Beckman in the spotlight
UPDATED 9:45 p.m. — Friday will be a busy day for Illinois athletics. There are indications that a news conference introducing Toledo's Tim Beckman as the school's 23rd football coach will take place in the afternoon.
At 4 p.m., Illinois takes on Ohio State in an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 volleyball match in Gainesville, Fla
Beckman's bowl press conference, which was scheduled for this afternoon in Toledo, was canceled as speculation mounted that he is Ron Zook's replacement at Illinois.
Those who know Beckman aren't surprised he is making a move to the Big Ten.
"I think that job is the right job,” said Dick Strahm, who coached Beckman at the University of Findlay (Ohio). “He will recruit at Illinois. There is no question about it. I don’t know how many of his staff he’s bringing along with him but I know they were outrecruiting everybody in the Mid-American.”
Beckman spoke with the Toledo (Ohio) Blade as he walked to his team's practice today but declined to address stories linking him to the Illinois job. Read the story here.
Beckman initially said he didn't have time to speak with a Blade reporter. But when asked if he's had any involvement with Illinois, Beckman replied, "Nothing right now." When asked if he's had any contact at all with Illinois officials, Beckman again replied, "Nothing right now."
Beckman then abruptly ended the interview when pressed about reports saying he could be headed to Illinois. "I'm not going to comment," he said before walking away.
in Champaign, interim coach Vic Koenning conducted practice outside Memorial Stadium. He said he has not been told who the next coach will be.
Koenning said the Illinois coaches were pulled off the road from recruiting, as of Monday. Koenning said that helped as coached continue to pursue other jobs.
Koenning said he expects to have the remaining coaches with him at the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 31, but there are no guarantees.
Beckman was scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. news conference to discuss the Rockets' upcoming game against Air Force in the Military Bowl. Reporters were told it was called off because of Joe Daniels' funeral services in Columbus, Ohio. Beckman worked with Daniels, a longtime college coach, at Ohio State.
Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas was on campus today. A request to talk to Thomas has not been granted by Illinois officials.
A source close to the football program said Illinois is considering only one candidate, thought to be Beckman.
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Asked if Illinois had contacted Toledo about Beckman, Toledo sports information director Paul Helgren said: "Don't have any information on Coach Beckman, sorry."
Illinois sports information director Kent Brown said no press conference has been scheduled to announce the new coach. The school extended the application period an extra two days and can't make an announcement before Friday.
On Wednesday, Illinois extended the application deadline to tonight. That would allow for additional coaches to apply for the position.
In two previous football coaching hires, both at Cincinnati, Thomas turned to a MAC school. He hired Brian Kelly and Butch Jones away from Central Michigan.
The former Ohio State assistant has led the Rockets to consecutive eight-win seasons. He is currently making $400,000 at Toledo.
Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said Toledo was not represented at Wednesday's prep football banquet in downtown Chicago, an event that draws coaches from more than 50 schools, including most of the MAC.
Lemming said Toledo doesn't recruit Chicago. This season's roster includes two players from Illinois.
A quick read on Beckman:
Age: 46
Why he fits: A winner in his first three seasons as Toledo head coach, going 21-16 and leading the Rockets to a pair of bowl berths. ... Took over a staggered program that faced issues on the field and off (point-shaving scandal). You haven’t heard about troubles in Toledo since. ... Works in the league where Mike Thomas likes to find head coaches. Both of his hires at Cincinnati were from the MAC. ... Thomas has put conference record as one of his priorities for Illinois football. Toledo is 7-1 in the MAC the last two seasons. ... Went to high school and college in Ohio and worked on the staff at Ohio State. ... Has qualified for a bowl in eight of his last nine seasons, including the 2007 BCS title game. ... Has worked for Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer and Mike Gundy. ... Scored 60+ points in consecutive early November games, losing to Northern Illinois and beating Western Michigan. ... Should have beat Ohio State this season. And Syracuse, too. ... Considered a talented recruiter.
