Wisch: Will Thomas Hold Beckman To Zook's Standards?
Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas has a big decision awaiting this weekend.
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Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas has a big decision awaiting this weekend.
Ravenous Illinois fans take over Internet polls -- what would they do with a real championship team?
Tim Beckman's boss made it clear upon his hiring that Big Ten success was the goal.
Illinois' football attendance has been dwindling for five straight seasons.
No Illini coach has started with three straight losing seasons since 1977-'79.
Don't blame Illinois' admission standards for a lack of football talent -- the onus is on the coaches.
Former Illinois coach Ron Zook appears destined for Green Bay.
The Tim Beckman hire was a mistake and everybody has known it since his first press conference.
Illinois has a nearly two-decade tradition of retaining coaches at least one season too long.
The only hope for Illinois to continue progress (or start it) is by firing embattled defensive coordinator Tim Banks and hoping that Thomas can hire a talented assistant to replacement him.
It's that simple. Yet, of course, for the Fighting Illini, it isn't at all.
What a difference a week makes.
Stanford does it. So does Michigan. Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Vanderbilt do it, too.
Things Illini Nation learned this past week: 1) Ron Zook now works for a bank, and 2) Mike Thomas is willing to invest time in rebutting him.
If Beckman can't get things turned around soon – both on the field and with the state's best athletes – he won't be worrying about recruiting rankings for long.
From 1994-98, I was a student at the University of Illinois, and during those four years I saw a grand total of 14 football victories.
But then there's the University of Illinois, the sadsack program of the prairie whose last three head football coaches can now be found at Florida International University (Ron Turner), the University of Buffalo (Lou Tepper) and, well, the coaching unemployment line (Ron Zook).
We don't really know what Ron Zook is up to these days.
Zook, who was fired last year after seven seasons in Champaign, left the Illinois football program in far better shape than he found it.
On Thursday, the bad case of Illini indigestion was finally relieved when Ohio University's John Groce was announced as the 17th men's head coach in Illinois history during a press conference at Assembly Hall in Champaign.
Down in Champaign at the state's flagship school, the football program is listing, which is why Toledo's Tim Beckman was brought in to right a ship that Ron Zook wrecked after a 6-0 start to the season.
Twenty years ago, after compiling a sterling 30-16-1 record on the football field at that "basketball school" down in Champaign, University of Illinois coach John Mackovic bolted the Land of Lincoln for the gridiron riches of the Lone Star State.
Toledo head football coach Tim Beckman has reportedly emerged as the favorite to replace Ron Zook at Illinois.
Illinois has extended the application period for candidates for its head football coaching position until late Thursday night.
I happen to think the Illinois football job offers as much potential as any in the country. Much like, you know, the University of Wisconsin job offered Alvarez two decades ago when he took it over and transformed the Badgers into a snarling, bare-knuckled national power.
The kindness of strangers can change lives. A downstate Illinois restaurant owner was shocked by the number of people who reached out to help him when he needed it most.
Police in south suburban Harvey are expanding their surveillance technology with new Flock Safety drones, even as some other cities are cancelling contracts with the technology company.
A year-long investigation has led to an arrest in a fatal shooting in northwest suburban Des Plaines.
Cade Cavalli took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 7-0 to avoid a three-game sweep.
ComEd crews working to restore power to thousands of customers in Illinois following damaging storms earlier this week will need a few more days before everything is back to normal, officials said on Thursday.
Senate Democrats are demanding answers about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during the aircraft carrier's record-setting deployment.
President Trump said Karoline Leavitt will be leaving her role to focus on her young family.
Chicago mayoral candidate John Kelly on Wednesday said the city has had enough of career politicians, and took some of his opponents to task for running for two offices at once.
David Crowley unexpectedly beat a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor, and will face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany on the ballot in November.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks that are intended to gain compliance from combative individuals.
Illinois is one of 46 states that have reached a $15.5 million settlement with a Pennsylvania-based mortgage servicer for improperly imposing new insurance policies on homeowners who already had insurance.
The Trump administration is taking aim at power grid operator PJM Interconnection over rising electricity bills that affect Illinois and Indiana residents.
Chicago remained the most bed bug-treated city in the country, according to Orkin's latest annual rankings covering a full year of residential and commercial treatment data.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul this week warned residents cleaning up from last month's storms to be on the lookout for scams.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday signed several new consumer protections into law, including a ban on junk fees.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is not adopting new federal child vaccine guidelines and will continue following recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In a wide-ranging interview with the CBS News partner BBC News, Hunter Biden grew emotional as he discussed his father's condition, describing it as very sad to watch.
