The former NFL head coach will be heading back to the college game next season and returning to the state of Illinois.
For fans of the Illinois Illini football team, the last few days have been a whirlwind, leaving many to wonder what is going on with the program.
Shortly after the end of the 2015 season, in which Bill Cubit was named the interim head coach following the dismissal of Tim Beckman as the result of a NCAA investigation, Cubit was given a two year contract extension for his work.
Fast forward to March, and Cubit was shockingly shown the door. In his place comes a former NFL coach who hasn’t been on a college sideline in over two decades, but is quite familiar to people from the state of Illinois:
It's OFFICIAL » https://t.co/2CeOpB7GBs#WeWillWin #Illini pic.twitter.com/x8RkJiiLxQ
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) March 7, 2016
Done deal. #Illini #WeWillWin pic.twitter.com/kzpeljjiNn
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) March 7, 2016
It’s a return to the state where Lovie Smith spent nine seasons as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, leading them to a Super Bowl during the 2006 season. Smith, who was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a 6-10 campaign in 2015, has never been a head coach in the college game and brings about plenty of questions about whether or not this is the right hire for a struggling Illini team.
On the surface, the hiring of Lovie Smith is a big move for the program. It means that the team will have a quality coach with a known name in their backyard. Smith knows that pro teams are looking for in a player, so he will be able to coach members of the Illini team to get to the next level. Plus, it shows alumni and boosters of the school that the program is committed to winning and wants to get back to being an elite team in the Big Ten.
On the other side, the argument comes up about the school looking flakey and unsupportive of the coach who stepped in when times got tough and led the program to a respectable year (all things considered, 5-7 was a win for Illinois after how everything went down right before the season). Players who were firmly in Cubit’s camp are now watching a new coach take over the task of leading this squad.
Lovie Smith’s hire by Illinois has its pros and cons, but we will have to wait and see until the team takes the field for their 2016 season opener before knowing whether it was the right move for the program.