http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-footba...-rankings/

Welcome to the big league, Coach Beckman! Enjoy the multimillion dollar contract while it lasts.

Hopefully is lasts a long, long time.

wow...and I thought tOSU fans drank too much green koolaid too often. They are now thinking they are ready for national championship game based on last season and this supposedly wonderful recruiting class. One responder had it right - there are no trophys handed out for recruiting rankings. They are lauding Hoke for what he did in such a short time in recruiting. Until NLOI day, those recruits are not locked up and they better be concerned about what Meyer can do in terms of recruiting and taking some of those Ohio commits back who defected after the Tressel/tatoos incident.

As for coach Beckman - I still wish the best for him, but I think he is going to have a very rough time of it at Illinois. It's not like he is taking over a program that was in tatters because of a lack of discipline. They just do not get the same level of players as the big boys in the Big10/12. Meyer taking over at Ohio State had to be like a dagger to his heart when it came to his hopes of recruiting Ohio talent.

(01-14-2012 09:34 AM)MotoRocket Wrote:  wow...and I thought tOSU fans drank too much green koolaid too often. They are now thinking they are ready for national championship game based on last season and this supposedly wonderful recruiting class. One responder had it right - there are no trophys handed out for recruiting rankings. They are lauding Hoke for what he did in such a short time in recruiting. Until NLOI day, those recruits are not locked up and they better be concerned about what Meyer can do in terms of recruiting and taking some of those Ohio commits back who defected after the Tressel/tatoos incident.

As for coach Beckman - I still wish the best for him, but I think he is going to have a very rough time of it at Illinois. It's not like he is taking over a program that was in tatters because of a lack of discipline. They just do not get the same level of players as the big boys in the Big10/12. Meyer taking over at Ohio State had to be like a dagger to his heart when it came to his hopes of recruiting Ohio talent.

The U of I has been a grave yard for 8 of their last 9 head coaches. I suspect that is what Coach Hadsell was trying to warn him about.

It's actually quite puzzling. Beckman and his staff are offering everyone they can out of the state of Ohio and really no one from Illinois. Tevin Coleman is a big-time running back prospect from the state of Illinois. He was offered by Toledo (Louis Ayeni) early on, but he felt he was too big-time for Toledo. Illinois never offered him. He recently committed to Indiana. The other thing that really makes me question what Beckman and his staff are doing is that he is constantly in recruiting wars with Toledo. He's offered a ton of kids that Toledo is going after. He has offered a few of Toledo's commitments, and I believe they have all turned Illinois down. It's funny that right now Toledo seems to be having recruiting wars with Illinois rather than other top MAC schools or schools like Indiana, Purdue, etc.

I know Beckman got to Illinois late, but if he doesn't improve the quality of recruit he is going after he is not going to last at Illinois very long. You can't compete week in and week out in the Big Ten with only a couple of athletes that are just as good as the one's at Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.

(01-14-2012 10:06 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  It's actually quite puzzling. Beckman and his staff are offering everyone they can out of the state of Ohio and really no one from Illinois. Tevin Coleman is a big-time running back prospect from the state of Illinois. He was offered by Toledo (Louis Ayeni) early on, but he felt he was too big-time for Toledo. Illinois never offered him. He recently committed to Indiana. The other thing that really makes me question what Beckman and his staff are doing is that he is constantly in recruiting wars with Toledo. He's offered a ton of kids that Toledo is going after. He has offered a few of Toledo's commitments, and I believe they have all turned Illinois down. It's funny that right now Toledo seems to be having recruiting wars with Illinois rather than other top MAC schools or schools like Indiana, Purdue, etc.

I know Beckman got to Illinois late, but if he doesn't improve the quality of recruit he is going after he is not going to last at Illinois very long. You can't compete week in and week out in the Big Ten with only a couple of athletes that are just as good as the one's at Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.

It is a big mistake, as a Big Ten team, if your goal is not to own your home state in recruiting. This is one of the reasons Saban left MSU for LSU, aside from the money. He knew UM would always get first dibs on the top talent in Michigan and be able to recruit nationally, do to its rich tradition. From a recruiting standpoint, MSU will always be, at best, 4th choice in the Midwest behind UM, OSU, and ND. If Beckman thinks he is going to make Ohio his base recruiting state because of his relationships in the state, he is in for a rude awakening. He won't be competing for same players UM, OSU and MSU are targeting. He will be fighting with UT, BG and Miami.

