Tenuta staying with Wolfpack
Jon Tenuta, who was hired as Illinois defensive coordinator to replace Vic Koenning on Tuesday, will instead remain at North Carolina State.
“From the top, I want to say that Illinois is a great program and I think the world of Tim Beckman,” Tenuta said. “I’ve known Beck for 20 years and I have no doubt that with the staff he is putting together, he will have Illinois at the top of the Big Ten very soon. However, my family comes first and I may have made a decision without fully thinking through the situation with them. My son is a senior in high school and has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at N.C. State, and it is something I just don’t want to miss. I was one of the first people to contact Beck and congratulate him on the opportunity at Illinois, and I wish him and the Illini nothing but the best.”
It's just been reported that Tim Beckman has changed his mind and is going back home to Toledo to be a position coach. Tim said the pressure at Illinois was just too much for him and that he just plum ran out of great candidates for the defensive coordinator spot after having to resort to Plan D. Koenning was honestly his second pick, so he didn't try so hard to retain Vic. His first choice was listening to numbers but then again wasn't receptive to coming to Illinois and so then Tim and Mike Thomas threw a bunch of money & title of co-Coordinator at Jon Tenuta but that money was easily exceeded by NC-ST as will be Jon's new title. Plus NC is more attractive than IL. Beckman also lost another coach recruit who backed out recently. Supposedly Beckman has announced for quite awhile that all but one of the new coaching spots had been filled but now it appears there are still four spots open left. So Tim being in over his head has just decided to call it quits and now Thomas is looking at some promising high school coaches to take over at Illinois!!
NC State came back and offered Tenuta more money and responsibility. What a farce and embarrasment for Illinois' Beckman and Thomas. Now it's on to Plan C for Tim & Mike. They had the best option (Koenning) and blew that and now blew option 2. Amateur hour!! To be expected from mid-major hires with overblown egos like Thomas and Beckman I suppose.
After the way the assistant coaches were promised one thing by Guenther and Zook and then were co-erced to sign contracts which didn't reflect those promises by Ron & Ron, I wouldn't blame any subsequent future coaches being leery of coming here to work for Mike Thomas and possibly getting screwed by him.
Or maybe it's exactly as it appears: The guy made a quick decision, as all coaching job changes are at this time of the year, and then reconsidered. I'm sure Illinois did the professional thing and said "We wish it hadn't gone down this way, but we understand and we move on."
Why does this have to mean "amateur hour"? This has happened at numerous programs, and in the professional ranks. Besides, none of us had ever heard of Tenuta in the first place. Maybe this ends up being a blessing.
Come On ptevonian,
You should know by now that you can't be using common sense and logical thinking on here. All these skeptics don't buy into things like that. I'm sure if they knew I turned down an opportunity to be a Plant Manger because I didn't want to miss MY Son's college baseball games........they'd call me a liar too!
What kind of idiot tells his present employer that he is leaving, flies thousand some miles to his new employer, signs a contract and sets out on recruiting trip for his new employer but only THEN thinks about his son enrolling at his former school in the fall and talking with his family about his new job. I guarantee you it wasn't about family, it was about Illinois at first offering him much more money and a promotion (linebacker coach to defensive coordinator). Of course then NCSU stepped to the plate and offered Tenuta still more money than Illinois and a promotion in title and rank. So now Tenuta could have his cake and eat it too and stay in NC!!! Worked out rather well for Mr Tenuta don't you think? Tenuta is a mercenary and a player - nothing more.
"Amateur Hour" or ineptness may be more accurate a description for it. This is the third candidate that Beckman and Thomas have whiffed on (strike 3). They have now whiffed on Plan A - Koenning, Plan B - mystery man (well known) and now Plan C - Tenuta. Tenuta is a name well known by anyone actively involved with D-I football (Georgia Tech - Notre Dame - NC ST) and was even being mentioned for head coach at MSU before Dantorio was hired. Still his defensive statistics and rating as a defensive coordinator paled in comparison to Vic Koenning and he really lagged in recent years so he was definitely Plan C at Illinois. Problem is who can Illinois get that is better than Tenuta and as good or nearly as good as Koenning? Problem is that there isn't any such candidate out there that Illinois can realistically afford and would actually be willing to take a step down to come to a school like Illinois. Koenning is a tough act to follow (#7 defense NCAA) and it's looking bleaker and bleaker for Beckman and Thomas to even come close to filling his shoes.
