Zach Barlev got some unexpected and unwelcome news when he woke up Sunday morning and checked Twitter.
That’s how the Plainfield East senior learned Lovie Smith was out as Illinois football coach with one game left in his fifth season.
“I was stunned because I thought Coach Lovie was going to be here for a while,” said Barlev, one of three in-state players committed to the Illini in the class of 2021. “He played a part in my decision because I loved the atmosphere that he made at Illinois.”
Barlev is a 6-4, 292-pounder rated as a three-star prospect in 247Sports.com’s composite rankings.
Illinois’ other two local commits ahead of Wednesday’s national signing day also are three-star offensive linemen: 6-2, 260-pounder Josh Kreutz of Loyola and 6-5, 265-pounder Josh Gesky of Manteno. Kreutz is the son of longtime Bears center Olin Kreutz.
Smith’s replacement will be Illinois’ fourth head coach since 2015 and fifth since 2011, adding to the instability of a program whose most recent Big Ten title came in 2001 under Ron Turner. The last Illini coach to depart with a winning overall record was John Mackovic, who was 30-16-1 from 1988-91.
Whoever comes in should have a couple priorities, St. Rita coach Todd Kuska believes: build a relationship with the state’s high school coaches and stop the revolving door in Champaign.
“We’ve gone through a list of coaches in the last 10-15 years,” said Kuska, who has two former players on Illinois’ roster this season (senior defensive lineman Marc Mondesir and junior linebacker Sean Coghlan). “The consistency has not been there.”
Tim Beckman, who was abruptly fired in August, 2015 amid allegations of player abuse and replaced on an interim basis by Bill Cubit, was criticized for not looking for talent close to home.
“Everybody was excited when Lovie took over,” Kuska said. “Illinois should be heavily recruiting the state. I think Lovie did something to bring that back.”
Illinois men’s basketball coach Brad Underwood has a top-10 team that features two top in-state players in Morgan Park grads Ayo Dosunmu and Adam Miller. That’s a blueprint Kuska would like to see Smith’s successor to follow.
“A major concern for the next coach is to keep (the top talent in) the state of Illinois here,” Kuska said. “Lovie did look in the state. Hopefully the next coaches do too.”