(01-14-2012 10:22 AM)dvargo27 Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:06 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  It's actually quite puzzling. Beckman and his staff are offering everyone they can out of the state of Ohio and really no one from Illinois. Tevin Coleman is a big-time running back prospect from the state of Illinois. He was offered by Toledo (Louis Ayeni) early on, but he felt he was too big-time for Toledo. Illinois never offered him. He recently committed to Indiana. The other thing that really makes me question what Beckman and his staff are doing is that he is constantly in recruiting wars with Toledo. He's offered a ton of kids that Toledo is going after. He has offered a few of Toledo's commitments, and I believe they have all turned Illinois down. It's funny that right now Toledo seems to be having recruiting wars with Illinois rather than other top MAC schools or schools like Indiana, Purdue, etc.

I know Beckman got to Illinois late, but if he doesn't improve the quality of recruit he is going after he is not going to last at Illinois very long. You can't compete week in and week out in the Big Ten with only a couple of athletes that are just as good as the one's at Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.

It is a big mistake, as a Big Ten team, if your goal is not to own your home state in recruiting. This is one of the reasons Saban left MSU for LSU, aside from the money. He knew UM would always get first dibs on the top talent in Michigan and be able to recruit nationally, do to its rich tradition. From a recruiting standpoint, MSU will always be, at best, 4th choice in the Midwest behind UM, OSU, and ND. If Beckman thinks he is going to make Ohio his base recruiting state because of his relationships in the state, he is in for a rude awakening. He won't be competing for same players UM, OSU and MSU are targeting. He will be fighting with UT, BG and Miami.

It is very tough to hit the ground running during your first year of recruiting in the NCAA. Only a big name like Meyer, Hoke or Kelly can hope to make gains. He will depend on the work done by his predecessor or what he can bring with him from his prior school.

They'll have to start get the Chicago kids, but will need to recruit heavily in Florida and Texas.

(01-14-2012 10:45 AM)OldRock Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:22 AM)dvargo27 Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:06 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  It's actually quite puzzling. Beckman and his staff are offering everyone they can out of the state of Ohio and really no one from Illinois. Tevin Coleman is a big-time running back prospect from the state of Illinois. He was offered by Toledo (Louis Ayeni) early on, but he felt he was too big-time for Toledo. Illinois never offered him. He recently committed to Indiana. The other thing that really makes me question what Beckman and his staff are doing is that he is constantly in recruiting wars with Toledo. He's offered a ton of kids that Toledo is going after. He has offered a few of Toledo's commitments, and I believe they have all turned Illinois down. It's funny that right now Toledo seems to be having recruiting wars with Illinois rather than other top MAC schools or schools like Indiana, Purdue, etc.

I know Beckman got to Illinois late, but if he doesn't improve the quality of recruit he is going after he is not going to last at Illinois very long. You can't compete week in and week out in the Big Ten with only a couple of athletes that are just as good as the one's at Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.

It is a big mistake, as a Big Ten team, if your goal is not to own your home state in recruiting. This is one of the reasons Saban left MSU for LSU, aside from the money. He knew UM would always get first dibs on the top talent in Michigan and be able to recruit nationally, do to its rich tradition. From a recruiting standpoint, MSU will always be, at best, 4th choice in the Midwest behind UM, OSU, and ND. If Beckman thinks he is going to make Ohio his base recruiting state because of his relationships in the state, he is in for a rude awakening. He won't be competing for same players UM, OSU and MSU are targeting. He will be fighting with UT, BG and Miami.

It is very tough to hit the ground running during your first year of recruiting in the NCAA. Only a big name like Meyer, Hoke or Kelly can hope to make gains. He will depend on the work done by his predecessor or what he can bring with him from his prior school.

I agree with that, but I don't see this trend changing thus far. Illinois has already offered a ton of Ohio kids for the next class, 2013. They've only offered a handful of kids from Illinois for that 2013 class so far.