What I’ve been saying for weeks… if a program, AD and head coach REALLY want someone to stay they find a way to make it happen.. the very last time we changed our head coach, our new head coach (Zook) announced our new defensive coordinator (Strong) and just like this time the program he was leaving stepped up to the plate and did what it took to get him to stay… we lived last time, we’ll live this time too, just hopefully not in the cellar as much.
Illinois did alright without Strong? Are you kidding me? Until Koenning came, Illinois defensive coordinator(s) were no where near the capability or higher level of a Strong or Koenning. Now Beckman and Thomas have already allowed an incumbent nationally top reated coordinator to get away (Koenning) and not have the means to replace him with an equal or better option. Not only that, but have already struck out out Plan B (Mark Snyder) and Plan C (Tenuta). It's almost a given at this point that Beckman is sifting through the bottom of the coaching barrel and Illinois will not have anymore a top defense we had waited so long to finally see here at Illinois.
whats funny is that they are complaining about Thomas, yet some of them want to fire Weber and have guess who - Thomas - hire a new coach. LOL. Sounds like a real recipe for success. I would give coach weber a 10 year contract before I would let Thomas hire another coach until we see how Beckman works out.
We never, ever, EVER should have let coach Vic leave. If we could afford an extra million per season for Sumlin, we could afford another couple hundred K per year to keep a fine DC. And we handled him very poorly, offering him **CO** DC? Jeesh. What a slap in the face.
I hope Beckman works out but so far this has been a bit of a farce. Why people in their wildest dreams would want to repeat it for hoops is beyond me. I guess the Weber Derangement Syndrome has taken over their minds.
I mentioned before that from the day Zook was fired, this has been a complete goat rodeo. Thomas should have had his guy lined up, but did not. Granted, the Tenuta situation is one that is created by Tenuta, but the contract disputes with the assistants and Beckman announcing people who don't show up, make our athletic department look about as bush league as you can look. How are those recruits who Tenuta called on going to react? How about other recruits?
There's an old saying about "It's better to be lucky than good." Beckman and Thomas do not appear to be very lucky....or very good at this point.
Let's hope they can turn things around. It's tough being an Illini fan right now.
Truthfully I think this is for the best. At this point I’d rather get someone much younger. Get a young, aggressive, up and comer willing to run 24/7.. recruit like hell… get 3-4 good years out of him before Indiana or Tennessee make him their head coach. I say at this point give Beckman free reign and 4 years and let’s see what happens.
Well we dodged a bullet there. I posted somewhere that this was going to be a 3 stooges movie, I was wrong now it is a Laura & Hardy movie with Thomas and Beckman. We just got duped by an average coach, the nation has to be laughing their ass off right now, how embarrassing, really.
Hate to say it but this is worse than the Ron & Ron Show, we weren't respected much but we snagged good players on occasion, now we are a laughing stock.
Why don 't we at U of I have the guts to stand up and say enough is enough, we are going to be a top program, period, we will do whatever it takes to get it there. We will no longer hire average blowhards, that just talk with no action, followup or cause the University embarrassment. And that goes for all of our programs, enough is enough.
Beckman is quickly becoming a joke. In his statement following Tenura's welching on Illini deal, Beckman says he will put together "the best staff possible". What a qualification "possible". With him, I suggest he get some guys signed up quickly and quietly and then make a blanket announcement before the football season begins "if possible"!
This sucks but at same time it serves our coach right because he should have kept Vic! Swallow your pride and keep a great coach on the staff!! I don't know what this guy was thinking, letting Vic walk. I know he wants his own staff and blah blah, but sometimes to be a great coach you have to swall some pride for the best of the team!
Have been a loyal Illini for decades. This current situation, over three weeks without a complete coaching staff and signing date looming, is the worst I have ever seen. To begin with, the offering Vic, the Co-Defensive coordinator job with the Toledo D-Coordinaotr (who gallantly led Toledo to a bottom rated defense in a mid-major is the height of professional stupidity. No wonder Vic has moved on to UNC. I truly believe that the blame for this fiasco lies with the new AD. What a joke!! To quote, "I like to get my coaches from mid-majors, not proven assistant coaches!". Yes, this plan worked in Cincy (another mid-major). Vic was not good enough (albeit a former head coach at Wyoming). Tim had a "proven" record of 3 years at a low mid-major. Lots of talk, lots of energy, lots of promise, but, to date, no delivery. Am dropping my season tickets for next year. Thomas and Beckman, while they may be fine fellows, are clearly in over their collective heads. I request that Illini Athletic Board, fire both of them and start over as they are both "wrongful hires".
