Sad Patrol December 5, 2012
The month that I received my acceptance letter to Illinois – November of 1990 – we were ranked #5 in football (yes, in the country). We had knocked off eventual national champion Colorado in a 23-22 thriller, we were undefeated in the Big Ten, and we were in the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl. I was pretty sure I was signing on for four years of battling-for-Rose-Bowls football.
Then Nick Bell happened (Iowa’s tailback who ran all over us, crushing our Rose Bowl hopes and killing our #5 ranking). Then, at the end of my freshman year, John Mackovic took the Texas job, Lou Tepper was hired, and, well, you know…
People ask me “why do you care so much?” all the time. And it’s always asked in a way that says “poor thing doesn’t understand it will never happen for Illinois football – we should help him”. My response is simple. When I signed on for Illini football, we were #5 in the nation. We were in the midst of five consecutive bowls. We weren’t Ohio State or Michigan, but we were firmly at the top of the second tier of Big Ten football programs. So my response is always “it happened before, and it can happen again”. But we now have to climb over a mountain to get there.
This evening I heard that Butch Jones was going to take the Colorado job. Ah, yes, Colorado – our friend in FAIL. In 1990 we’re battling it out in Champaign on national TV. In 2012, we’re probably the two worst teams in any BCS conference. Colorado won a national title in 1990, almost played for the title in 2001, and now hasn’t had a winning season since 2005. After Dan Hawkins and Jon Embree failed, it looks like it will now be up to Butch Jones to resurrect.
Butch Jones. You remember him – one of the coaches who reportedly turned us down before we hired Tim Beckman. Granted, the Big East went from a BCS conference to Conference USA in the last 12 months, so I can understand why he’d want to leave now, but the fact remains that Butch Jones looked at Illinois and Colorado and liked their trainwreck better. Ouch.
I know, I know – he didn’t want to work for Mike Thomas, Mike Thomas stole his cat, Mike Thomas took Dorothy Mantooth out for a nice seafood dinner and never called her – I’ve heard the conspiracy theories. I just don’t buy them. Mostly because they excuse what we’re all trying to avoid saying: we’re one of the worst jobs in the country right now.
We are. We just are. Don’t believe me? Pretend you’re an up and coming college coach. Nearly every program wants you. Assuming the pay is similar, which schools would you turn to and say “no thanks – I’m going to take the Illinois job”?
I posed this question to my buddy Tom. Here’s his list:
Pac12: none
Big 12: Maybe Iowa State
SEC: none
ACC: Duke, Wake (maybe)
Big Ten: I mean, are we worse than Indiana?
Sad patrol. Sorry – that needs an explanation. I have a “friend” (not Tom, might be me) who thought the Metallica song “Sad But True” was “Sad Patrol”. So any time I think “sad, but true” I say “sad patrol”.
It’s true – there are probably only five worse BCS jobs (not counting the “Big” “East”) in the country right now. And if you look at our bottoming out (FOUR winless and TWO 1-7 seasons in the Big Ten since 1997), you could make an argument that we’re at the bottom on the “yeah, you can win there” scale.
But what did that look like when I arrived in Champaign?
Well, we were definitely ahead of Northwestern. And Indiana. And Purdue, Minnesota, and Michigan State. And easily ahead of Wisconsin (they’d been to three bowls in 30 years at that point). Iowa was strong at the time, so let’s say we tied with them for 3rd behind Ohio State and Michigan. Illinois – 3rd best job in the Big Ten.
And then Lou Tepper was promoted instead of a national search. And then Tepper wasn’t fired after 1995. And then Ron Turner wasn’t fired after 2003. And then Ron Zook wasn’t fired after 2009. And each time recruiting (and our national reputation) sank deeper.
Look, I am all about building programs. It’s why I don’t think Tim Beckman should be fired after one year (or even two). Put in systems, recruit to those systems, see if you can win. Where I’ve changed over the last 10 years us understanding the urgency of making a change once it starts heading south (like 1-11 in 2003 or 3-9 in 2009). When that happens, it’s imperative that you have to find a new coach. If a coach can build but not sustain, get rid of them immediately (see: Auburn).
So yes, in the span of 21 years, I believe Illinois football has gone from third or fourth best job in the Big Ten to 11th. And looking at other conferences yields the same results. 20 years ago we were a better job than Missouri, or Oregon, or Louisville, or Vanderbilt, or Kansas State, or California, or a dozen other BCS conference schools. Now? Bottom five if we’re honest.
Somebody time machine me back to 1991. I want to walk up to high school senior me and tell him that Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Oregon State, Missouri, and Baylor will all be healthier football programs then the Illini in 20 years. I want to see his reaction. Bless his heart, he still thinks he’s headed to Champaign to see a 90′s-and-2000′s Wisconsin-like run.
Bless my heart, I still think we can get back there.
I had the same experience when I registered for Illinois in fall 2007. We had just beaten Ohio State in football and would eventually get blown out in the Rose Bowl (but it was the Rose Bowl!!). And just a few years earlier the basketball team had played for the NCAA tourney title.