I was just talking about this with an influential person in the college football genre the other day, and even they were saying they are puzzled by their recruiting tactics. There's some rumors going around that they were looking at MAC recruiting classes and offering the kids from Ohio that were rated 3 stars on the recruiting sites. That's funny. I've never heard of a coach basing (sp?) who they offer on how many stars a recruiting service gives players. It's almost like they are over their heads and haven't learned how to recruit at a bigger school yet.

Maybe they should go after Northern ILLINOIS recruits. At least they want to play in the state of Illinois and Champaign is as scenic as DeKalb.

(01-14-2012 12:28 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:45 AM)OldRock Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:22 AM)dvargo27 Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:06 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  It's actually quite puzzling. Beckman and his staff are offering everyone they can out of the state of Ohio and really no one from Illinois. Tevin Coleman is a big-time running back prospect from the state of Illinois. He was offered by Toledo (Louis Ayeni) early on, but he felt he was too big-time for Toledo. Illinois never offered him. He recently committed to Indiana. The other thing that really makes me question what Beckman and his staff are doing is that he is constantly in recruiting wars with Toledo. He's offered a ton of kids that Toledo is going after. He has offered a few of Toledo's commitments, and I believe they have all turned Illinois down. It's funny that right now Toledo seems to be having recruiting wars with Illinois rather than other top MAC schools or schools like Indiana, Purdue, etc.

I know Beckman got to Illinois late, but if he doesn't improve the quality of recruit he is going after he is not going to last at Illinois very long. You can't compete week in and week out in the Big Ten with only a couple of athletes that are just as good as the one's at Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.

It is a big mistake, as a Big Ten team, if your goal is not to own your home state in recruiting. This is one of the reasons Saban left MSU for LSU, aside from the money. He knew UM would always get first dibs on the top talent in Michigan and be able to recruit nationally, do to its rich tradition. From a recruiting standpoint, MSU will always be, at best, 4th choice in the Midwest behind UM, OSU, and ND. If Beckman thinks he is going to make Ohio his base recruiting state because of his relationships in the state, he is in for a rude awakening. He won't be competing for same players UM, OSU and MSU are targeting. He will be fighting with UT, BG and Miami.

It is very tough to hit the ground running during your first year of recruiting in the NCAA. Only a big name like Meyer, Hoke or Kelly can hope to make gains. He will depend on the work done by his predecessor or what he can bring with him from his prior school.

I agree with that, but I don't see this trend changing thus far. Illinois has already offered a ton of Ohio kids for the next class, 2013. They've only offered a handful of kids from Illinois for that 2013 class so far.

I was just talking about this with an influential person in the college football genre the other day, and even they were saying they are puzzled by their recruiting tactics. There's some rumors going around that they were looking at MAC recruiting classes and offering the kids from Ohio that were rated 3 stars on the recruiting sites. That's funny. I've never heard of a coach basing (sp?) who they offer on how many stars a recruiting service gives players. It's almost like they are over their heads and haven't learned how to recruit at a bigger school yet.

Beckman must be intimidated by the circumstances. Even when Brady Hoke left Ball State, he was a well established success and could bank on his reputation to help him recruit at San Diego State. What does Beckman have to help him compete NATIONALLY against the Big Boys in the Great Lakes region. He bit off more than he can chew.

(01-15-2012 11:19 AM)OldRock Wrote:  Beckman must be intimidated by the circumstances. Even when Brady Hoke left Ball State, he was a well established success and could bank on his reputation to help him recruit at San Diego State. What does Beckman have to help him compete NATIONALLY against the Big Boys in the Great Lakes region. He bit off more than he can chew.

i just don't understand

would people be happier if he left for a southern miss or utah, like Urban left BG?

was there an order of things he was supposed to take and people are upset he circumvented it?

Illinois has won before, has been to the Rose Bowl, they are not likely to be a perrenial contender but certainly can be an occasional one. Its a good job. And if Beckman wins he can be a hero.

I'm not convinced he is a great coach. So if that why people are down on his prospects then I understand. But if he is as great as many here thought he will be a winner at Illinois.

