Illinois trying to salvage recruiting class

Updated: May 9, 2012 10:04AM

With national signing day about two months away, it’s an important time for college football teams trying to hold on to the recruits they already have and possibly land one or two of the remaining uncommitted prospects.

That’s especially true for programs in transition like the three Big Ten schools who have or figure to make coaching changes. Ohio State has pretty much taken care of things by luring Urban Meyer out of his brief hiatus. How this will all play out at Illinois and Penn State is less certain, though the Nittany Lions have an entirely different set of issues than the Illini.

“It helps Ohio State getting a big name like Urban Meyer,” said CBS College Sports recruiting analyst Tom Lemming. “[But] there aren’t any more Urban Meyers left.”

The next biggest name out there was offensive guru Mike Leach, who may or may not have been on Illinois’ radar before he accepted the Washington State job this week. Lemming thought Leach would have been a good fit for the Illini, despite his acrimonious departure from his last coaching job at Texas Tech.

“Without a doubt he got a bum rap,” Lemming said, noting Leach’s players’ success on the field and in the classroom, along with the fact that his program never ran afoul of the NCAA.

But whoever Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas hires as his new head coach to replace Ron Zook, what may be equally important is the fate of Zook’s staff. Under the current NCAA rules, head coaches can’t hit the recruiting trail as much as before, so the assistants have to do much of the heavy lifting.

Though Zook brought with him from Florida a reputation as a good recruiter, the reality didn’t always live up to the perception. They did align last season, though, when the Illini had a solid recruiting class that included some top offensive talents including Wheaton Warrenville South quarterback Reilly O’Toole, the Sun-Times Player of the Year, and Joliet Catholic running back Josh Ferguson along with Texas running back Donovonn Young.

But an occasional good class doesn’t come close to cutting it in the Big Ten, not when the Wisconsins and Ohio States and Nebraskas and Penn States of the world keeping bringing in boatloads of blue-chippers every year. The Illini can’t afford to let last year’s recruiting momentum slip away. But how to keep their mojo while changing coaches?

“They were on their way to doing pretty good,” Lemming said. “I would think a key would be to keep the recruiting people [like] Joe Gilbert. He would be the bridge between the two staffs. They’re not going to have a whole lot of time to salvage this class.”

According to Rivals.com, the Illini have 14 commitments, including four-star linebacker Keith Brown from Miami, Fla., and local standouts Robbie Bain, an offensive lineman from Class 8A champ Bolingbrook; J.J. Robertson, a wide receiver from Lincoln-Way East; and Vontrell Williams, a defensive lineman from Mount Carmel.

The Illini, like every other Big Ten program, must recruit nationally and the class reflects that with five players from Florida and a pair from Ohio. But it also needs to be a bigger player in the Chicago area. There may not be as many top prospects here per capita as there are in places like Florida or Texas, but there are enough to help the next Illinois coach make the program nationally relevant again.

It’s Thomas’ first major hire and he needs to make it a good one. Northwestern, whose commitments include running backs Malin Jones of Joliet Catholic and Dan Vitale of Wheaton Warrenville South, and out-of-state schools have been successful in grabbing some of the state’s top talent. With the Class of 2013 looking exceptionally strong, Illinois can’t get left behind in the recruiting race.

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