I remember when I toured Loyola, and the guide was so proud Loyola was the only school in Illinois to win a NCAA tourney. I just kept thinking yea, but Illinois just got Demetri McCamey and Jeffrey Jordan.
You might say that it’s imperative that we have coaching changes after this last disasterous season. It was a comedy of errors and blowouts. The only people laughing are the rest of the nation. So, what are the repercussions of this dismal season with no discernable improvements all season long. Mike Thomas decides to keep Beckman, saying he never even considered another head coach. No kiddin’? Beckman decides to keep his downtrodden coaches. Players decide to jump a sinking ship knowing their hard work will be for naught. Hey, but the trainer stepped down. I hope for the best but fear for the worst. It’s awfully sad Illinois football has sunk so low.
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I don’t think we’re getting back there, my friend. This is who we are now (and have been for more years than not in recent memory). Especially with Urban on the scene now (even Bieliema got scared away by that) and with ND back to national prominence. Throw in that we now also battle national power Nebraska in our own conference and NU’s brand is one of a really good team, year in, year out (cheesy noncon sched or not, that’s the public perception).
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I just think those Tepper/Turner/Zook/Beckman bombing runs have severely hurt our infrastructure. We live on the bottom tier now and will keep living there unless we get a Barry Alverez or Bill Snyder turnaround. Yeah, those do happen but they’re pretty rare. And it aint happening with Beckman at the helm. If anything, he may continue to cement our “new” reputation as bottom tier applicant while he stumbles through season 2 and maybe 3.
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I really hope I’m proven wrong BTW.
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Also, since that heyday of Illinois football to which you refer (and I remember it fondly – I enrolled in Fall ’91), another member with a National Title on its resume (Penn State) has joined the conference. So, the conference has gotten quite better regarding competition while we have gotten notably worse. Bad divergence. Any young kid views Illinois football in a pretty dim light. And we’ve done nothing to build off of any bowls we made it to in the last 15-20 years, especially the Rose Bowl. Can we honestly say we’ve made it to a better bowl in the following year or two since say 1995?
IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE TO CLIMB OUT OF THE GUTTER – ILLINOIS IS THE LARGEST STATE IN THE B1G AND HAS AS MANY RESOURCES AS ANY OTHER SCHOOL!!!
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That said, it take a complete commitment to excellence from every single person associated with the University. Everyone. From the BOT, to the President/Chancellor, AD, HC, assistants, and players – even the EVENT STAFF that love to harass everyone’s favorite blogger. The University has not had that total commitment to excellence in over 20 years. Nothing we have seen in the last 20 years indicates that we will develop that commitment to excellence in the next few.
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B1G football is a group of dinosaurs, and Illinois is at the bottom of the food chain. The B1G is run like most things in the Midwest; old, stiff, out of touch, wealthy white men who don’t realize the earth has changed under their feet the last 30 years. Exhibit A? The “Legends” and “Leaders” divisions. Bielema bolting UW is just another symptom of the disease.
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so where do we go from here? i think Thomas has the right attitude about athletics, if maybe not the personality (if the rumors are true.) I think Beckman is not the right guy. I think the BOT, President, and big money boosters have absolutely zero idea what it takes to be competitive at the BCS level. I think Beckman is just one of many, many, many problems that lie over and around his head.
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So my take is this. ILLINOIS CAN GET BETTER – but it won’t under our current leadership. We have to hope to catch lighting in a bottle after Beckman is fired in a year or maybe 2. We absolutely will not be hire anyone that is highly qualified – i think we’ll be scurrying for another MAC coach. i hope that MAC coach is a good one.
I hate to break it to your buddy, Tom, but even the Duke program is more attractive than Illinois right now.
Anyone who was in the stands against OSU in 1982 when Rooks went around right end knows in their heart we can be there again. Loudest. Stadium. Ever.
Watch the beginning of this clip and see the students down on the field when Rooks gets to the end zone. Ready to rush onto the field after the game. That was our introduction to Illini football and it was unforgettable. Then Michigan two weeks later.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLs037fQEGM
The end of this clip is pretty cool too. When will this ever happen again?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg6R0OsQ4mw
On another note
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i’ve been really harsh on TB here since about the UM game, however, i will say he is putting in a strong effort on the recruiting front, especially given the gotterdamerung that was our 2012 season. 3 x JUCOs this week that all look to compete for immediate playing time is a really nice pickup.
I disagree. Rating the quality of program (or coaching job) is not whether they are winning right now. It’s whether or not a random coach can walk into the job and keep the winning going. Most SEC schools, OU, Texas, Oregon, etc. are all great programs. If Pat Fitz, couldn’t coach because of health reasons, Northwestern goes back to the gutter because no other coach can recruit to their academic standards. Vanderbilt will drop as soon as Tennessee gets their program straight. Washington State is a worse job. Indiana is a worse job.