Why he doesn’t: Defensive-minded coach might not play well in C-U, especially after Ron Zook’s connection with defense. ... Like with Addazio, the sampling is still small on him as a head coach. ... Won’t fire up the masses. Little name recognition in C-U. ... Has worked with Tressel, Meyer and Gundy. ... Thomas might want to break from string of MAC hires.
YUCK to Beckman (talk about remaining mired in mediocrity) Mike Thomas can't be trusted or believed at his word. Thomas said he would get Illinois competitive with anyone in the Big Ten. Well it's just not going to happen with Beckman. Beckman's defense is in bottom third of country (so much for our great defense) while his special teams rank near bottom of whole country just like Ron Zook's atrocious special teams. Great so now we have another Zook alike to look forward to. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!
Would be a good fit in a lot of ways. Will demand a committment to excellence from those affiliated with the program. Will be a total package kind of guy. Everything will start from discipline and go from there. May not be an exciting hire for many, but may be able to fix a lot of the little things that may have been holding this program back. We all might be wise to give him a shot.
As I predicted, an absolute dreadful hire. Beckman is a good guy and excellent coach but he will be smothered shitless in the recruiting wars. If Thomas likes the MAC so much, he should go back there himself. In hindsight, with so many vacancies, the Illini should not have fired Zook and waited till next year. This is a trainwreck.
"NO" bring in June Jones! He thought he had a contract with Arizona State. Bring Jones who runs the run and shoort offense. He has been coach at Atlanta Falcons and Hawaii . Why do we ALWAYS have to pick defensive mindeed coaches IF Beckman is the best we can do stick with Vik!!
Suck up your pride and Bring back the Zooker!!! Add a new offensive coordinator to Coach Vic and Coach Zook and fly into 2012.
Thomas - Clearly made a mistake. Timing is everything in this world. And, it was the wrong time to let go of Zook. Based on records and momentum, the U of I should have made changes two years ago. Instead they chose to rebuild the staff. In the rebuilding, the team and staff had bowl games back to back. And Zook had 3 in 5 years. Momentum was building!!!! They should have given this group at least one more year to continue to prove themselves.
Because they didn't....we are now in a panic mode!!!
Hopefully we don't give Thomas a bonus or extension after his first popular in the publics eye, but absolutely horrible decision.
Nobody could have forseen all the Div I coaches being fired or I am sure Thomas would have acted sooner. The Illinois position will always require a dynamic recruiter since they are surrounded by monster programs and the midwest is not a great producer of talent. I like the idea I saw where a former player, now living in Califoirnia, said the Illini need to get a pipeline established there. Bosie State has done quite well getting the 4th or 5th best player from California and look at all the talent Zook was able to coax from Maryland and DC. California has tons more talent. But this guy? Northern Illinois put up 63 points on him.
Absolutely dreadful if true. This must be misdirection move by Thomas so first choice thinks we have other alternatives. We already have one of best defensive coordinators in country and this guys background not impressive.
The current O/C at Oklahoma State would be best fit at Illiniois and perhaps most interested. He and Vic would team up to be good force. He only makes 400K at Oklahoma State, has ties to Illiniois, and runs an awesome offense.
The thing I don't get how did we go from Sumlin to Beckman in 24 hrs? I think either Thomas is doing a misdirection move...or Thomas has misjudged and can't get top flight coaches to come to Illinois. Bring in a proven coach... Sumlin...June Jones or an assistant coach who knows Illinois like Monken...
I have nothing against Beckman but what has he done? And how can he recruit? I don't have a good feeling....
Wow . .Guenther could have made a hire like this . .I thought the purpose of the new AD was to change the perception of and direction of the Illini football and basketball programs . . This is not Cincinnati football competing against the likes South Florida, UCONN and Louisville . .We have to line up against Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State year in and year out . . . . .I we are just and will always be a second-rate program competing with the Purdue and Indiana fr basement honors in our division . . . . .
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was . . . . . .
I can't express how disappointed I am at this pick. This does not improve recruiting, create any national buzz, or fill the stadium. It has taken 51 years as a suffering Illini, but I am finally convinced that we will never consistently compete in the Big Ten at a high level.
