Illinois Lets Cubit Go - Hires Lovie Smith

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MNVCGUY said:
Yep...no way recruits would be interested at all in meeting with an ex-NFL coach...they would hate that. No telling how well he will adjust to the college game again if this is all true but it is a slam dunk hire for Illinois.
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I see what you did there ;-)

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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_f54062b8-467a-5d7b-9dc5-094adcdf30f9.html


Lovie Smith, an NFL head coach for 11 seasons and former Rams defensive coordinator, soon will be introduced as the new head football coach at the University of Illinois according to multiple sources. Ryan Baker of WBBM television in Chicago was the first to report the news, and an announcement is expected as early as Monday.

Illini athletics director Josh Whitman wasted little time in his first day on the job. On Saturday morning he announced he was retaining John Groce as men’s basketball coach, then dropped a bombshell by dismissing Bill Cubit as the football coach.

Whitman delivered the news in person to Cubit on Saturday morning during a 20-minute meeting. He also told Cubit that his son, offensive coordinator Ryan Cubit, was being let go
 

Could be a great hire, or an average hire. High celing, most likely average floor. But, as a bit of an older coach maybe he's lost the fire and brings in his cronies as assistants to pad their retirements. Maybe coaching in the NFL for so many years made him fat and lazy (as far as college coaches go) and now taking a step back and having to do a rebuild will leave a bad taste.

He's a Lovie-type hire.
 


Spoofin said:
I'd take LS over TC.
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Yeah, I'd have to say I'd be intrigued if I were an Illinois backer. He has a track record, whereas Claeys is pretty much an unknown entity at this point. But, the weak links on the coaching staff have been swept away, so I'm pretty much irrationally exuberant about the team right now.
 


Pompous Elitist said:
Yeah, I'd have to say I'd be intrigued if I were an Illinois backer. He has a track record, whereas Claeys is pretty much an unknown entity at this point. But, the weak links on the coaching staff have been swept away, so I'm pretty much irrationally exuberant about the team right now.
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Don't get me wrong - I'm excited about TC as well and very confident in his coaching. Not as confident in his recruiting. I'm just saying if I had to pick between the two....
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
Denial is a defense mechanism almost all gopher fans use. AchyBreaky is simply refusing to acknowledge that the U is a 5-alarm dumpster fire. He is acting as if everything is okie-dokie whereas the rest of the world sees it for what it is.

In cases like his where complete denial has set in, the sufferers are mystified by the behavior of people around them and think those people are the ones with a problem. They oftentimes lash out calling them things like trolls even as the walls around them are caving in. Even if he figures it out, he'll still likely turn a blind eye to this uncomfortable situation and continue to pretend nothing is wrong.

I don't blame him or others like him as I once acted as if all was well. I guess after 40+years of being a fan, you eventually get worn down and reluctantly face reality. Give him some time, he'll probably come around. In the meantime, just go along with it as dumpster fires rarely cause collateral damage and if nothing else are entertaining to watch.
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No denial, just looking at the details of the situation. Any fool can do simple W/L math on just two programs and call the whole program a dumpster fire. In general, the programs are in very good shape. How many other football teams in the west would you swap for the current Gopher roster? I don't care what happen 5 or 40 years ago, I am talking right now. As for basketball, Pitino has made some mistakes, but he looks to be a good coach as far as player development and recruits. He has got the best players in the state this year and next year. He took a chance with 2 transfers setting out and it burn him when our top recruit didn't get medical clearance to play and a couple of knuckle headed mistakes put players on the bench. We would have won 2-3 more of those last game as the young player developed. I don't expect you guys to comprehend the obvious, but keep working on it, or just ask your kids for help.


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Spoofin said:
I'd take LS over TC.
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Not me, no way. He's an older, retread NFL hire who has been out of the college game for two decades. Lovie has a high chance of failing in Champaign IMO. Very glad they turned to him instead of Pelini, Fleck, etc.
 

alchemy2u said:
No denial, just looking at the details of the situation. Any fool can do simple W/L math on just two programs and call the whole program a dumpster fire. In general, the programs are in very good shape. How many other football teams in the west would you swap for the current Gopher roster? I don't care what happen 5 or 40 years ago, I am talking right now. As for basketball, Pitino has made some mistakes, but he looks to be a good coach as far as player development and recruits. He has got the best players in the state this year and next year. He took a chance with 2 transfers setting out and it burn him when our top recruit didn't get medical clearance to play and a couple of knuckle headed mistakes put players on the bench. We would have won 2-3 more of those last game as the young player developed. I don't expect you guys to comprehend the obvious, but keep working on it, or just ask your kids for help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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So it is obvious to you that Pitino is doing well coaching, developing, and recruiting? Yep, it is others that just can't see the <I>obvious</I>. smh
 




Spoofin said:
So it is obvious to you that Pitino is doing well coaching, developing, and recruiting? Yep, it is others that just can't see the <I>obvious</I>. smh
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Recruiting? Definitely. Best class since 2009 coming in next year, top 20 nationally, and each class has been better than the last. Jordan Murphy was a fantastic spring pickup in last year's class.