I remember those days when Mackovic was here and watching the Colorado game. It was fun times but I know there were some who questioned if Mackovic was just riding off of White’s recruiting and then there was the group who questioned if Mackovic wearing the hat of athletic director was too much. There was the whole Jimmy Collins mess that certainly had to be distracting. Yes, folks it just might be possible to also somewhat blame Bruce Pearl for football losing some of its momentum.
Things can rise up again but it will take a special coach and staff to make that happen along with the right support from the UI. It’s not going to happen anytime soon with the guy leading them now. It just feels depressing that this is the best Thomas could do. I questioned the hire then and do so more now.
It’s one thing to see a football team lose yet see a coach and staff seem to have things at least somewhat together and simply lacking talent. This group just looks so incompetent that you have to wonder if it was the assistants in Beckman’s previous stint that kept things going.
I’ll admit I had similar feelings about Turner…not his hiring but his first two seasons were not reasons to hang on to the guy. He capitalized initially on his nfl background to get some recruits and had a little run of sorts. That wore out real fast. He seemed to have little interest in recruiting anyone decent for defense and if someone turned out good, he moved them to offense. Then there was the fact he came across like an arrogant ass much of the time.
So maybe if Beckman sticks around he can capitalize on something to make a run to hopefully get some momentum going. What though? There’s just nothing there. It will take some very good assistants to make this work. Is the current group the right group to do it? I have doubts.
Robert,
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You left out the fact that Colorado is paying outta their “you know what’s” for Jones and it’s all fully guaranteed. That HAS to be part of the reason combined with the Big East crumbling around him.
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I don’t think it’s fair to try and compare the two coaching positions and say Coloardo’s is better than ours. It isn’t a vacuum, there are different circumstances surrounding each search and position.
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What you can say is that Colorado, coming off of 4 straight God-awful seasons, is more desireable than a Purdue position that has seen moderate success.
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What’s that say about the Purdue job???
And on top of that Robert, now the reports are that Jones turned them down.
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So rest easy my friend!!!
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National Titles (shared or outright) in the Big Ten occurring during the lifetime of most fans watching games right now …
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Ohio State (more than one)
Michigan
Nebraska (more than one)
Penn State (more than one)
Michigan State
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How do we crash this party again (my point being, to crack the upper tier is to displace one of these teams)? Shoot, even Minnesota had a national title in 1960.
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Since 1960 we are listed as Big Ten champ 3 times (’63, ’83, ’01), The 80s and 90s were a nice run for Illinois football, but maybe those years were more of an outlier than the norm.
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And I know the main response to turning ANY program around is to get the right coach. But we were left with Beckman because guys who are the “right coach” don’t want this job. Beckman wasn’t our first choice. Probably our fourth or fifth. Maybe worse.
“Where I’ve changed over the last 10 years us understanding the urgency of making a change once it starts heading south (like 1-11 in 2003 or 3-9 in 2009).”
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Or 2-10 (0-8) in 2012. It’s started heading south. Hell, we’re in Mexico now.
Cmon, we’re still better than sevreral high major schools. Washington State is one of the biggest wasteholes in major college sports. Utah is also clearly worse and Colorado is probably worse as well. Oregon State is worse as a program. They’re on a high point right now but we were on an equally high point just one year ago (before the great collapse). They’re no better. Kansas, Iowa St. and both of the new B12 schools (TCU and SMU) are clearly worse. Purdue, Indiana and Minnesota are clearly worse in the B1G. Duke, UNC and Wake are clearly worse. Maryland and Georgia Tech are equals. The Mississippi schools are no better than our equals as well.
Just one year ago this whole posting would seem ridiculous. Let’s not let our Beckman pity run away with us. He’ll be gone next year.
Robert,
It usually takes 1 guy, that savior, the knight on a white horse, who somehow, some way, finds a way. Gary Barrnet did it for NU. Remember him?
They were absolutely terrible for about 1000 years before he came along. After him, well they got Walker and now old Puddin’ Head Fitz. And a program. So it can be done.
It just might take us 1000 years.
Illiniguy
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That’s the point – this post wasn’t written a year ago. It’s in the right here and now. If you think Oregon St., TCU, and some of those other programs are in worse shape right now – you’re just wrong by almost any metric you want to try to use.
I think the rumors of Mike Thomas being hard to work for are true. Butch Jones and Shaka Smart both wouldnt return the guy’s calls.
Wow…Joe John factually wrong again.
What are the odds?
I was a freshman going wild in the east balcony as we beat Colorado that day. Nick Bell tore our hearts out, I didnt understand why Mackovic would want to leave, but thought we would be just fine with Tepper. Alas, i yearn for those days to return. There is nothing like a full memorial stadium. That was fun.
The closest we have been to the highs of the Mike White years is the 2007 run and win at OSU. A few plays turning out different and we pick up at least two more wins that year. What we are seeing now is Moeller and Valek revisited.