March 12--Illinois on Friday officially announced Garrick McGee as the newest addition to football coach Lovie Smith's staff.
McGee, the offensive coordinator at Louisville the last two seasons, will be the Illini's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Offensive line coach Luke Butkus was the first assistant officially announced Thursday.
"My relationship with Garrick McGee goes back to when I recruited him to Arizona State, and have maintained that friendship as he has risen through the college ranks and become one of the top offensive coaches in the nation," Smith said in a statement. "We are fortunate to have him run the Illini offense, and our fans should be excited, because we'll showcase an exciting brand of football."
Although McGee later transferred from Arizona State, where Smith was an assistant coach from 1988 to '91, they remained close. McGee has worked in the college ranks for 14 seasons, including four years at Northwestern (2004-07) and a two-year head coaching stint at UAB (2012-13).
Also Friday, Mike Bellamy, the wide receivers coach under former Illini coaches Tim Beckman and Bill Cubit, tweeted that he will not be retained on Smith's staff.
"The day I became an #Illini, I became part of #illinination forever," Bellamy tweeted. "Thank You #Illinois #nextchapter #alwaysloyal."
Bellamy, who played receiver at Illinois in 1988-89 before a brief NFL career, had been the Illini receivers coach since 2012.
The Tribune reported this week that Smith is expected to hire Colts assistant Andrew Hayes-Stoker as receivers coach. Hayes-Stoker coached receivers under Smith the last two seasons for the Buccaneers.
