'Put mine down as.....first round draft pick.'
Three more Saturday's till the start of college football.
*Continuing are Illini football Mt. Rushmore (modern era 1980-to-present)….this week defensive backs.
-Craig Swoope safety (1982-1985)…it was either Swoope or cornerback Henry Jones (1986-1990) for the fourth spot…picked #12 cause he was so dominant at times….1983 First Team All-American got some votes as Big Ten defensive player of the year…four-time All-Conference pick….All-Century Illini selection…..good not great player in 84-85….too much of a head-hunter/committed dumb penalties on team’s that had too many of those types of mistakes…83’ projected as a first round pick…after the 84’ drug trial/85’s season….ended up a 4th round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers….former White recruiting coordinator Gary Horton (who was responsible for signing Swoope out of Ft. Pierce, Florida) was player personnel director with the Bucs in 86’ talked the team into drafting the safety…combo of not taking to coaching/getting hurt….only lasted four seasons in the league…read he was now living in Champaign dealing with concussion issues….’complicated’ best way to describe Swoope’s Illini playing career.
-Eugene Wilson cornerback (1999-2002)…All-area basketball point guard at Merrillville (Ind.) High School…when hoop offers didn’t excite ‘Geno’….He decided to play football at Illinois….picked Ron Turner’s program over Ball State and Northern Illinois…Three-year starter….Two-time All-Big Ten pick…2001 All-American….outstanding punt returner…2nd round pick of the New England Patriots…9-year NFL career…because of ‘diamonds in the rough’ recruits like Wilson, defensive end Mike O’Brien….got lulled into thinking ‘Turner’s staff knows what they are doing’ with recruits not highly-sought in classes after 1999….well you know the rest of the story.
-Vontae Davis (2006-2009)…Simeon Rice and Vontae two most physically gifted players ever saw wearing the Orange&Blue….when ‘motivated’ best man to man cover cornerback in college football/then in the NFL…as we know Vontae wasn’t always ‘motivated’…like Swoope….Vontae’s career in Champaign/NFL ‘complicated’….Davis knew in the end….Ron Zook would let him get his way…causing resentment….example….every Illini player would have to weigh in couple of times a month….if not…discipline….came time for Vontae to weigh in he would tell the S&C coaches, ‘Put mine down as…. first round pick’ laugh walk away…got away with it….Dolphins first round pick who they traded to the Colts which lit a fire under his ass….All-NFL/Pro Bowl seasons with Indianapolis….still can’t believe Davis passed away 2024….fell getting out of a sauna….hit his head…read the details of his death even now….bizarre.
-Devon Witherspoon cornerback (2019-2022)…Was headed to a Texas Junior College till….late qualifier Lovie Smith’s staff desperate for defense took a flyer on the skinny cornerback….likely to become the highest paid cornerback in the NFL when he signs his next contract…un-disciplined trash talker till 2021 when new defensive coordinator Ryan Walters showed up in Champaign….Witherspoon took to his aggressive man-to-man cover scheme like a duck to water….Two-time All-Big Ten selection…2022 All-American….Fifth pick first round of the Seattle Seahawks…Two-Time All-Pro….best slot cover cornerback in the league…2026 Super Bowl Champion…literally his is a rags to riches story.
*This and that…
-Illini head coach Bret Bielema’s appearance at Big Ten media days in Chicago last week was…..basically a re-hash of everything he had said about his team last spring…no ‘big news’…head coach did meet with a few boosters I know and the consensus after their talks….again like last spring….all three tamped down expectations….’doing some re-setting’ in the program 2026….’hey 19 wins last two years fans got spoiled’…’un-realistic expectations now’…so that’s out there from those types that are big supporters of the head coach.
After two long NCAA tournament runs….basketball taken so much attention away from/ enthusiasm for football…I get it…. Illinois a basketball school…Bielema’s team 3-2 early October after Purdue game…who we kidding?…the fans ‘interested’ won’t give a shit anymore….message boards demand ’more hoop practice tidbits’…. 🤣
-Former Illini d-line coach/Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak passed away last week….He was 81…From 77’ till 79’ Novak was Gary Moeller’s assistant in Champaign….got to know Coach Novak when I would go to the Huskies’ summer football camps…did a tremendous job in DeKalb…always had time to talk.
