After signing the Class of 2019, Lovie Smith announced two assistant coach hirings for the Illinois Fighting Illini, filling positions that had been vacant since September and October. One was filled with Keynodo Hudson, a fine addition.
The other, after over 90 days of “searching,” went to interim defensive backs coach Miles Smith, who has never held a job outside Lovie’s coaching staffs. Hiring his son to this job at such a critical juncture suggests that he’s more interested in jumpstarting the coaching career of young Miles than he is in building a solid program at Illinois.
Athletic director Josh Whitman really stuck out his neck for Lovie immediately after the season, announcing that the 9-27 head coach would be extended two more years.