CHAMPAIGN — Great play from linebackers almost has come to define Lovie Smith as a coach.
It helps when the Illinois football head has watched the following linebackers, to name a few, develop under his watch:
— Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs with the Chicago Bears.
— London Fletcher and Pisa Tinoisamoa with the St. Louis Rams.
— Hardy Nickerson in Smith’s first stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the linebackers coach, as well as Lavonte David the last two seasons with Smith as the Buccaneers’ head coach.
“It’s a different type of guy that’s playing linebacker now,” Smith said.