Looks like the Illini got someone to fill out that online application for their football coaching job. From Shannon Ryan at the Tribune:
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois has zeroed in on Toledo football coach Tim Beckman in its search to replace Ron Zook and could introduce him as early as Friday, multiple sources told the Tribune on Thursday.
(Update: The school has scheduled a 4 p.m. EST news conference.)
David Haugh of the Trib seems to say everyone should give the new guy a chance – even if nobody has ever heard of him:
If Illinois announces the buzz-less hiring of no-name Beckman as early as Friday, it won’t force the university’s ticket office to add staff. It won’t excite big-money Illinois donors enough to reach for their checkbooks or Chief Illiniwek to want to come out of exile.
It might cause some alums to ask, “Holy Toledo, whose coach did we hire?”
But I don’t recall Sparty doing cartwheels when Michigan State hired Mark Dantonio in 2006. And it bears repeating that 2011 Big Ten coach of the year Brady Hoke didn’t exactly bring much more than mid-major head coaching experience and reputation with him to Michigan.
Everybody has to start somewhere, after all.
December 9, 2011 at 10:28 pm
I like the rumored Sumlin aspect of this story. Supposedly, he was offered the job first, and Illinois was offering in the neighborhood of 3 million a year for him. He declined in favor of Texas A&M, and Beckman was in.
What reality is, I don’t know. But I’d be surprised if Beckman was Illinois’ first choice.
And speaking of Beckman, his press conference was something else. Listened to it on AM670 out of Chicago, and they deservedly mocked him for some of the more cliched and uncomfortable moments during his opening monologue.
Some highlights –
-Saying that his hiring by Illinois was as great a moment as the birth of his kids.
-Telling the media that both his son AND daughter (17!?!) would be helping with recruiting (I think I’d be inclined to keep my 17-year old daughter well away from any 18-year old recruits, but that’s just me)
-Making it sound as if he’d be having his wife make lasagna for the entire team every game (feeding 85+) – turns out she just feeds one personnel group per week.
That stuff aside, he seemed like a very sincere guy, family-oriented guy.
What really surprises me though is what Illinois paid this guy, relative to Minnesota’s Jerry Kill (another, seemingly equivalent MAC product).
Kill is making 8.4 million over 7 years.
Beckman is getting 9 million over 5 years, slightly more than Zook was getting.
Given Beckman’s comparable experience, he must have a pretty good agent. That, or the Illini are just hemorraging cash.
December 9, 2011 at 11:23 pm
I’m glad they didn’t choose Paul Chryst.