Developing? The team showed visible improvement over the course of the season until the Twitter incident and Joey King getting injured. The big men haven't been great, but great big men have better options than Minnesota.

Coaching? Turnovers have been low, and we were pretty consistently hanging with teams with more talent and much more experience. Only so much you can do when you only have 3 upperclassmen and none of them are exceptionally good players.

I'm not sure I'd agree with alchemy's assertion that the basketball program is in "very good shape," but assuming none of our bigger contributors transfer, I think they'll be a fair bit better next season.
 

Cayman said:
Recruiting? Definitely. Best class since 2009 coming in next year, top 20 nationally, and each class has been better than the last. Jordan Murphy was a fantastic spring pickup in last year's class.

Developing? The team showed visible improvement over the course of the season until the Twitter incident and Joey King getting injured. The big men haven't been great, but great big men have better options than Minnesota.

Coaching? Turnovers have been low, and we were pretty consistently hanging with teams with more talent and much more experience. Only so much you can do when you only have 3 upperclassmen and none of them are exceptionally good players.

I'm not sure I'd agree with alchemy's assertion that the basketball program is in "very good shape," but assuming none of our bigger contributors transfer, I think they'll be a fair bit better next season.
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We should frame this post. I'm going to assume you are playing with me as you have otherwise completely lost touch with reality.
I mean completely. God Bless You.

Back to football....
 

When I suggested the possibility of Smith using this (relatively) big step down in position as a jobs program for his cronies, I was being mostly facetious. Turns out, one son was the Bucs safeties coach, one was defensive quality control, and the third is his agent.

Considering they just canned Cubit and his son (the OC), nepotism seems to be a thing in IL. Nothing wrong with coach's sons following in the footsteps, but one would like to see them blaze their own trail...rather than ride the coattails in the "family business". Neither one seems to have done much outside of being Lovie's kid. How much of this employment is Lovie looking out for his sons ? I'm liking this hire a tiny bit more.
 





To those criticizing the Lovie hire, using the "he's been out of the college game for 20+ years" rationale....

Weren't many of you in favor of hiring Tony Dungy as Gophers head coach a few years ago?
 

SEC Gopher said:
To those criticizing the Lovie hire, using the "he's been out of the college game for 20+ years" rationale....

Weren't many of you in favor of hiring Tony Dungy as Gophers head coach a few years ago?
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I don't recall many pushing for Dungy to succeed Kill here. There was some who I suspect were trolling, but a lot of reaction was it was a bad idea or Dungy wouldn't really consider it.
 

alchemy2u said:
Pitino is going to be the coach at Minnesota for a long time. I expect you will admit you were wrong next year when they are playing in the tourney.
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They better do more than just make the NCAA tourney. If don’t make it or make it and do the one-and-done thing, Pitino should be sent packing. At a minimum, they better make the NCAA tourney the next couple of years and win at least one game next year and at least two games the following year. If Pitino wants folks to forget about this dumpster fire that has been raging the last couple of years, he’ll need at least a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 showing. Until this happens, keep up your efforts by moving around those deck chairs on the Titanic.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
I don't recall many pushing for Dungy to succeed Kill here. There was some who I suspect were trolling, but a lot of reaction was it was a bad idea or Dungy wouldn't really consider it.
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Dungy was a pipe dream that made more sense than Lovie. He was a Gopher and coached for the Vikes. People wanted him to stabilize the ship which Kill did to a point.