Novak came up coaching with Bill Mallory…was as hard-ass as Mallory cept’ Coach Novak wasn’t getting into fist fights with his players during practice like his mentor was famous for…NIU players loved/respected Novak….old school discipline no doubt….miss a meeting/appointment/class…..Player had ‘dawn patrol’ with a staff member….running up and down the steps of the stadium holding above your head a telephone….one of those heavy black rotary phones so as your arms were getting tired….banging top of your head with metal bottom of phone up and down steps….run em’ till exhaustion with bumps/cuts from punishment…plenty Huskies learned their lesson.
Novak was never bitter about his time in Champaign….loved working for Moeller….smoking cigars/having a beer after practice learning from ‘Mo’…staff knew when Neale Stoner hired as Illini athletic director….they were done….Moeller tried to give them hope but they knew…New AD barely talked to the head coach/never talked to the staff till they were fired.
Novak not a fan of previous Illini athletic director Cecil Coleman…’cheapest guy I ever worked for’….how staff would wear the same five coaches t-shirt/shorts every year….if an assistant had a hole in his shirt/shorts'/socks….Coleman would take it home have hole sewn up/socks darned….back the next day ‘here you go’….blowout a cleat or tennis shoe…Coleman would take it to a shoe repair shop…back the next day…one team ‘event’ coaches and their families taking home ‘doggy bags’ of food…AD not happy ‘ordered too much’….next event Coleman did a ‘Beckman’ beans and weenies with limits of how much each person could have…..in a world full of scumbag coaches….Joe Novak was one of the ‘good’ guys in the profession.
-Speaking of Northern Illinois football….love the Huskies pickup of former Western Carolina junior quarterback Taron Dickens this summer…QB had announced his transfer to the University of North Carolina last spring…..Tar Heels admissions didn’t accept several credits so the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year back on the market….ended up in DeKalb.
-Was reported last week former Illini cornerback Terry Hawthorne left his recruiting position on Bielema’s staff…..’Black Cat’ had been a grad assistant at Illinois/then defensive backs coach at Southern Illinois….Salukis decided they needed a more experienced type let Hawthorne go ended up back in CU working recruiting….don’t know the circumstances why he left/next move…wish Hawthorne the best.
-In other ‘former’ Illini news….Josh McCray named running backs coach at Dothan (Ala.) High School….Bielema’s ‘first’ recruit left Illinois for the University of Georgia after the 2024 season…limited playing time…no NFL shot….another example of the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
-What about first year Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald continuing to shit on his alma mater at Big Ten media days….saying….“I’m just excited to have a home field advantage. Never lived that. It’s going to be cool. Really excited about it, not going to lie. So there’s certain things I’m excited about but most importantly I’m just excited to help the guys develop and grow.’
So much for all those years of the proud ‘Go Cats’ act….just more arrogance….Fitz-eee lucky was at a school that didn’t have the balls to expose what actually went on when he was in charge in Evanston…..Dyche Stadium had a great ‘home field’ advantage….seagulls crappin’ on you…visiting teams hated playing there cause it was such an awful place…weather….either too hot or too cold/windy….I could go on….some of these coaches just never learn.
-Former Illini assistant Greg McMahon not putting down the whistle…hired as special teams analyst at the University of Florida….McMahon had worked last few seasons for new Gators head coach Jon Sumrall at Tulane…coaches man…might think they might retire and….late summer and they get that itch have to get back on the field…..can you believer P.J. Fleck now in his tenth seasons ‘Rowing the boat’ as Goofs head coach?…what about our man Mike ‘Call me Michael’ Locksley at the Big Ten media get together?….Maryland head coach shows up resplendent in a red and white pinstripe suit/are those fancy lady glasses he’s wearing?….goes on BTN tells the crew, ‘We are in are 3rd year of our rebuild…we have been here eight years but it’s the 3rd year of the rebuild’…..Zook-ian type of thinking no doubt…know an assistant who has worked with Lox recently…says, ‘he never needed to wear glasses when I was around him’….Locksley knows he will need a miracle to be Terps head coach next year at this time.
*Football words of wisdom…
-Show me a team with tight ends that can block…I will show you an offense with a good running game.
-When a teams scores a touchdown on offense…was the reason the player or the play-call?
-Definition of a physically ‘tough’ team…..they can run the ball…they can stop the run…excellent kick and punt coverages...unit shows speed and being disciplined/physical.
-Good way to judge how accurate your QB’s is?…..Is he hitting receivers in stride/ability to gain yards after catch or making receivers stop their feet to catch the ball?….not good.
-Road rules….how to win on the road….Win turnover battle….win penalty battle…win first eight minutes controlling the crowd…First quarter preventing home team getting chunk/momentum plays on offense….turnovers on defense….win in last eight minutes.
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