'Hey can we give some money to get better assistant coaches?’
Vontae Davis passes away at 35...
*Former NFL/Fighting Illini cornerback Vontae Davis was found dead Monday at a residence in South Florida, Davie police confirmed. He was 35.
"This morning, Davie Police Officers responded to 6051 SW 178th Avenue in reference to a medical call. Officers were called to the residence by the house assistant, who found the homeowner deceased. We can confirm that the deceased individual is Vontae Davis age 35. Preliminary information suggests that foul play is not involved," Davie police said in a statement….Police said the investigation remains active. (Courtesy ESPN)
-This is a tough one…..was there first day Vontae stepped onto the Memorial Stadium turf for a one-day camp summer 2005…asked Illini defensive backs coach Curt Mallory, ‘any good players going to workout today?’ he pointed at the kid walking out of the tunnel, ‘him’ it was Vontae already looking like an NFL player.
Had the up close and personal view of his time in Champaign…..Vontae Davis marched to the beat of his own drummer….did his own thing frustrating coaches no doubt….that being said…Vontae good guy/hard to find anyone on the staff/former Illini teammates that didn’t like him/have their own Vontae story….sad day on Monday for me when his passing was announced.
*"It's the most absurd thing in the history of sport" Brad Underwood on transfer portal open during NCAA tourney "This is ridiculous. I've got 1 coach scouting and 2 just living in the portal. I'm making recruiting calls...as we're preparing for an Elite 8 game" (Courtesy WCIA-TV Champaign)
-Yes the transfer portal is crazy...live with it...ain't the old days coach with three assistants coaches having to handle all the scout/game plan/recruiting....Underwood now has five full time assistant coaches/recruiting coordinator off the staff with assistants helping him...hire the right people and it can be handled properly.
After the UConn loss as Illini athletic department types talking up boosters for NIL cash….during discussion one booster to no one in particular asked laughing, ‘hey can we give some money to get better assistant coaches?’ …that went over like a led balloon with DIA personnel.
*Caught lightning in a bottle or did Underwood's staff figure the portal out...
-Recruiting the transfer portal….it’s fluid….Three players in the basketball transfer portal with Illini interest that caught my eye....Wisconsin transfer forward A.J. Storr....former Rockford/Kankakee (Ill.) High School prep originally committed to Underwood's Illini before de-committing when Chin Coleman the staff for a job at the University of Kentucky.....Storr played a year at St. John's., last season in Madison....6-foot-7 Storr can score but in my opinion one dimensional/too much hero ball for me.....can those bad habits be fixed?…. not so sure that can be done...Domask/Shannon showed an understanding of the game...never saw that 'understanding' watching Storr last two seasons/seems more of a shot hunter than team player to me.
Illini squarely in the mix for Storr’s buddy former Bowling Green/ Rockford prep Marcus Ball....he picks the Illini immediate impact....Jake Davis 6-foot-6 freshman wing Mercer....from Indianapolis Cathedral High School...shooter/another team player that showed last winter he understands how to play the game…..whaddya’ know Davis committed to Underwood’s program as I write this….and yes the Illini will pick up another ‘big’ out of the portal.
Rumor last few months Illini NIL has bulked up their cash to compete with the best of the best in the portal....example Domask has an attractive NIL offer if he wants to play another season in Champaign.…..program seems confident they can get the former Saluki eligible....Forward reportedly more interested in moving on to the next level...has an offer on the table if he wants to stay.
Illini post Dain Dainja announced Monday he was putting his name in the transfer portal….in my view….this is a case of a player over-estimating his importance to a program….staff wishing player best of luck cause they are not going to pay as much NIL as player wants/thinks he deserves/different view of that players ‘value’ to their program.
*Bielema hangs onto two assistants/loses Gibbs…
-Michigan football reportedly very interested in hiring both Illini line coaches this off-season...head coach Bret Bielema able to keep Bart Miller (offensive line) and Terrence Jamison (defensive line) in Champaign...two original members of his staff...finding qualified line coaches any level very hard....why keeping pair off-season win for the Illini....Bielema's been Miller/Jamison's coaching daddy....recruiting Jamison to Madison/calling to get d-line coach jobs……gave Miller his first power five grad assistant opportunity at Wisconsin/elevated him to o-line coach there...helped both get full time assistant jobs with head coaches buddy Charlie Partridge at Florida Atlantic.