Lovie coached the Bears and has no other ties to Illinois or the school. I'd put my money on him failing, but I'm glad I'm not a betting man.
 

alchemy2u said:
No denial, just looking at the details of the situation. Any fool can do simple W/L math on just two programs and call the whole program a dumpster fire. In general, the programs are in very good shape. How many other football teams in the west would you swap for the current Gopher roster? I don't care what happen 5 or 40 years ago, I am talking right now. As for basketball, Pitino has made some mistakes, but he looks to be a good coach as far as player development and recruits. He has got the best players in the state this year and next year. He took a chance with 2 transfers setting out and it burn him when our top recruit didn't get medical clearance to play and a couple of knuckle headed mistakes put players on the bench. We would have won 2-3 more of those last game as the young player developed. I don't expect you guys to comprehend the obvious, but keep working on it, or just ask your kids for help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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+1 Some people see the forest others only see trees. Although I won't say we are in great shape in hoops. I like the class coming in and the two transfers should help next year. The key will be keeping the Eiffel tower boys around. Say what you will about their sexapades, but they're all promising basketball players As for LS sounds like a Bill Callahan type hire
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
They better do more than just make the NCAA tourney. If don’t make it or make it and do the one-and-done thing, Pitino should be sent packing. At a minimum, they better make the NCAA tourney the next couple of years and win at least one game next year and at least two games the following year. If Pitino wants folks to forget about this dumpster fire that has been raging the last couple of years, he’ll need at least a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 showing. Until this happens, keep up your efforts by moving around those deck chairs on the Titanic.
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LOL
 

alchemy2u said:
You are both idiots. Our football program is on an upward trajectory, men's basketball could have promise, men's hockey is not up to normal levels. Other than that all of the other athletic programs are in good shape. It is not a dumpster fire. And if your criteria is going to preface the last 20 years of history, then it will take 20 years of winning conference titles in order for you to call them average... Just go find another school to rip on and stop claiming you are a fan of the U.


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alchemy2u said:
No denial, just looking at the details of the situation. Any fool can do simple W/L math on just two programs and call the whole program a dumpster fire. In general, the programs are in very good shape. How many other football teams in the west would you swap for the current Gopher roster? I don't care what happen 5 or 40 years ago, I am talking right now. As for basketball, Pitino has made some mistakes, but he looks to be a good coach as far as player development and recruits. He has got the best players in the state this year and next year. He took a chance with 2 transfers setting out and it burn him when our top recruit didn't get medical clearance to play and a couple of knuckle headed mistakes put players on the bench. We would have won 2-3 more of those last game as the young player developed. I don't expect you guys to comprehend the obvious, but keep working on it, or just ask your kids for help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Can we please stop with the name calling and put downs. Good Lord. Truth alert: I'm guilty of it myself. We're supposed to be grownups. We're not all going to agree with things but we can have discussions without name calling and putting each other down. Message boards are suppose to be a place where folks can go to discuss their ideas. It's no longer fun to even visit this place.
 

Gopher2017 said:
Can we please stop with the name calling and put downs. Good Lord. Truth alert: I'm guilty of it myself. We're supposed to be grownups. We're not all going to agree with things but we can have discussions without name calling and putting each other down. Message boards are suppose to be a place where folks can go to discuss their ideas. It's no longer fun to even visit this place.
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Agree!
 

Not to replace Kill, but to replace Brewster. That's when the noise happened here.
 

in the last 50 years of football Illinois has 16 winning season. We have 20. Both could be considered dumpster fires.
 

This is roughly the equivalent of the Gophers hiring Denny Green in 2007. Actually a bit more of a reach, as Denny had been a college head coach and away from the game only 15 years instead of 20 +.
 

This is a HR hire IMO

Most of the kids in Illinois he will be recruiting were probably Bears fans when Lovie was beloved and doing fairly well. At the very least this is going to put their program in the spotlight a bit and that will give the program a lot more exposure. Interesting to see how he does recruiting wise, but this is a guy who was successful in the NFL for a period of time, and that should translate pretty well. First thing is keeping the local talent in state, he does that and the program should make major strides

I mean Illinois has nothing to lose here, the program can't get much worse. Why not go for the home run?
 

howeda7 said:
This is roughly the equivalent of the Gophers hiring Denny Green in 2007. Actually a bit more of a reach, as Denny had been a college head coach and away from the game only 15 years instead of 20 +.
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In 2007, Denny had just been fired from his second stint as a head coach in the NFL, just like Lovie. Too bad Lovie had no epic meltdowns in 2015.
 

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Breakin' The Plane said:
In 2007, Denny had just been fired from his second stint as a head coach in the NFL, just like Lovie. Too bad Lovie had no epic meltdowns in 2015.
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The Bucs could never crown anyone or let them off the hook, because they never had them on the hook to being with. In fairness they never got to play Rex Grossman either.
 

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