Illini opening: How good a job is it?
How hard will it be for Illinois to hire a football coach? Here's the good and bad about the job:
THE GOOD
— Irwin Indoor Practice Facility
— Renovated Memorial Stadium, including a weight room to die for
— A conference that has sent two teams to the BCS for six consecutive years
— Forward-thinking athletic director who has money to spend
— Talent on the roster — and in Chicago suburbs
— 2012 schedule (seven home games; no Nebraska, Michigan State or Iowa)
THE BAD
— A shaky tradition (five bowl bids since 1993, no back-to-back bowl wins ever)
— Fickle fan base, best exemplified by a crowd of 45,755 attending the Big Ten clincher in 2001
— Nasty conference with 800-win club members Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and Nebraska
— Place where coaches go to fail (except John Mackovic)
— It's a basketball school
kj, You are correct that right now it does look like a stepping stone position and that fan support is not the best, but if you brought in a coach who could consistently get to bowls and win some and continually challenge for at least the B1G championship game, the fans would be there. Getting to 4 bowls over the last 15 years, does not bring a strong backing. If you take Ohio State and make 4 bowls over the next 15 years, fan support is not going to be good for them either. Just like selling anything, you have to have a good product, and Illini football is not right now.
tMake sure you add this important item to the BAD list. Professional sports always comes first in Chicago media reporting, then Notre Dame, followed by Northwestern, Illinois, and then what ever team has a local Chicago storyline ( Wisconsin, DePaul, Indiana, Michigan, etc) The Illini football team is not the top sports story in this state and probably never will be.
Make sure you add this important item to the BAD list. Professional sports always comes first in Chicago media reporting, then Notre Dame, followed by Northwestern, Illinois, and then what ever team has a local Chicago storyline ( Wisconsin, DePaul, Indiana, Michigan, etc) The Illini football team is not the top sports story in this state and probably never will be.
The "fickle fan base" idea is somewhat unfair. Just because we don't fill the house for South Dakota State, doesn't make us bad fans.
Illini fans, like White Sox fans, attend the games when the product is good. If the teams are bad, they stay away. Nothing wrong with that. If anything, it's just being a smart consumer.
We'll never be like Cub fans, who fill the stadium to view a crappy product. By the way, we're not the only school in the B1G that apparently feels this way. Look at the attendance numbers for Minnesota, Purdue, and Indiana.
You are absolutely right, the fickle fan base is extremely unfair. I would guess that was written by a Cub fan. Illini fans will definitely come and provide some tremendous support if we simply start to show a consistent ability to win. Our fanbase is so far above almost all of those in warm weather climates and pretty strong for the midwest/east as well. However, I think we are smart enough to find other options when the product is not good. For the most part, we can thank Mr. Guenther for the perception in recent history.
WV,
My thinking may be tainted by history. I expect that any coach who can come in and immediately make Illinois competitive at a level that does put butts in seats at Memorial Stadium...will be gone after a short tenure for a better job. And fans will never provide consistent support to allow the AD to keep a coach who does NOT deliver almost immediate and continuous success. Chicken and egg or catch-22?
Having gone to Illinois from 82-86, I can assure you that a winning program will fill the seats. You couldn't buy a ticket to a home game in 1983. It took several years of bad football for that to wear off. I reject the notion that Illinois is at some sort of competitive disadvantage. If Iowa, Wisconsin, or Boise State can build perennial contenders, so can Illinois. We don't evenhave to contend with that god-awful blue turf. Hell, Penn State is in the middle of nowhere, and they manage to field a respectable program (partial-sarcasm alert).
What Illinois needs is a smart game day coach who can also recruit. We have had this before (See: White, Mike, or Mackovic, John). It has to be clean, and it has to be done right, but I reject the notion that it can't be done, no matter what some journalists say.
What's the definition of basketball school? Must be all those championship & final four banners Illinois puts up every couple years. Shaky football tradition? It's no different than basketball! Nasty conference, what coach would'nt want to compete with those schools. Place where coaches fail, let's not keep coaches around 6-7 yrs when the writing is on the wall! Certainly don't run out & extend their contract or give pay raises based on one season! Fan base, whatever! Go Illini! Beat Maryland!
Brad Childress is the coach that can turn this program around. He has a history of buiding programs and started his career at Illinois. He helped Wisconsin rebuild and win 8 bowl games and back to back Rose Bowls. He was known as a great recruiter of talent and has national connections. His 5 NFC title games appearances and professional experience should attract talent also. Go Illini
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