Illinois 10-year talent/success (chart)

[Kiyoat Husker]

Here's my analysis of the relative talent on Illinois's roster for a 10-year span vs their final poll position. I included Nebraska's relative talent as a point of reference.

 

Don't misconstrue this information as facts.

 

I simply created a 3-way average of recruiting rankings, a 3-way average of final poll position, and calculated a 4-year average recruiting rank for each year. That means that for 2015's "Talent" number, I averaged the recruiting rankings for 2012-2015.

 

Please don't use this thread to argue against the validity of star ratings. I only mean to provide some perspective and background on our opponent.

 

Thanks! (graph to follow)

 

[Kiyoat Husker]

[Mavric]

I thought the story was Zook was a great recruiter...

[Kiyoat Husker]

I thought the story was Zook was a great recruiter...

Seems like the first half of his tenure was good, last half, not so much? I think those last classes may have left Beckman with a steaming pile. Hard to dispute the ineptitude of Zook for on-field results, though.

[Kiyoat Husker]

Zook's tenure started in 2002.

[NUinID]

Illinois is an enigma in college football they should be consistently a lot better than they are. There is a lot of good talent in the state of Illinois, but they just don't seem to care.

[NUance]

Illinois is an enigma in college football they should be consistently a lot better than they are. There is a lot of good talent in the state of Illinois, but they just don't seem to care.

 

^^ Yeah, this is exactly right. Illinois is a sleeping giant. Not terrible, but certainly not hitting on all cylinders. With the right coach the Illini could become a powerhouse. And Beckman wasn't the right guy to take them to that next level. Too bad he got fired.