He offered Koenning the co-DC job with Toledo's DC? Then when Vic took his talents to N Carolina why didn't Beckman just make Ward the sole DC since Vic was no longer in the picture? Could it be because you have no idea what you are talking about?
Beckman has lost 0 games as Illini FB coach and people want him fired because he is "in over his head"?? hahahahahahaha
Beckman was one of the top candidates for the OSU job before Meyer entered the picture. And guess what? Urban Meyer used to be a head coach in the MAC. He sure got in over his head when he moved up to a bigger conference!
The part of your rant I love the most is the following line:
"Lots of talk, lots of energy, lots of promise, but, to date, no delivery. Am dropping my season tickets for next year"
LOL @ this. hahahahaha. what?!?! he hasnt won any games yet?? he hasnt won the B1G yet?? what is taking him so long?????
I'm so glad that there are people with common sense making these decisions for the university and not Billy Bob Townie on the N-G website. hahahaha
Your reference to my comments tell me that you don't do you homework or read the C-U News Gazette. My sources of information came right out of the quotes found in the News Gazette. My reference to lots of talk, lots of energy are based on Beckman's statement that he would announce an outstanding staff"after they are finished with Bowl games". To date, not one assistant has come from 2011/2012 Bowl team, with the exception of the assistant from Vanderbilt. I recall the hirings of Moeller, White, Mackovic and Zook, when they had their staffs in place in less than two days after the head coach was hired. Maybe if Beckman would maybe stop overpromising, I wouldn't be so hard on him. By the way, I never read anywhere where Beckman was even being considered as OSU's head coach. The Columbus Dispatch never mentioned it. I don't think a 21-16 record at Toledo is worthy of OSU 's consideration. But, who knows I could be totally wrong and you are totally in the know (tic). All I know is what I read in the papers and know from experience with other hirings. By the way, I my name is not "Billy Bob Townie", and I don't live anywhere near C-U (unless 150 miles qualifies in your book). Just call me Will Rogers, who is tired of drinking the Orange and Blue kool-aid. By the way, Thomas' predilection for hiring "experienced, successful MAC" coaches is contrary to Penn state hiring of a lifelong assistant. Oh well, you know better than I do. That's apperent.
Just Ignore "TheSecretWeapon" as he seems to know nothing about football and totally ignorant and oblivious about what transpired between Tim Beckman and Vic Koenning. Beckman upon his hiring did not immediately attend to priority #1 and get with Koenning ASAP. When he finally got around to it several days later, Beckman did only offer a co-defensive coordinator position to Koenning (as Beckman admitted and as reported in the media). Plus Koenning did not get a well deserved raise for his very rare accomplishment in lifting Illinois' defense to #7 in the country. With many of the nation's top defensive coordinators earning over $1M/year boosting Vic's salary to well over $500K would have much better reflected the going market rate and would be acknowledging Vic's accomplishments here. Sharing coordinator position was one minor thing, but not getting the repsect and most importantly level of pay commensurate with his stature and performance is another.
Bob Asmussen reported that "Vic Koenning is getting paid $600,000 at North Carolina, a number Illinois would have had difficult matching. And he is going to a program where the head coach has a seven-year deal and would give Vic complete control of the defense."
Enough said. Beckman completely low-balled Koenning and Koenning had to leave to enjoy a pay raise respectful of and commensurate to his top 10 defense accomplishment.
I completely agree with the firing of Mike Thomas... Illinois football went to 3 bowls in 5 years. Won two in a row for the first time in the history of the program. Had 26 plus starters returning for the 2012 season. Which would put them in sight of going to 3 straight bowls. Had a coaching staff that after two years, was taking the program in a new direction. And what happens....Mr. Thomas embarks into a little tweak of the program. Which has turned into a major rebuilding. Way to set the Illini back 7 to 10 years.
The coaching world is really small and what proven coach would want to come into an atmosphere where if you are showing positive signs, you are shown the door....And, once out the door, the university doesn't honor its commitments. At this point our only hope is that we get an up and comer that is a future superstar of a coach. If that person shows up, they will be on to bigger and better programs. The thought of getting a proven performer is gone. Why would they want to work with Thomas!!!
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