Lovie Smith’s beard is the secret power behind resurgent Illinois football

As Lovie Smith’s beard grew so did the Illinois football program. The beard must have special mystical powers to explain this sudden renaissance of the Illini.

WARNING: The photo below contains a graphic depiction of Lovie Smith’s clean-shaven face that is enough to make any college football fan shudder. Lovie Smith’s beard has become a vital piece of the universe. Yes, the universe as a whole.

For those sensitive to this sort of image, you may just want to jump the first photo and go down to the glorious gallery of gorgeous bearded images we’ve compiled below.

You have been warned.

I can only assume, at the beginning of his Illini tenure, Smith declined to accept the request of a little girl asking for him to grow a beard, a la another Illinois legend Abraham Lincoln.

Instead, he went with the clean shave, and his look and the program suffered.

Smith’s beardless tenure with Illinois saw the team struggle with bad management and a shallow depth of players left behind by coaching names that will make struck from the record.

All hope seemed lost.

Until the beard grew in.

On July 24, 2018 the world was introduced to the new-look Smith, sporting a beard that raised many a question from the college football world. Some immediately fell for the graying look, while others merely saw it as a much-needed distraction from the vanilla ‘talk about’ questions asked at Media Days.

Whatever the case, very few saw the real effect the beard would actually have on the Illini football program.

Well, in the long-term anyway.

The beard came in slowly, but surely, much like the Illinois program. It caught fire quickly though, and not just with fans of the Illini, but with fans of college football. Positive opinions about the beard came in overwhelmingly positive, and as the beard grew, so did the Illinois program.

Smith was already beloved in the state of Illinois for his work with the Chicago Bears from 2004-12, where he had a record of 81-63 and led the team to a Super Bowl XLI berth. His beard, however, may eventually turn into an even bigger legend.

It’s crazy to think, judging by the photo above, he initially wanted to shave it, keeping it trim and tidy.

If he had done that, we can only logically draw the conclusion that the Illini football program wouldn’t have had the turnaround it has had in 2019.

The 2018 season started strong for the Illini, with the Department of Athletics giving out 5,000 Lovie beards to the Illinois “Block I” student section for their game against Kent State. The Illini rolled over Kent State and Western Illinois, but that’s about where the rolling stopped.

Not even a glorious salt-and-pepper beard giveaway could save the Illini’s 2018 season, as they dropped every Big Ten game except Rutgers and finished the season with a narrow loss against Northwestern.

In the photo below, you can see the beard’s development as the season went on, and the slight difference from the photo above. The beard was growing and no longer being trimmed.

However, in the end, the beard, and the program grew. Both thanks to decisions coming straight from the head of Smith.

Everyone knew that bringing back an Illinois program that was basically the basement of the Big Ten (well, not counting Rutgers), wasn’t easy. One year after the debut of the Lovie Beard, not much had appeared to have changed, other than, as seen above, the beard’s growth had accelerated.

Like growing a solid beard, it would take time. That’s just what Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman gave that well-developed pillow of a beard a contract extension, despite the Illini just having a 9-27 start to his career at the school.

Needless to say, emotions were mixed.

On one hand, you were sparing the program the pain of a full restart that would come with a new coach. On the other hand, you could potentially be dooming the program to below-average coaching and performances.

The former would prove, at least in some way, to be the correct one.

Illinois started the 2019 season with a blowout win over Akron that left Illinois fans thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Beard (oh, and Lovie, too) could take them to that bowl game experience that had eluded the Illini since 2014.

They followed that by going on the road to beat the University of Connecticut Huskies in a tight contest in East Hartford, and the legendary beard, and anticipation for the season, only grew.

I mean, just look at it. Really look at it. Form-fitting, well-trimmed, gorgeous, legendary and Santa Claus are all terms that jump immediately to mind.

It’s no wonder the Illini gave him an extension with an unproven record, who would want to get rid of that beard?

Beard loyalty or not, it hasn’t been all white fluffy clouds for the Illini, and the slight downward spiral that once again had fans questioning the future of their team began anew when the Illini fell at home to lowly Eastern Michigan.