-On Monday announced…David Gibbs has left the Illinois staff and is stepping away from coaching for medical reasons, Illini head coach Bret Bielema announced Monday……Gibbs joined the staff in January as associate head coach and defensive backs coach.
"Coach Gibbs has resigned from his position on the Illinois coaching staff and will be temporarily stepping away from coaching for medical reasons. We appreciate the contributions David has made since his arrival and wish him and his family all the best moving forward," Bielema said in a statement. (Courtesy WCIA.com)…..odd….just last month….Gibbs reportedly told NFL scouts at the pro day how happy he was to be at Illinois what a ‘great opportunity’ it was …who replaces Gibbs? Bielema’s buddy Kerry Cooks? another Bielema coaching buddy Ron Zook? Tim Beckman? Terry Hawthorne? Zook/Beckman….Just kiddin’
*Evolution of the early scholarship offer...
-With recruits visiting college campuses for spring football practices....last week Illinois offered a 2027 quarterback prospect named Taylor from Mundelein (Ill.) Carmel High School after his trip to Champaign.....young man 2nd semester of his freshman year in high school getting a scholarship offer (one of many)....offering freshmen/soph's in high school commonplace now...wasn't always that way.....'old days' only the super blue-chip type of prospects got scholarship offers before their senior season....rest? Schools watched their senior season/decided who they wanted to visit campus/offer on the visit.
History lesson....1980's came the advent of the recruiting coordinator on college football staff's...Illinois had coordinator's like Gary Horton, Rick George, Larry Petroff under Mike White……Randy Rodgers came on-board with John Mackovic's staff....then recruiting coordinator an off-the-staff position meaning they could spend weeks at a time on the road recruiting...come back to campus weekend for games....no restrictions on how many schools coordinator could visit.
Penn State's Joe Paterno tired of his program getting their asses kicked on the east coast/Florida by Notre Dame's recruiting coordinator Vinny Cerrato late 80's (Ricky Watters, Rocket Ismail, Tim Ruddy, Derek Brown examples) ....pushed thru a rule that recruiting coordinators had to be a part of the nine man coaching staff/limited amount of time they could spend on the road recruiting.....it worked....Cerrato left South Bend for the NFL....Lou Hotlz's Fighting Irish recruiting suffered....Nittany Lions started keeping the talent they had been losing to South Bend.
Paterno's staff early 90's first to turn high school summer camps into tryout camps for prospects.....late 90's SEC schools took the week long camp idea turned it into one-day tryout for recruits...anyway...Paterno's staff would bring in recruits from all over the country for their high school camp/offer prospects off their performance/take early commitments....rest of college football soon followed what Nittany Lions had started.
-Story time…..1990 Illinois vs. Wisconsin in Madison….before Camp Randall re-molded could stand next to the chain link fence right behind the visitor’s sideline….was standing there watching Mackovic’s Illini warm-up…..Randy Rodgers sits down with the old bag cell phone (remember those?)….has a list of recruits he was going to call selling Illinois….pig heaven for me standing there looking at his list he was calling…tempted when Rodgers turned his back to me taking the list sitting on the bench….didn’t….ironic 15 years later would be covering Illini football/being given programs recruiting list.
Prospects on his call sheet remember….quarterbacks Ryan Fien (Simi Valley, Cal./UCLA)…..Jason Stanicek (Rich East/North Carolina)…..Johnny Johnson (North Chicago/Illinois)…..running back Corey Rogers (Chicago Leo/Purdue),…..wide receivers Darnay Scott (St. Louis/San Diego State),…..Homer Bush (East St. Louis/Mizzou/Major league baseball draft choice)….o-linemen like Trezelle Jenkins (Chicago Morgan Park/Michigan)… John Horn (Joliet Catholic/Illinois)….tight end Mikki Johnson (Galesburg/Illinois)….Rodgers would talk for a few minutes….hang up call the next recruit….had two batteries for the phone…calling till the Star Spangled Banner played.
Sorry for your loss. Vontae was an incredible talent. That's so sad.