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.
You may be familiar with the viral "Catch That Train" videos by SidequestTre on TikTok and Instagram, but the man behind them says it's not just about views: it's about creating joy and community.
Street bump-outs were installed in front of the park across the street in 2021, but co-owner Jazmin Medrano says accidents have continued.
With just a couple of days into September, summer refuses to step aside.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton says that after last month's devastating storms, the addition is more than a new building.
Chicago (78-62) dropped nine games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. It also remained one game back of Philadelphia for the top NL wild card.
CBP informed Gregory Bovino in an email on March 2 that the agency was "conducting an official Inquiry into allegations of misconduct reported to CBP." He initiated retirement 16 days later.
The head of Chicago's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection is stepping down.
Zoe Ma, the latest candidate to throw her hat into the Chicago mayoral race, officially launched her campaign on Tuesday.
The whistleblower, described by lawyers as a federal official, disclosed information about the Postal Service's new mail-voting procedures to Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
While Mayor Brandon Johnson has yet to announce whether he's running for re-election in 2027, his political organization is inviting supporters to a "special announcement" next month.
Cook County homeowners are again facing a sharper increase in property taxes this year than businesses, the Office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced Monday.
Contracted linemen from out of state sat idle in a Griffith church parking lot for hours without work orders from NIPSCO, as residents in Northwest Indiana approach two weeks without power.
A law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against NIPSCO, alleging the utility's failure to manage trees and vegetation has left thousands of Northwest Indiana residents without power for up to two weeks.
Dozens of cases of E. coli and salmonella in multiple states are linked to an alfalfa grower in Minnesota, health officials say.
A new Illinois law signed by Gov. Pritzker offers up to $1,000 to eligible homeowners hit by storm damage, but the money won't be available until next year — and the program only covers certain areas of Chicago.
Prime Healthcare is drawing criticism after announcing it will stop obstetrics services at three Chicago-area hospitals.
The Chicago Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced two human cases and one death from the West Nile virus in the city this year, and one of those two people has died.
The Jackson Chance Foundation supports the lives of families with babies in the NICU by removing the financial burden of finding parking near hospitals.
Patients taking the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, lived for a median of 13.2 months compared with 6.7 months for chemotherapy recipients, studies showed.
Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, used performed a complex operation to preserve mobility for a 3-year-old boy who had to have part of his leg amputated after suffering a horrific accident with a lawnmower.
A new Whole Foods Market is coming to Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.
More than 100 Black-owned businesses were showcased at Soldier Field Sunday for Black on the Block.
A Wisconsin prosecutor says he will not file election bribery charges against billionaire Elon Musk even though the state's bipartisan elections commission said he likely broke state law.
An expert blames Illinois lawmakers and "internecine political problems" for the failure to seal a deal for a new stadium within the state for the Chicago Bears.
Real estate investment and development firm Concord Capital has acquired nine apartment buildings on Elaine Place, a single-block residential street in Chicago's East Lakeview community.
The Met's decision to highlight the work by designer John Galliano sparked widespread controversy due to his history of antisemitic and racist comments.
The Edgewater Music Festival was under way this weekend on Chicago's north lakefront.
People around the world, including Chicago, continued to gather Wednesday to pay tribute to the late Dolly Parton.
Tim Curry was known for his iconic performances in cult classics like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and the original screen adaptation of Stephen King's "It."
Audience members at a stage performance of "9 to 5: The Musical" in the U.K. were heard gasping aloud at the news of Dolly Parton's death Tuesday.
Charlie Clerk III, who goes by Tre, relies on the CTA to get around. He never misses a train and has the viral posts to prove it.
Caution tape now wraps around the badly damaged patio at Brew Brew — a small family-owned coffee shop in Avondale. Surveillance video from Tuesday morning shows the crash that sent a car careening into the patio.
Williams's episode premieres on the "First We Feast" social media channels at 10 a.m. CDT Thursday.
One man was killed, and 14 others were wounded during a large gathering on the eastern side of the park. Police said officers were already in the park trying to disperse a large gathering before the shots rang out.
The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told WCCO. While officials do not know the motive for the shooting, sources say the suspect had been evicted from his apartment earlier Wednesday.
The passings come a week after Peekachu, a 23-year-old beluga who was also brought to Chicago as part of the rescue, died.
You may be familiar with the viral "Catch That Train" videos by SidequestTre on TikTok and Instagram, but the man behind them says it's not just about views: it's about creating joy and community.
Street bump-outs were installed in front of the park across the street in 2021, but co-owner Jazmin Medrano says accidents have continued.
With just a couple of days into September, summer refuses to step aside.
Two people are dead and at least five others are injured, including three officers, after a shooting near 15 East Grant Street Wednesday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, according to police. The suspected shooter is also dead.
Back in 2023, ISP got a $10 million grant from the Illinois Secretary of State's Illinois Vehicle Hijacking and Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention and Insurance Verification Council.
Two years before dozens of decomposing bodies were found inside the South Chicago Chapel funeral home, police in nearby Evergreen Park found two bodies in the owners' minivan outside their home.
Hundreds of people are suing the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, where they say they were sexually abused by staff. For the first time, survivors detailed their experience exclusively to CBS News Chicago.
Why has the family that runs South Chicago Chapel, where 56 decomposing bodies were found this month, never faced criminal charges, despite a history of mishandling human remains?
Red flags about a family behind two funeral homes and crematories shut down by the state for mishandling bodies were missed in part because two different agencies regulate the death industry in Illinois.
Chicago (78-62) dropped nine games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. It also remained one game back of Philadelphia for the top NL wild card.
The White Sox had several chances to score in the eighth, but came up empty.
Advocate Children's Hospital flipped the script this week, having four pediatric patients sign autographs for Cubs baseball players before a game at Wrigley Field.
Sean Burke (8-6) allowed one hit and walked four with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the win after walking a career-high eight in just three innings in his last start.
A day after hitting a franchise-record nine homers, Chicago was held to three singles and three doubles on a muggy night at Wrigley Field.
Two people are dead and at least five others are injured, including three officers, after a shooting near 15 East Grant Street Wednesday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis, according to police. The suspected shooter is also dead.
Surveillance video shows what appears to be a smash-and-grab burglary at a pizzeria in the southwest Chicago suburb of Frankfort this week.
Two Chicago police officers were injured overnight Tuesday into Wednesday in a crash in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood.
Chicago police issued an alert this week after a string of smash-and-grab burglaries within an hour in several neighborhoods, most notably the Lakeview and Avondale communities.
Three people were arrested early Wednesday after police said they drove off during a traffic stop on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