Despite a nearly 300-yard passing game from former Michigan quarterback and transfer Brandon Peters, and an almost 150-yard performance from star running back Reggie Corbin, the Illini couldn’t overcome the Eagles and allowed almost 500 yards of total offense.

Lovie and, most importantly, the beard was in trouble.

The disappointment and worry in the beard– I mean, in Smith, are almost tangible from this photograph following the tight loss against Eastern Michigan. To put this into perspective, the EMU Eagles have been blown out by Central Michigan, beaten by Ball State, Toledo and Buffalo to sit in sixth in the MAC West.

The Illini went on to lose a close game at home to Nebraska, before dropping the next two Big Ten games, being blown out on the road by P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota, and dropping a tough game against Michigan, in which many felt the Illini could’ve come away with the win, barring some huge mental errors.

The season, the Illini and the beard continued to press forward.

With a little patience, a little magic from the beard, Smith proved themselves to the Illini program and fans.

True to form, as Smith’s beard grew, so did the successes of the Illinois program. There has been

stubble,

err, stumbles, along the way, but almost any Illini fan would tell you that, after the Wisconsin win, they’ve all been worth it.

In the biggest upset since beating No. 1 Ohio State in 2007, the Illini overcame long odds thanks to an inspiring performance on all sides, when it defeated then-undefeated and No. 6 Wisconsin.

The strange and mystical powers of Smith’s beard inspired Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan to erroneously throw a pass into the arms of Illinois cornerback Tony Adams near midfield. The Illini, now one of the top teams in the nation in terms of turnovers forced, didn’t fail to capitalize as kicker James McCourt hit the biggest kick of his life thus far, a 39-yard field goal to give the Illini the lead as time expired.

It was the biggest upset of the season.

But the end of the story of the great Illinois beard? Certainly not.

In the next two games, the Illini pulled off an impressive rain-soaked win in West Lafayette against the Purdue Boilermakers, once again defying oddsmakers, before a tightly-contested matchup against Rutgers once again turned into a 20-plus point win for the Illini.

And suddenly, they were back to .500 in Big Ten play, and over that on the year. The beard and the magical powers of Smith had brought Illinois fans back to a white-knuckle level of attention during games.

With another chapter, comes another beautiful picture of that oh-so magical beard. This time, in fashionable rain attire.

After the wins mentioned above, another chapter in this resilient Illinois program’s story was written, when the Illinois Fighting Illini, a 15.5-point underdog, went to East Lansing and took down Mark Dantonio’s Michigan State Spartans.

Before the game, news of key Michigan State players missing the game was revealed. Hopes were rising amongst the Illini. Could this really be the day they deliver a bowl game? Could the build-up and struggles finally be made worth it?

Unfortunately for the Illini, it seemed it wouldn’t be the case.

The game wasn’t even close in the first half, with the Spartans enjoying a comfortable 18-point lead at halftime. To be fair, it wasn’t even close in the third quarter. The score was 31-10, by then.

But in the fourth, just when all hopes of clinching a bowl game on the road seemed lost for the Illini and their magical renaissance, the magical powers of Smith’s beard came into play.

The Illini scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, led by a dominant showing from quarterback Brandon Peters and a few fantastic defensive stands, along with a key pass interference call against Michigan State, likely provided by the Beard’s mystical magic.

Before you knew it, the Illini had defied the odds once again and pulled off the biggest comeback win in program history.

Both fans and players were awe-struck: they were going bowling. The entire mood around the program had changed, now that the program was due to hit the lanes, literally.

That brings us to the current day. The Illini football program is now rejuvenated with anticipation for the team’s first bowl appearance in years, and perhaps the first seven, or maybe even eight wins in even longer.

Smith’s beard may still have some magic tucked away for later on in the season, but one thing is for sure: Smith can never shave his beard. As the beard has developed, grown, and come to fruition, so has this Illinois football program.

For the beard, and the program, there’s still a long way to go.

Though we may not quite know how the story of what the public is calling the “Great Bearded Illinois Renaissance of 2019” (Okay, I called it that, once, just now.) we do know that this season for Smith and his Illinois program has been monumental.

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