Facebook App
Illinois' football team is 1-2 with Penn State coming to town. Meanwhile, if that isn't bad enough, 15 of the top 30 high school prospects in the nation have not made commitments but not a single one of them has indicated he is considering Illinois. Are Illini fans cruising on the Titanic and is that a big iceberg coming their way?
What does that say about Illinois recruiting?
"It doesn't say anything at the moment," said recruiting analyst Tom Lemming. "It means the area they are recruiting doesn't have any top 30 players. Most of the top players in the Chicago area are committed (the Illini have landed Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz, Downers Grove South's Chandler Whitmer and Proviso East's Corey Cooper) and Proviso West's Kyle Prater still is in the mix.
"They have been hurt because their best recruiter, Mike Locksley, left for New Mexico, and his lack of presence has been felt in Maryland and Washington D.C. They thought they'd make up for that loss with new coach Mike Schultz picking up in the Fort Worth/Dallas area in Texas but it hasn't materialized yet.
"They lost of the best recruiters in the county and they aren't winning big on the field yet. If they have a good season, they'll get good players, just as they did two years ago. Illinois is one of those schools, unlike Ohio State and Michigan and Notre Dame in the Midwest, that has to win on a consistent basis to recruit good players.
"The others can do it even without good seasons because of their football tradition. What Illinois needs is better recruiters. If they don't have a good season, it's up to the recruiters to get the job done, to sell the school.
"When they were 2-10, they sold hope and had a good recruiting year. But you can't sell hope forever. Prospects are looking for more than that. I've said all along that the biggest problem with Big 10 football is the school don't pay their assistant coaches enough money. That's why they aren't competing with the SEC, which pays big money for very aggressive recruiters."
Illinois offered Larry Johnson, one of the premier recruiters in the country, a lot of money to leave Penn State. But he turned down an annual paycheck of over $400,000 to stay with Joe Paterno, who gave him a healthy raise.
Notre Dame tried to get the defensive line coach at Ohio State who recruited Terrelle Pryor but he turned down the offer to stay at Ohio State, his alma mater, for more money.
At Tennessee, former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron got $650,000 to be defensive line coach. He has a great reputation as an outstanding recruiter.
The SEC gets it, the Big 10 doesn't. You win by recruiting, by getting the best players. There are no geniuses in coaching. But some coaches are exceptionally smart in the recruiting game.
Cell Phone Alerts
Maybe U of I should start with recruiting Leo's linebacker #4 Hakeem Chatman like Penn State is . Before he gets out of the state like others have !
HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY AREN'T RECRUITING ONE OF MIKE HOLMES PLAYERS, THEY HAVE TWO ON THE TEAM AT U OF I CURRENTLY, AND MIKE HOLMES FORMER ALL-STATER FROM LEO, IS A U OF I GRADUATE, SO I KNOW COACH ZOOK AND HIS STAFF WILL DO EVERY THING IN THEIR POWER TO RECRUIT MR. CHATMAN, JUST LIKE THE NICE PEOPLE FROM HAPPY VALLEY!
Pretty sure this problem exists at many schools. What are there ten schools that recruit who they want and where they want? The remaining schools are scrambling. Some true recruiting success stories are Iowa, Boise State and Nebraska. How do they do it? One head scratcher is UCLA, how do they not get it done?
I agree wih the salary issue and the tradition factor. It all makes for a big dilemma. If Orgeron's reported salary is correct, then he is paid at or slighty above the head coach at Indiana.
Sometimes the topics you present could turn into a book. Oh that's right you do write books too! (That's not a criticism)
You write, "I've said all along that the biggest problem with Big 10 football is the school don't pay their assistant coaches enough money." Two paragraphs later, you write "Notre Dame tried to get the defensive line coach at Ohio State . . . but he turned down the offer to stay at Ohio State, his alma mater, for more money."
Well, which is it? Are the Big Ten coaches getting paid, or aren't they?
IOWA AND NEBRASKA RECRUIT FROM EVERY MAJOR STATE THAT DOMINATES HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, THE YOUNG MAN THAT PICKED THE BLOCKED PUNT AND SCORED THE TOUCHDOWN WAS THE BEST PLAYER IN MISSOURI WHEN HE LEFT HIGH SCHOOL, SO YOU SEE HOW WELL THEY RECRUIT, AND NEBRASKA WITH COACH PELINI, THEY ARE STARTING TO REALLY GET EXCITING SPEED ATHLETES, FROM CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND FLORIDA!
GOING TO A NEBRASKA GAME IS LIKE A PRO GAME, THEY HAVE SOLD OUT OVER 300 DATES IN A ROW THAT DATES BACK DECADES, THEY SHOW THEIR HOME GAMES ON PAY-PER-VIEW IN THEIR HOME STATE AND SURROUNDING AREAS, THEY ARE SMART AS WELL, THE LAST TWO SEASONS THEY HAVE PLAYED 7 HOME GAMES PER YEAR!
BIG RED FOOTBALL IS A VERY SERIOUS OPERATION!
U of I should start recruiting from Leo High School? Leo hasn't mattered in Football since the 1950"s. If U of I wants to recruit winning players then they should start with Wheaton Warrenville South, Naperville North, Lincoln Way East and so on but Leo High? No slapp in the face but common on.
My biggest problem with U of I is coaching. Juice Williams hasn't developed much in 4 years. Defensively they are terrible. Very bad scheme. Also I thought 3 years ago U of I had a top 5 recruiting class? What programs need to stop doing is stop placing so much emphasis on 40 times and concentrate more on Football IQ. Sure a guy can run like the wind but now intelligent is the guy and what's inside his heart. What I mean by intelligence is Football IQ. So many kids are lacking in this function.
Hey Paul, are you not aware of the # of players the coach over @ that small school has not only sent to college ! But also to the NFL ! Shame on you man . And by the way he has 4 @ U of I and 9 to the NFL . And he's only about 50 yrs old . I would not bash those schoolS you named . Because I came from one of them myself ! But for the most part, we were taught to be good high school players to win high school championships . They could care less about us going D1 . But we did go to college . What is seen @ schools like the Leo's are great players but technic is not the best . College coaches see that, but they know how to fix that and produce great stars . Gooooo, St. Rita !
JW, As I said no slap on Leo but common on. I watched 2 of those guys who are Freshmen at Uof I and one could barely get out of his stance. The other one has a chance but will never make a difference. Hopefully, they will achieve an Education.
U Of I needs to get that QB from Gerard Baker From Leo The Kid is a amazing.Also DB, Leo Watkins, and RB, Keith Harris these guys electrifying player