Beckman fired by Illinois

[Flipper]

Fleck? I agree that Babers hasn't done enough to be considered for a move up.... Fleck hasn't either. He took a 4-8 team that had been to a bowl the year before and turned them into a joke. They bounced back to mediocre last year... I don't see that as being enough to warrant a move. Now, if either team goes off and wins the MAC and rings up a signature win (BG beats the Vols or Terps or WMU beats Sparty or OSU) that would alter my opinion... but another eight or nine win season will do nothing for either guy.

[footballguy51]

A school like Illinois is career suicide for anybody. The school is in the Big 29, or whatever they are now, so they feel they're God's gift to football. However, they're basically guaranteed to be no better than 7-5 (8-4 in a monster year). Coaching for them is simply saying you want some money for a couple years, because you'll be there for maybe two years and then you'll get fired. Say what you want about the guy, but Urban Meyer did it the smart way. He stayed at lower schools and proved a ton, then got offered the job with the Gators. If Babers wants to move up, he needs to stay in the lower levels of the FBS and prove he can make all-powerful teams. Then, a perennial power that is in a slump may come calling and he'll have his shot. Sometimes the money just isn't worth jumping to the 2-year career killer.

[zete]

They are probably better off with Bill Cubit this year. I believe they realized their mistake in hiring Beckman and this was a way out.
I recall when he (Cubit) was with Western, he took his team to Ford Field and beat Illinois R Zook and Juice Williams in a regular season game.
Fleck's name probably comes up because he seems to be able to recruit rather well. With a decent staff he could possibly convince a hiring committee he could turn things around. But agreed: The Illinois job in not too attractive.

[MarkL]

The thing is there is no reason for Illinois not to be a powerhouse program.
- The state of Illinois is a good recruiting state.
- Chicago has a TON of talent.
- Right next door is Wisconsin and all of their big guys on the lines. Northern Illinois recruits Wisconsin offensive linemen, no reason for Illinois not to do the same.
- The Big Ten West is just not as good as the east
- Big state program with great facilities.
- There is a good basketball program but not an Indiana-level program to drain resources from football. Football should be the biggest program in the athletic department.

There really is no reason for Illinois to be a bad program. With the above list, I should think the right coach and the right AD would have Illinois competing with Wisconsin and Nebraska every year for the Big Ten West. There's no reason to shoot any lower.

BTW, did anybody catch the Montana/NDSU game yesterday? Incredible game. If I were the Illinois AD, I'd put Bob Stitt on my short list. He could make a Baylor/Texas Tech type team in the Big Ten West. Just a thought ...