I've been in your shoes for 58 years! I have always held out hope that, before I die, the U of I football team would finally be able to be a factor in the big 10. If Beckman is the new head coach, I guess I can kiss another 7 years of that dream goodbye. Who knows if I will be around to see the next poor choice. MT, good luck getting people to buy season tickets with Beckman as the drawing card. I love the Illini, but I might have to find another team to root for in football.
Nightmare on Green Street; lipstick won't help this pick.
My choices of all those mentioned:
First: Offensive Coordinator Oklahoma State
Second: Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers and illini alum
Third: Vic Coach "K", fourth best defense in country despite poor offense and losing two starters early to NFL
I think all three would take job so what is Thomas even doing talking with Toledo coach? This cannot be true and if so, perhaps Illiniois should trade conferences with Northern Illiniois.
Mr. Thomas: it appears that Minnesota made a better MAC coach hire than you just did. If you can't hire a better coach than the moribund Golden Gopher program, why are you here? A coach with a career record of 21-6, whose team this season gave up more than 60 points to NIU at home? I can only hope I am dead wrong about your hire, but, for now, it is about as disappointing as it can get.....
Any wonder why a coach would not come to Illinois with a bunch of experets like those who write comments at IlliniHQ? They execute without a trial and I daresay not one of them has any idea of whether whomever Mike Thomas hires can recruit or not. So Northern scored 63 points; maybe whomever comes in will have the good sense to keep Koenig. Geez, get lives. As someone so neatly said, "Am I supposed to pay a lot of attention to the comments of some guy sitting on a sofa in his mother's basement and saying nasty things about me?"
The Tribune is reporting Sumlin, Jones, and Peterson turned down Illinois offers: Check out http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-1209-illinois-football--20111209,0,3748188.story
I concur, Bechman doesn't look like the best choice. And if that's the impression in the public, that's the impression parents' of recruits will have. Beckman has an uphill battle getting in front of kids when his general perception is underwhelming. I don't understand why getting a coach with solid Illinois backgrounds appears to be taboo. It works at Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Obviously, it can make a big difference to recruits/parents and football alumni. Yet, our AD's have continued to ignore it's importance. I hope I'm wrong about Beckman. Monken or Wilson could have been a huge hit in the public, which opens recruiting doors.
What is the obsession with having someone with head coaching experience? It helps, but I don't think it guarantees success more than not having the previous head coaching experience. Experience didn't help Zook and Turner; it's time for a different angle...an Illinois guy.
I was sure this AD would be better, however it is just not to be. What a poor choice, really bummed out about this. As long as we have small thinking people in charge the longer we have to endure this. Maybe it is time to stop donating until they get the message that we are tired of this mentality. If we did this as a group things would change quickly. This guys defense is horrible, ranked at the bottom and he is supposed to be a defensive mind? Maybe Thomas still thinks he is hiring for Cincy still. Have lost all faith in this guy, who is going to be next?
It's so interesting reading the hometown newspaper's reporting and fans comments.
The Rockets faithful really like their coach and hope he stays, while the Illini family hope he does the same and doesn't come to Illinois. Pretty wild! You gotta feel for a guy who will completely disappoint both fan bases if he's been offered the job and accepts it.
Very disappointed in this hire. He has a bad stats/record in various stops as DC, and Defense is supposed to be his forte. HIs teams at Toledo have some of the worst special teams in the country. His teams lead the MAC and close to the nation in penalties. His game management skills have been called into question repeatedly by reporters and his own staff after the NIU game.
This is Zook version 2.0. Illinois just fired a guy that was just like this. We know before there are serious problems with this hire, and MT goes ahead and does it anyway. RG could have made this hire. We all expected so much more, and now we are going to waste another 5 or 7 years becuase another AD can't shoot straight. How depressing.
He was making 400,000 at Toledo, the only saving grace will be if he gets a 1M or 1.2M per year deal laden with incentives so if it doesn't work out, it can be fixed quickly. If he does a great job, super, tear up the contract and give him a bunch more money to stay. If it is a lot more than 1M to 1.2M we have made the worst of all possible decisions, a coach with a ton of question marks and a new contract to buyout. He'd better get no where near what Zook was making.
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