I was speaking from an ND standpoint. ND factuly/staff/alums will not have a high level of interest in this game and I shouldn't have problems getting tickets if you aren't able to get them through Miami.

Yeah I'm sure nobody will care, Miami's team sucks really badly. Appreciate the offer I may hit you up on that one.

Hopefully, they fire Beckman sooner rather than later; he's done. A name I've seen thrown around a bit lately has been Justin Fuente at Memphis, and I think he could be a great outside the box type of hire, should we miss out on the Harbaugh sweepstakes. As an added bonus, he'd be a minority hire, which would hopefully stop any more discussion on that front from the BOT.

 

 

Beckman says that if Illinois wins out, they will have 9 wins. Good to know!

 

Bailey will compete with O'Toole for the starting job this week, guess that might be one positive thing.

His press conference today was nonsense..............blaming newspapers for negative vibe of Illinois football and saying take away 10 plays and game could of been different. He has to go next Monday with a bye week after that. 24 pt dog at Wisky.

Edited October 7, 201411 yr by Soxfest

His press conference today was nonsense..............blaming newspapers for negative vibe of Illinois football and saying take away 10 plays and game could of been different. He has to go next Monday with a bye week after that. 24 pt dog at Wisky.

 

He's got a point. Take away 5 to 10 plays from every Bears game and suddenly Jay Cutler is as good as Aaron Rodgers.

That's a negative, now it wastes the red shirt year that he should have used last year.

 

 

Bailey should have gone somewhere else. He could have switched positions and gone pretty much anywhere. He was great on Bolingbrook. Coaching against him in HS sucked.

I think I'mjumping on the Justin Fuente bandwagon for Illinois.

I think I'mjumping on the Justin Fuente bandwagon for Illinois.

 

I'm with you. Loved pretty much everything he said in this article on rebuilding. He got his start at ISU, and Memphis when he took over was in worse shape than Illinois is right now. We might have a shot at him if we get on him early enough, before the Floridas and Michigans start hiring away from the middle tier programs.

 

 

Yeah. He needs to win a bit this year to fully prove himself but I'm on board. Hopefully he still has some major ties to Texas.

Is Illinois really that big of a step up from Memphis in football?

Yeah. It's a gigantic step up.

Is Illinois really that big of a step up from Memphis in football?

Ouch. Green?

Is Illinois really that big of a step up from Memphis in football?

 

Beckman makes nearly double the salary Fuente does, and just being in one of the power 5 conferences, which Memphis isn't, is huge.

Yeah. It's a gigantic step up.

 

It's a job where he is pretty much set up for failure.

Beckman makes nearly double the salary Fuente does, and just being in one of the power 5 conferences, which Memphis isn't, is huge.

 

That part makes sense. If he is that good, won't a better program want him?

It's a job where he is pretty much set up for failure.

 

That simply isn't true. Ron Turner and Ron Zook who are both awful football coaches made BCS games at Illinois. A good coach can and almost certainly will win at Illinois. The last 4 Illinois coaches have all just been dreadful football coaches.

 

And I'm not sure if it is still true but not long ago Illinois had more active NFL players than every other school in the Big 10 except Ohio State. Illinois is never going to be Ohio State (well at least not for a really really long time and multiple great hires) but a good coach will win at Illinois.

Edited October 7, 201411 yr by whitesoxfan99

That part makes sense. If he is that good, won't a better program want him?

 

I don't think that Memphis has enough of a history of winning to have their coach picked up by a program that is in the top half of a major conference. Memphis really isn't in the category of teams like BYU, Boise St., Central Florida, Cincinnati or East Carolina that have been good for several years. A Memphis coach is going to have to succeed at a better mid-major school or a lower tier power conference school before getting a shot at the big time. Illinois is the kind of school that is going to be interested in a Memphis coach, and given the vulnerability of the Big Ten right now, it's a better gig than someplace like Kansas, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest or Colorado.

That part makes sense. If he is that good, won't a better program want him?

 

This is why you need to get in on him early before the bigger and better programs come knocking or before any of the bigger and better jobs are open. There's no guarantees that he'd be interested, but it can be hard to turn down a $2 million salary. Especially, if you think you can turn around any program since you just turned around a program in worse shape than Illinois.

 

 

That simply isn't true. Ron Turner and Ron Zook who are both awful football coaches made BCS games at Illinois. A good coach can and almost certainly will win at Illinois. The last 4 Illinois coaches have all just been dreadful football coaches.

 

And I'm not sure if it is still true but not long ago Illinois had more active NFL players than every other school in the Big 10 except Ohio State. Illinois is never going to be Ohio State (well at least not for a really really long time and multiple great hires) but a good coach will win at Illinois.

 

What are Ron Turner and Ron Zook doing now?

I don't think that Memphis has enough of a history of winning to have their coach picked up by a program that is in the top half of a major conference. Memphis really isn't in the category of teams like BYU, Boise St., Central Florida, Cincinnati or East Carolina that have been good for several years. A Memphis coach is going to have to succeed at a better mid-major school or a lower tier power conference school before getting a shot at the big time. Illinois is the kind of school that is going to be interested in a Memphis coach, and given the vulnerability of the Big Ten right now, it's a better gig than someplace like Kansas, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest or Colorado.

 

This is the exact category I see the Illinois job in. It is a clear third tier job in the Big 10.

This is the exact category I see the Illinois job in. It is a clear third tier job in the Big 10.

 

Football is not basketball. A good system guy can win. Illinois football also can retain Illinois talent which they struggle with in basketball.

 

If the administration so choose Illinois would be on par with Wisconsin and MSU.

 

Playing in the BIG gives you an opportunity to play for the national championship annually.

What are Ron Turner and Ron Zook doing now?

Ron Turner is still head coaching in Division 1 and Zook is coaching in the nfl. Not bad considering they were football brain dead.

Ron Turner is still head coaching in Division 1 and Zook is coaching in the nfl. Not bad considering they were football brain dead.

 

He's at Florida International. He took a large step backwards. Zook is an assistant special teams coach, again a large step backwards.

 

Illinois just isn't a destination school.

Compared to Memphis? FIU is not much a step backwards. Yes to Illinois they both are. That's what happens when you get fired.

Compared to Memphis? FIU is not much a step backwards. Yes to Illinois they both are. That's what happens when you get fired.

 

That is the whole point. The guys who were most "successful" still washed out and are working at second rate jobs trying to keep a toehold in the industry. That is what a dead end job is

He's at Florida International. He took a large step backwards. Zook is an assistant special teams coach, again a large step backwards.

 

Illinois just isn't a destination school.

So now we're changing the argument from "Illinois isn't a step up from Memphis" to "Illinois isn't a DESTINATION school" which no one has ever said.

 

Illinois is a clear step up from Memphis.