(01-15-2012 11:19 AM)OldRock Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 12:28 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:45 AM)OldRock Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:22 AM)dvargo27 Wrote:  

(01-14-2012 10:06 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  It's actually quite puzzling. Beckman and his staff are offering everyone they can out of the state of Ohio and really no one from Illinois. Tevin Coleman is a big-time running back prospect from the state of Illinois. He was offered by Toledo (Louis Ayeni) early on, but he felt he was too big-time for Toledo. Illinois never offered him. He recently committed to Indiana. The other thing that really makes me question what Beckman and his staff are doing is that he is constantly in recruiting wars with Toledo. He's offered a ton of kids that Toledo is going after. He has offered a few of Toledo's commitments, and I believe they have all turned Illinois down. It's funny that right now Toledo seems to be having recruiting wars with Illinois rather than other top MAC schools or schools like Indiana, Purdue, etc.

I know Beckman got to Illinois late, but if he doesn't improve the quality of recruit he is going after he is not going to last at Illinois very long. You can't compete week in and week out in the Big Ten with only a couple of athletes that are just as good as the one's at Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.

It is a big mistake, as a Big Ten team, if your goal is not to own your home state in recruiting. This is one of the reasons Saban left MSU for LSU, aside from the money. He knew UM would always get first dibs on the top talent in Michigan and be able to recruit nationally, do to its rich tradition. From a recruiting standpoint, MSU will always be, at best, 4th choice in the Midwest behind UM, OSU, and ND. If Beckman thinks he is going to make Ohio his base recruiting state because of his relationships in the state, he is in for a rude awakening. He won't be competing for same players UM, OSU and MSU are targeting. He will be fighting with UT, BG and Miami.

It is very tough to hit the ground running during your first year of recruiting in the NCAA. Only a big name like Meyer, Hoke or Kelly can hope to make gains. He will depend on the work done by his predecessor or what he can bring with him from his prior school.

I agree with that, but I don't see this trend changing thus far. Illinois has already offered a ton of Ohio kids for the next class, 2013. They've only offered a handful of kids from Illinois for that 2013 class so far.

I was just talking about this with an influential person in the college football genre the other day, and even they were saying they are puzzled by their recruiting tactics. There's some rumors going around that they were looking at MAC recruiting classes and offering the kids from Ohio that were rated 3 stars on the recruiting sites. That's funny. I've never heard of a coach basing (sp?) who they offer on how many stars a recruiting service gives players. It's almost like they are over their heads and haven't learned how to recruit at a bigger school yet.

Beckman must be intimidated by the circumstances. Even when Brady Hoke left Ball State, he was a well established success and could bank on his reputation to help him recruit at San Diego State. What does Beckman have to help him compete NATIONALLY against the Big Boys in the Great Lakes region. He bit off more than he can chew.

This is one of the funniest posts in a long string of ignorant posts. Beckman took over at Illinois in December. That is very late in the game to be establishing relationships with recruits. OF COURSE he is going recruit this year based upon established relationships, and that means going after a lot of MAC recruits from the state of Ohio. The first year a coach takes over a job is always a mad scramble for recruits, particularly when the previous coaching staff did a poor job getting a recruiting class put together, as was the case in our situation.

Get back to Illinois a year from now and you will find a top-25 class nationally. There are certainly question marks about his staff, but there are no questions about recruiting acumen. Everyone can recruit and we have a couple of exceptional national recruiters in Beatty and Gonzales.

First, I didn't say just this year. I mentioned that he has offered a lot of 2013 prospects out of Ohio already.....a lot more than he has from Illinois. The point is that they believe there is a lot of talent in Ohio and they think they can either recruit with Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame or they will take the leftovers. The leftovers are kids that are going to MAC schools. He won't be successful at Illinois if his base of recruits are MAC level recruits.

I know Beckman and Golesh pretty well. I got to know them both pretty well while they were at Toledo. My comments are not just some casual fan that doesn't know the situation well. With the recruiting they are doing, they will not be anything more than a mid-level Big Ten team. Not to mention they need to stop worrying about poaching three star prospects from MAC schools and start worrying more about keeping their current three star prospects. They already lost one three star commit earlier this weekend to Kentucky. Ironically, the kid was from Ohio too.

