Illinois fires Tim Beckman amid mistreatment allegations

Tim Beckman is out after three seasons at the helm of Illinois football, but not for his on-field performance.

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Illinois has fired head football coach Tim Beckman after three seasons, according to Sports Illustrated’s Thayer Evans and multiple media reports.

It doesn’t come as a massive surprise that Beckman was fired, as he was on the hot seat for the majority of last season. Beckman went 12-25 in his three years with the Fighting Illini, including 4-20 in conference play.

However, there were some signs that Beckman was steering things in the right direction. Illinois improved to 6-7 last season and was invited to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, its first postseason appearance since 2011. Wins over Minnesota and Penn State indicated the Fighting Illini were at least more competitive against the Big Ten than in recent years.

Still, that hasn’t necessarily been good enough at Illinois in the past. Ron Zook’s tenure at Illinois was by no means successful, but he was fired after leading the Fighting Illini to their first consecutive bowl wins in school history in 2010 and 2011.

The surprise is the timing of Beckman’s firing. Illinois opens its season one week from Friday at home against Kent State.

As expected, there was more to Beckman’s firing than the play of his football team. According to SB Nation, an external review found that Beckman had been pressing injured players to postpone medical treatment and remain on the field.

"“During a preliminary briefing from the external reviewers, Thomas said he learned of efforts to deter injury reporting and influence medical decisions that pressured players to avoid or postpone medical treatment and continue playing despite injuries. He also said in some instances student-athletes were treated inappropriately with respect to whether they could remain on scholarship during the spring semester of their senior year if they weren’t on the team.”"

Multiple former players accused Beckman of such mistreatment earlier in the offseason. Beckman will not receive the $3.1 million remaining on his contract based upon the nature of the firing.

If such allegations are true, Illinois had no choice but to fire Beckman, even if it means the 2015 season turns into a mess on the field. Offensive coordinator Bill Cubit, who lead Western Michigan to a 51-47 record from 2005-2012, will take over in the interim.

Whoever ends up being hired at Illinois faces an uphill battle to compete with the top of the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini have largely been scuffling since a Rose Bowl appearance in 2007 and have had few periods of sustained success in their history.

Current Western Michigan head coach P.J. Fleck, a native of Illinois, makes sense as a top candidate next offseason if leads the Broncos to another successful year.

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