Leatherneck Nation

Looks like the debacle that is U of I athletics now has new leadership.
http://www.galesburg.com/article/201602 ... refQuery=/

And he fires Cubit on his first official Day

I just saw that.
http://www.fightingillini.com/news/2016 ... coach.aspx

Says that existing assistant coaches will be able to interview to see if they can stay. It will be interesting to see what that means for Jeff Heklinski who was just hired as an assistant coach during the early offseason.

U of I had just given Cubit a 2-year deal.

This is very surprising news.

The new UIUC A.D. fires Cubit and then gives Men's BB Coach John Groce a vote of confidence.
http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160305/new-i ... confidence

What a mess!

Reportedly, Bob Nielsen is being interviewed...

Bob <insert sarcastic emoticon here>

BobLovely wrote:What a mess!

Reportedly, Bob Nielsen is being interviewed...

Bob <insert sarcastic emoticon here>

Leslie Frazier is the name i keep hearing.

Whoa....looks like it probably wasn't anything that Cubit did, but more that Illinois found themselves a better candidate.

[tweet]706227802123669505[/tweet]

And more info: http://www.chatsports.com/illinois-figh ... oach-27167

Seeing mixed responses to Lovie hiring, some media people are saying great hire and other media people saying terrible hire.

I myself just don't believe Lovie will be content in college, I would think he would want to go back to the pros, which I'm sure he will have the chance to.

I see a lot of the anti-lovie folks claim he won't be able to recruit in the BIG. I'm sure he can find quality assistants that can recruit.

vatusay wrote:I see a lot of the anti-lovie folks claim he won't be able to recruit in the BIG. I'm sure he can find quality assistants that can recruit.

Yea, he's got a few things going for him:
1. Name recognition...especially in Chicago area where he was the last Bears coach to get the team in the Super Bowl (or even the playoffs at all).
2. Known for being really solid defensively...something that is of high importance in the Big 10.
3. Known for being a "player's coach"...as in, players love him...so he will probably be able to connect with recruits fairly well (although he's rather behind for this next season).
4. Does have college experience...12 years at the I-A/FBS level, including 2 years at Big 10 schools (LBs at Wisconsin and DBs at Ohio State) and with most of his college experience in the Big 10 or northern SEC regions (as was most of his NFL experience).

I think for Illinois fans, this is a big "get". It's possible he won't do well, but I think that's pretty unlikely. First year might be a bit rough, but once he's able to get a full year of bringing in his assistants and recruits, I think he'll be fine. Also, with his NFL connections, I wonder if you'll see him bringing in some "big name" NFL guys to speak or help motivate. Imagine being a top recruit coming in for a campus visit and being greeted by someone like Dick Butkus or Brian Urlacher?