(01-15-2012 12:01 PM)owen Wrote:  

(01-15-2012 11:19 AM)OldRock Wrote:  Beckman must be intimidated by the circumstances. Even when Brady Hoke left Ball State, he was a well established success and could bank on his reputation to help him recruit at San Diego State. What does Beckman have to help him compete NATIONALLY against the Big Boys in the Great Lakes region. He bit off more than he can chew.

i just don't understand

would people be happier if he left for a southern miss or utah, like Urban left BG?

was there an order of things he was supposed to take and people are upset he circumvented it?

Illinois has won before, has been to the Rose Bowl, they are not likely to be a perrenial contender but certainly can be an occasional one. Its a good job. And if Beckman wins he can be a hero.

I'm not convinced he is a great coach. So if that why people are down on his prospects then I understand. But if he is as great as many here thought he will be a winner at Illinois.

I have nothing against Beckman and hope he does well at Illinois. My comments and opinions are based on inside observations.

Good Luck to Coach Beckman. Don't care about the Illini unless they are on the schedule. I'm sure most Rocket posters want to focus on the current team, staff, UT's recruits, and move forward.

(01-15-2012 03:30 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  Good Luck to Coach Beckman. Don't care about the Illini unless they are on the schedule. I'm sure most Rocket posters want to focus on the current team, staff, UT's recruits, and move forward.

+1

(01-15-2012 02:34 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  

(01-15-2012 12:01 PM)owen Wrote:  

(01-15-2012 11:19 AM)OldRock Wrote:  Beckman must be intimidated by the circumstances. Even when Brady Hoke left Ball State, he was a well established success and could bank on his reputation to help him recruit at San Diego State. What does Beckman have to help him compete NATIONALLY against the Big Boys in the Great Lakes region. He bit off more than he can chew.

i just don't understand

would people be happier if he left for a southern miss or utah, like Urban left BG?

was there an order of things he was supposed to take and people are upset he circumvented it?

Illinois has won before, has been to the Rose Bowl, they are not likely to be a perrenial contender but certainly can be an occasional one. Its a good job. And if Beckman wins he can be a hero.

I'm not convinced he is a great coach. So if that why people are down on his prospects then I understand. But if he is as great as many here thought he will be a winner at Illinois.

I have nothing against Beckman and hope he does well at Illinois. My comments and opinions are based on inside observations.

I don't think we'll hear or think much more about Beckman around these parts.

Pinkel has elevated himself to a national profile since he left.
Side note*Doesn't earn much more than Beckman though.

(01-15-2012 07:10 PM)owen Wrote:  

(01-15-2012 02:34 PM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  

(01-15-2012 12:01 PM)owen Wrote:  

(01-15-2012 11:19 AM)OldRock Wrote:  Beckman must be intimidated by the circumstances. Even when Brady Hoke left Ball State, he was a well established success and could bank on his reputation to help him recruit at San Diego State. What does Beckman have to help him compete NATIONALLY against the Big Boys in the Great Lakes region. He bit off more than he can chew.

i just don't understand

would people be happier if he left for a southern miss or utah, like Urban left BG?

was there an order of things he was supposed to take and people are upset he circumvented it?

Illinois has won before, has been to the Rose Bowl, they are not likely to be a perrenial contender but certainly can be an occasional one. Its a good job. And if Beckman wins he can be a hero.

I'm not convinced he is a great coach. So if that why people are down on his prospects then I understand. But if he is as great as many here thought he will be a winner at Illinois.

I have nothing against Beckman and hope he does well at Illinois. My comments and opinions are based on inside observations.

I don't think we'll hear or think much more about Beckman around these parts.

Pinkel has elevated himself to a national profile since he left.
Side note*Doesn't earn much more than Beckman though.

Pinkel will retire at Missouri a wealthy man...
Beckman, unless he becomes the second coming of Bear Bryant, will do OK at Illinois, but his program there will be hard-pressed to ever become BCS material...

Very surprised I have not seen any UT recruits jump ship to IL. (so far)

Brian is right, Beckman will have get to get the Chicago kids. If he can not win those battles it is game set match. Oh and that is just for a base, the he has to go FL or VA,MD and win some. Beatty his OC was at NIU for one year after winning HS state titles in VA. He was a top recruiter at WV and Vandy. Beatty will have to land some big ones for Beckman / IL to make it.