Hit and run

Illini football news and notes

*Sad news....Robbie Long posted his Illini teammate Jason Eberhart passed away last week.......Eberhart class of 1996 recruit...four-star prospect out of St. Louis Mehlville recruited to Champaign by assistant Greg McMahon....so highly thought of head coach Lou Tepper promised him Simeon Rice's #97 to wear....Eberhart was a four-year letterman on the defensive line (1997-2000) started 24 games during his Illini career....no cause of death given.

*Illini football recently picked up a commitment from Ohio University defensive tackle Denzel Daxon....Miami (Fla.) native has two years of eligibility....had him rated mid-red chip player in the transfer portal which means....6-foot-2, 320-pounder gets in better shape/motivated can be an effective nose guard/strong side two-gap lineman/get 20-25 dependable snaps from him at the Big Ten level...as have written, two-gap/nose guard types hard to find.

*Three-star 2023 Chicago Marist defensive tackle Jamel Howard still un-committed....last summer Howard committed to Paul Chryst's Wisconsin program/de-committed when Chryst/staff fired....since Howard has visited Michigan, Illinois, visiting LSU this weekend, Ole Miss end of the month....Badgers still trying to get Howard to Madison... prospects can go where they want to go but...recruiting lesson....Howard is a project that needs a year or two in a power five S&C program/raw skills that need to be coached up....isn't a plug and play type of freshman....following recruiting forever lesson have learned, go to LSU/Ole Miss/USC/Oklahoma etc....leave the Big Ten area....if Howard works out first year at one of those type of programs, great....if not, those type of schools recruit over him from their usual recruiting areas....power schools not in the Midwest don't have to go back to Chicago Marist to get players....doesn't work out they don't give a shit...it's the old story, kids/parents 'fall in love' with the prestige of a school vs. being realistic picking the right school for that young man on and off the field.....few ever seem to learn from other's past mistakes.

*Illini football recently got a recruiting assist from former team doctor Jeff Kyrouac.....Kyrouac friends with the father of Ole Miss transfer quarterback Luke Altmyer...talked up the program to the young man's dad.....if you were around the Illinois football program last 20 years you knew who the medical staff of Kyrouac team surgeon Robert Gurtler and Nurse Linda were......go to practice and those three always together surly/giving everyone dirty looks....only regular at practice they wouldn't mean mug was Loren Tate....Tate 'one of them' I guess.

Story time....Zook assistant calls me into his office, 'go down and remind Ron (Zook) how bad Dr. Do Over is at his job that fuckin' guy'.....'Dr. Do Over' was the nickname staff/parents/former players gave ortho surgeon Gurtler....reportedly Gurtler 'repaired' the wrong knee ligament of then Illini wide receiver Lonnie Hurst and had to go back in 'do it over' where the nickname came from.....Surgeon's issues in the past not a big secret.....Gurtler had done knee surgery on this assistant's recruit and the knee got worse/player ended up leaving the program....told the coach, 'already' told Zook that few trust Gurtler and head coach said 'Coach Guenther says he is a top surgeon so we are keeping him'.....assistant coach shook his head, 'and I thought Guenther was a smart guy'.....my opinion Gurtler 'jock sniffer' stayed around cause he was a trusted Guenther confidant'/spy on the staff for the old german.....always letting the AD know what was going on with players/coaches/support staff.

Who was the drunken idiot at the bar? Me...Illini get together Pink Taco Bar Santa Monica BLVD. Rose Bowl week 2008...bullshitting with some former players at the event....start talking to 80's era player whose high school buddy I knew....player wasn't attending the Mike White tailgate at the Rose Bowl in a few days....for some reason decided to try to talk him into going (was the happy drunk that night and lap dances were not involved)....former player gets a weird look on his face as I state my case...find out later Gurtler had screwed up this guy's knee surgery so bad resulted in the former player suing/settling out of court for damages with the hospital/surgeon/athletic department....Former player felt lost his NFL career cause of botched surgery/coaching staff/trainer pushing him to play on a knee they knew was not properly repaired....needless to say he didn't show up at the White tailgate/game.

*Speaking of Altmyer...son of a surgeon QB more interested in playing time/exposure of the Big Ten than a bunch of NIL money...as a result Illini able to spread that extra cash earmarked for the quarterback position to other players in the program.

*With the 'grandpa media' in Champaign specuatling.....Illini booster I know asked AD Josh Whitman's 'top advisor' 'hey is Whitman going to be the next Big Ten commissioner?' response, 'Josh has done all the heavy lifting getting things going, good people in the right places.... school has been great now isn't the time to move on to another challenge, too many good things coming down the road for us.'...that sounds like a 'not interested' to me.