Credit new Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman with a bold move.
Hiring Lovie Smith isn’t boring.
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It’s risky considering Whitman ditched Bill Cubit about a week before spring practice started. It’s risky because Smith hasn’t coached in college since serving as Ohio State’s defensive backs coach in 1995.
Risky? Yes. Boring? No. It’s the right shade of bold in between for an Illinois football program coming off a fourth consecutive losing season and still cleaning up some of the residual mess Tim Beckman left behind.