Illinois Football: 5 possible replacements for Lovie Smith as next Fighting Illini coach

4. Jeff Monken, Army head coach

Army head coach Jeff Monken would be an interesting title. Monken is the type of coach who can win without having a roster full of four and five-star players. Monken can win with culture and player development Monken rebuilt the Army program by identifying specific traits they wanted to see in players wanted for the Corps. Though Monken could be better quality players without the restrictions the Army has.

However, hiring Monken would instantly give the Illini a ceiling by running the option; that limits the type of players to recruit offensively. The option could be a tough sell to donors and boosters as well because of the ceiling of an option offense. In order to run the offense the way it is to be run, Monken would have to tear down the roster to the studs. That means another three-year rebuild at minimum for a program that has been bad for the last five.

That is not to say that Monken would necessarily run the triple-option at Illinois. There are several variants Monken could employ if brought on to Illinois. Primarily, Monken could be hired to build recruiting and player development, two things that were lacking under Smith. Monken could then bring in an option variant with more of a passing game.