With the cyclosporiasis linked to iceberg lettuce growing and consumers wary of the products on grocery shelves, many in Chicago are turning to local farmers market for fresh and safe greens.
East Chicago, Indiana is being placed on a precautionary boil water advisory starting Monday morning for planned installations that could affect water safety.
A new Northwestern Medicine study on long COVID shows women show more neurological symptoms than men.
The Original Rainbow Cone celebrated its 100th anniversary on Sunday with a special event at its Beverly location.
The Shops at North Bridge on the Magnificent Mile announced plans Thursday for a multimillion-dollar renovation project.
While the building that housed the flagship Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont Avenue has been torn down, the renowned Chicago restaurant chain is now set to open a new Lakeview location.
Nationally, data centers used 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023 — a figure projected to reach 72.6 billion gallons by 2028, raising concerns about states' water supplies.
Chicago's Wishbone Restaurant will soon be closing after 36 years in business.
Crews need about a week and a half to tear down the festival site before the city can begin its own inspection — and past cleanup costs have topped $1 million.
Vincent Pastore played Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on all six seasons of "The Sopranos," which aired from 1999 to 2007.
If weather forces an evacuation, shelter sites are located at Grant Park North, Grant Park South, and Millennium Lakeside Garages, accessible through the vehicle entrance on Michigan Avenue.
Grant Park was filled with tens of thousands of people Thursday for the start of Lollapalooza, as warm weather greeted festivalgoers on day one of the four-day music festival.
Academy Award-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard has died in a motorcycle crash.
Chief meteorologist Albert Ramon has the latest First Alert Weather forecast.
The kindness of strangers can change lives. A downstate Illinois restaurant owner was shocked by the number of people who reached out to help him when he needed it most.
Police in south suburban Harvey are expanding their surveillance technology with new Flock Safety drones, even as some other cities are cancelling contracts with the technology company.
Northwest Indiana is preparing for flooding as many are still dealing with storm damage and no power, following Tuesday’s powerful storms. NIPSCO crews are racing to fix outages, but said it will take until late next week to complete all repairs.
It is a dire situation in parts of Indiana, where there has been historic flooding in the wake of torrential rains. The Whitewater River has reached the highest levels ever recorded, prompting evacuation orders.
Residents in Northwest Indiana may have to wait more than a week to get power back after a devastating outbreak of severe weather.
Police in south suburban Harvey are expanding their surveillance technology with new Flock Safety drones, even as some other cities are cancelling contracts with the technology company.
More violations at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery and Crematorium have surfaced, which is now under investigation for its role in mishandling bodies connected to the family that ran South Chicago Chapel.
The kindness of strangers can change lives. A downstate Illinois restaurant owner was shocked by the number of people who reached out to help him when he needed it most.
A year-long investigation has led to an arrest in a fatal shooting in northwest suburban Des Plaines.
More violations at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery and Crematorium have surfaced, which is now under investigation for its role in mishandling bodies connected to the family that ran South Chicago Chapel.
Many unanswered questions remain after 56 decomposing bodies were found inside a Chicago funeral home last week.
A lawsuit on behalf of a man who was shot and killed by police in Humboldt Park in March claims a CPD officer fired deadly shots just after arriving at a controlled scene instead of de-escalating.
Neighbors of a South Side animal feed plant have complained about the noxious smell and air quality for years. Now the city of Chicago and state of Illinois are suing Pullman Innovations to clean up the air, as well as for alleged illegal work and permit violations.
The owners of a Far South Side funeral home where dozens of decomposing bodies were found earlier this week have run into trouble with state regulators before over their handling of bodies at a crematory in the south suburbs.
Cade Cavalli took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 7-0 to avoid a three-game sweep.
Sal Stewart, Eugenio Suárez and Tyler Stephenson homered and the Cincinnati Reds held off the Chicago White Sox for a 9-8 victory.
The Chicago White Sox announced they're moving their Thursday game at Rate Field against the Cincinnati Reds to an earlier time due to the weather.
Chicago Bears chief executive officer Kevin Warren said Thursday that while team representatives have still been meeting with Illinois officials, the team's "sole focus" is now building a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana.
Kamilla Cardoso scored 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting as Chicago lost for the fourth time in five games.
A year-long investigation has led to an arrest in a fatal shooting in northwest suburban Des Plaines.
A man was due in court Thursday on charges of stabbing a woman to death in Chicago's Avondale community this week.
A man was set for a detention hearing Thursday in a shootout on Chicago's Near North Side.
Police released a video showing the packages spilling out from the truck's false bottom, with the stickers of Norway's soccer star Erling Haaland.
A man was shot and killed Tuesday night along busy McCormick Boulevard in the north Chicago suburb of Skokie.
