Reaction from around C-U — and the country — to Tim Beckman's hire:

"They have the MAC football on weeknights when there's nothing else on, so you turn it on and watch. I happened to be home and turned it on and (Toledo) was on. Obviously they scored a lot of points. That's what you remember. In one game, I remember, they scored more than we did against St. Bonaventure. From what I know, he took it over at Toledo when they had some major problems and he's had success after that. The guys he (Mike Thomas) hired at Cincinnati were MAC coaches and all had pretty good success. He's (Beckman) got a Midwest background. I think that's a positive tie. You obviously hope he's able to come in here and build on what they started and have some success." — BRUCE WEBER, UI basketball coach and football fan

"He's going to get them in the Rose Bowl." — JON STEINBRECHER, Mid-American Conference commissioner

"I've known Tim a long time. He was my defensive coordinator at Bowling Green, and he is one of the top coaches I've ever worked with. You won't find many coaches as quality as Tim Beckman is; he is a great hire for the University of Illinois and the Big Ten Conference." — URBAN MEYER, Ohio State coach

"Well, he's obviously got high energy. He's got a lot of confidence in himself. His recruiting statement was pretty predictable. I think most people say that when they take over a state school. I thought it was interesting that he called out Northwestern. I think that's healthy. It intensifies the rivalry." — GERRY DiNARDO, BTN studio analyst and former Indiana coach

"Through recent history, a lot of great coaches come out of that conference. Hopefully he'll bring a little bit of something that's different that they can win with early. My only real worry is new coaches take some time to implement their systems. They've got wide- open offenses in the (MAC), and I think that suits us. Hopefully we'll just keep moving forward. I'm Illini faithful no matter who's at the helm." — BRIT MILLER, St. Louis Rams fullback and former Illini

"Just met the new boss. Seems like this University got another quality human to lead the football program!" — FRANK LENTI, former Illini on Twitter

— "My first question is, if you're going to fire Ron Zook, why did you hire him (Beckman)? They could have kept Zook. It smells like Gary Moeller all over again. You're going to be looking for a coach in three years. He has no interest in Illinois, in the state of Illinois, until he can prove otherwise." — ERIC ROUSE, former Illini receiver

"I know he did a pretty good job at Toledo. I think everybody's been rooting for Illinois. Everyone, the (high school) coaches have been hoping Illinois takes a step forward and gets on to a winning way and representing the state in a positive way in football. It's been the showcase for the state tournament, and the high school coaches bring their players down there. You want to see excellence come out of that program." — RON MUHITCH, Wheaton Warrenville South coach

"I'd like to congratulate a very good friend of mine in Tim Beckman and welcome him to the Big Ten. Tim's a great coach and a great leader but more importantly a great husband and father, and I'm sure everyone in Champaign will find all that out for themselves very quickly." — PAT FITZGERALD, Northwestern coach

"Hopefully he's not using Illinois as a steppingstone job, that he wants to here. Illinois has to be a job he wants more than any other job. Maybe (Beckman) wants to be in Big Ten. Maybe he wants to be here 20 years, turn it into a powerhouse, that's the kind of mentality that us as former players are looking for. We don't want someone to come in here, win two or three years and then go find a better job." — DAVID WILLIAMS, former Illinois Hall of Fame wide receiver

"We had about 30 calls and I'd say it was 80-20 negative. It doesn't surprise me. I think we had talked so long about the new coach being able to excite fans and sell tickets and I don't think this can do that." — JIM TURPIN, WDWS radio host

"Just walked in the team room about to meet the new coach #freshstart?" — JONATHAN BROWN, Illinois sophomore linebacker on Twitter

"I'm excited, ready to go. I'm glad we've got a coach now and we're gonna move forward and get ready to win next year." — TED KARRAS, Illinois freshman offensive lineman

"We had a team meeting today and he's an energetic guy. I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to meet him. It definitely was up in the air the past couple of weeks, we didn't know what was going on. We're excited about where the program is headed." — GRAHAM POCIC, Illinois junior offensive lineman

"I'm excited. He's energetic, he's my type of guy. He's the kind of guy who's going to get in people's faces if they mess up and looks like he's going to make us work hard. That's what I like to see, that's what I like to hear. It's been a really confusing past couple of weeks, we didn't really know how to go about things but it's definitely a relief to figure out who's going to be our head coach, finally." — MATT LaCOSSE, Illinois freshman tight end

"You've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. With all of their contacts in Ohio, they are going to go after those guys. Joe Gilbert is their best Chicago recruiter. If they keep Gilbert that would be a smart move." — TOM LEMMING, national recruiting analyst

"We definitely needed a change. My biggest thing is recruiting Chicago, getting the talent in our state and the surrounding states. We really need to focus on Illinois, though." — RAMEEL CONNOR, former Illini

"I am still hoping to get our minor league baseball team rolling, so I hope he has an 'in' with the (Toledo) Mudhens." — DON GERARD, Champaign mayor

"We're delighted to have Tim Beckman in the community. We're certainly looking forward to having a relationsship where we get to see more of the coach, more of the assitant coaches, more of the players at our lunches or dinners. We think it is a great move. All the members I've spoken to have been very happy." — MIKE BYRD, Quarterback Club board member

"I know Tim. He's a good coach, did a nice job at Toledo. He was the coordinator at Oklahoma State and he was on the Ohio staff at one time." — BRADY HOKE, Michigan coach

"I'm excited. I hope he can build upon the talent we have and correct some of the off-the-field issues. From what I hear, he does well with both. If the team is good, it's great for business and a lot of fun for everyone." — DOUG LARSON, owner of Joe's Brewery