effect kicking in. Smith brought in a big NFL name, Hardy Nickerson to be his Defensive Coordinator, so that’s only going to augment the defense further. He’s a big improvement over Tim Banks.
Of course, the unit lost a couple of great players to graduation, and more to early defection. They’ll miss T.J. Neal, as well as a couple more guys who decided to transfer out when Bill Cubit was still running things. It’s going to take awhile before Lovie Smith can adequately restock the shelves of talent in Champaign.
Said NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah:
“Illinois’s going to have a hard time initially. You’re not going to beat Ohio State on kids, you’re not going to beat Michigan or Michigan State on kids. But you can do is identify what these guys can become. And we’ve seen the NFL guys go down to college and have a lot of success with that.
“I think that’s what Lovie Smith will be able to bring to them.”
His NFL pedigree will be huge, as the idea of Lovie Smith calling you is huge to a football player with NFL dreams. Think of what this does for a kid’s self-esteem.
After all, today has seen the self-esteem movement become so powerful that feeling awesome about yourself is now more prioritized than ever.
Said NFL Network Analyst Charles Davis: “we work at NFL Network and this isn’t me jumping up and patting ourselves on the back, but this is what kids watch. These are high school kids that watch a lot of NFL Network, and one of the big questions they have nowadays is what? How do I get to the league? How do you get me to the league?”
Said new Illinois Offensive Coordinator Garrick McGee:
“Anybody who’s into football has seen him (Lovie) on television, and they probably have seen how he carries himself on the sideline, the way he communicates with the players, they’ve watched it from television.”
“Now we bring him to the office and he actually shows up right in front of the kid, and the parents’ eyes are opened because they’re like ‘wow! It’s really him.'”
“We have a tremendous advantage with him as a head coach when we bring a recruit to him or get him on the phone with a recruit.”
Indeed going from Tim Beckman to Lovie Smith, and Ryan Cubit to Garrick McGee for that matter, is like going from a Wendy’s double stack to a Whiskey Filet mignon.
Unfortunately though, McGee begins his rebuilding task with a couple major obstacles. The unit’s best player, Mike Dudek, is out for the season again. The position he plays, wide receiver, was plagued by just an ungodly number of drops last season. The WR corps is one area that needs dramatic improvement next fall. The quarterback, Wes Lunt, is indeed quite the gamer, but he’s had a history of not being able to stay healthy. Don’t be too shocked if Jeff George Jr. sees meaningful game reps this season.
The good news is that the players have truly bought in to this new Illini football regime.
“I think of football like going to school, you’re never going to have the same teacher every year, and it’s a business at the end of the day but these guys are great and hopefully they’re here to stay,” said Sophomore-to-be Wide Receiver Desmond Cain.
You can take a look at the Illini football offensive depth chart here, as our good friends at FanSided, Writing Illini, have composed a very detailed post about it.
McGee has an offensive line with lots of experience at tackle and center, but very little experience at guard.
With Lovie, you know this Illini football team will “get off the bus running,” and that means a steady dose of Ke’Shawn Vaughn. He’s the feature back now that Josh Ferguson has graduated. As the Illini now transition from a spread attack no huddle to a Pro Set formation with a huddle, all signs point to them being a run-first team in 2016.
“They’re very fast learners, very smart, intelligent kids,” McGee responded when asked how his team is picking up his new offense.
“I’ve been really impressed with their ability to learn and show up with a great attitude.”
Illini football Spring Football Preview Series
Defensive Coordinator Hardy Nickerson
Wide Receivers After Mike Dudek Injury
Lovie Smith Illini football Spring Session Halftime Report
Quarterback Wes Lunt
Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears, NFL Appeal/Connections
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram