Illinois Fighting Illini Football

The University of Illinois reached a settlement with former Fighting Illini football player Simon Cvijanovic.

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg reported Cvijanovic will receive $250,000.

Cvijanovic tweeted out a statement from his representation in the matter:

pic.twitter.com/EAZrUeeBUY

— Simon Cvijanović (@SimonCvijanovic) May 30, 2017

In May 2015, Cvijanovic, who played offensive tackle, said former Illinois head coach Tim Beckman and the team's medical staff failed to properly address knee and shoulder injuries he had suffered.

According to the Chicago Tribune's Shannon Ryan, Cvijanovic alleged the Illinois medical staff delayed in revealing he had "all of his medial meniscus and much of his lateral meniscus" removed from his knee during a procedure in December 2013.

Cvijanovic also told Ryan that he felt the coaching staff pushed him to return too early from a torn labrum in November 2014.

Upon investigating the allegations, Illinois fired Beckman in August 2015.

Illinois football players Zarrian Holcombe, Darta Lee and Howard Watkins, who are jailed on armed robbery and home invasion charges, were all officially dismissed from the team Wednesday. 

Illini coach Lovie Smith announced the decision Wednesday, per Bret Beherns of WCIA3.

All three players were arrested earlier this month on the felony counts. Police said one of the players knew the victim of the attempted robbery, who identified the player by voice. 

“Three individuals entered an apartment masked and the victim recognized one of them by voice,” Champaign police Lt. Dave Shaffer said, per Mary Schenk of the News-Gazette. “He pulled his mask off and tried to make light of the situation. One of them produced what we now know to be fake firearm and demanded cash.”

Both armed robbery and home invasion are felonies in the state of Illinois, carrying up to 30 years in prison upon conviction. All three players would face a minimum of six years in prison for both charges.

Lee played six games, including two starts, as an offensive lineman in 2016. Watkins is an offensive line recruit who was expected to play in his first season under Smith next season. Holcombe is a pass-catcher who played tight end and wide receiver last season.

Illinois football players Darta Lee, HoJo Watkins and Zarrian Holcombe were arrested Wednesday morning in Champaign, Illinois, and charged with home invasion and armed robbery.

Jeremy Werner of Scout.com first reported word of Lee's arrest and later Watkins' as well. Matt Daniels of the News-Gazette later reported Holcombe's arrest. Daniels noted the players will be arraigned on Thursday.

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reported the alleged robbery took place at Bromley Hall, a university dormitory which is listed as the address of both Lee and Holcombe.

Per Mary Schenk of the News-Gazette, Champaign police Lt. Dave Shaffer provided further details on the incident: "Three individuals entered an apartment masked and the victim recognized one of them by voice. He pulled his mask off and tried to make light of the situation. One of them produced what we now know to be fake firearm and demanded cash."

Shaffer added that the suspects allegedly left with an undisclosed amount of money before information provided by the victim led to their arrests.

"These allegations, if true, fail to live up to the standards we expect of our student-athletes," head coach Lovie Smith said, per John Taylor of NBC Sports. "We continue to gather information and will take appropriate steps based upon what we learn.”

Lee started two games on the offensive line for the Fighting Illini as a true freshman last season, and he was expected to be in the mix for a starting spot in 2017. Daniels noted Holcombe played seven games, mostly on special teams.

Watkins had just arrived on campus in January, per Werner.

An Illinois spokesman told Werner the team was gathering information and is "allowing the process to play out." 

For more Illinois football news and analysis, visit IlliniInquirer.com.

Watch Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt throw a 56-yard touchdown on a reverse flea flicker versus Western Michigan. 

Just over a month after his father, Hardy Nickerson, was named Lovie Smith’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Illinois, Hardy Nickerson Jr. announced that he will transfer to the Big Ten school after graduating from the University of California this spring.

The 6'0", 225-pound linebacker explained the reasons that fueled his decision on Thursday in a message on Twitter:  

https://twitter.com/younghardy_/status/723258235474468865

The former 3-star recruit was a steady presence at the second level for the Golden Bears throughout his three seasons in Berkeley, and his production peaked during the team’s 8-5 2015 campaign.

After posting 64 total tackles as a freshman and 69 as a sophomore, Nickerson Jr. led Cal with 111 total tackles—39 more than the team’s next-closest defender. All told, Nickerson Jr. finished the 2015 season ranked third among Pac-12 players in total tackles.

Now that he’ll be playing for his father, who was a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro at linebacker over the course of 16 NFL seasons, Nickerson Jr. has a chance to build on that success with the Illini as he closes out his college career.

"This is a unique situation where Hardy has an opportunity to play his final season of college football for his father," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said, per an official statement. "The Nickerson family is extremely tight-knit, and this is something that is only happening because of their tremendous family relationship. We hate to lose Hardy for next season but wish him, his father and their entire family the best."

The newest member of an Illinois team that’s looking to secure its first winning season since 2011, Nickerson Jr. will be tasked with playing the role of veteran leader as he and his father help play a part in stabilizing one of the Big Ten’s shakier programs.

Star ranking courtesy of 247Sports.

Despite all of the excitement in Champaign that accompanied his hiring, it didn't take long for the elephant in the room to make an appearance during Lovie Smith's introductory press conference as Illinois' new head coach on Monday.

Smith wasn't on Twitter—at least not yet.

And in the college football world in 2016, that's a problem for the Fighting Illini head coach, who now must use publicity—and not his team owner's checkbook—as his primary recruiting tool.

"It's a misnomer that I'm some old guy that doesn't know what's going on," Smith asserted.

While it didn't take long for the 57-year-old to send his first tweet, it wasn't hard to figure out what his message will be.

Recruiting—at least in an official capacity—hasn't been one of Smith's responsibilities since 1995, but his two-decade absence from the college ranks could ultimately work to his advantage. Pitching his career in the NFL, where he spent 11 seasons as a head coach, Smith will attempt to sell his pro football experience as a means to preparing prospects for professional football.

"Lovie is going to be a great recruiter," Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said, referencing Smith's NFL experience. "There’s not a living room in America that’s not going to open up their doors to Lovie Smith and his coaching staff."

It's not a new strategy, and it's one that's already worked well for the likes of Nick Saban, Pete Carroll and Jim Mora. Most recently, Jim Harbaugh has capitalized on his four seasons on the sideline of the San Francisco 49ers by signing the nation's fifth-ranked recruiting class at Michigan.

And while the Illinois program doesn't possess the same pedigree from which Alabama, USC, UCLA or the Wolverines benefit, Smith's success and tenure at the professional level supersedes that of his pro-to-college predecessors. The former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach's .506 winning percentage was better than both Saban's, Carroll's and Mora's before their returns to the college ranks, and his 11 seasons as a head coach in the NFL nearly tripled Harbaugh's tenure in San Francisco.

Only seven coaches in history have served as the head coach in a Super Bowl before making the move to the college sidelines. Along with Harbaugh, Smith now becomes the second one still active as a head coach to do so.

That's not to say that Smith will win national championships in Champaign as Saban's done at Alabama and Carroll did at USC, or even that he'll put the Fighting Illini on the same trajectory both Michigan and UCLA appear to be on under the direction of their pro-caliber head coaches. But their success in selling NFL experience bodes well for Smith, who claims he won't have to knock off much rust on the recruiting trail.

"I’ve been recruiting and selling every year I’ve been a football coach, selling the way we’re going to win football games, asking free agents to come on board. And recruiting is just that," said Smith. "You go into homes, and people will trust you or they won’t, try to get them to buy into what you believe. And I feel like I can do that."

Smith doesn't have much of an official recruiting track record to fall back on, although in his last season coaching in college, he helped lure star defensive back Gary Berry to Ohio State in what many considered at the time to be the nation's top class. In the NFL, however, Smith did prove to be quite the "recruiter," consistently signing top-level free agents including Julius Peppers, Tim Jennings and Robert Garza during his nine seasons with the Bears and Josh McCown and Michael Johnson in his two-year stint with the Bucs.

In particular, Smith's tenure in Chicago should help bolster his recruiting efforts, as he spent nearly a decade in the spotlight of the city he plans on making Illinois' top recruiting region.

"When you’re in the state, you follow your professional football team in the state," Smith said of his time with the Bears. "I think most of them know who I am, and I think they will feel pretty good about [us] once we get our program in place and what it’ll look like."

Like Harbaugh, Smith should also benefit from a diverse set of potential recruiting pipelines that not only includes the Midwest but his home state of Texas and also Florida, thanks to his two years in Tampa Bay. Even for recruits too young to remember Smith's Super Bowl trip at the end of the 2006 season, his role in the development of first-overall pick Jameis Winston will be just another weapon in what's beginning to look like a war chest of recruiting assets.

With a boost in salary that will pay his assistants the third-highest salary pool in the Big Ten behind Michigan and Ohio State, Smith already appears to be eyeing an NFL-caliber staff, just as Harbaugh did when he arrived in Ann Arbor 14 months ago.

According to The Champaign Room, the new Fighting Illini coach has targeted several NFL assistants for his staff, including former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Sherman, 49ers assistant Hardy Nickerson and Jacksonville Jaguars assistant Luke Butkus.

As for Twitter, Smith's crossed that off his list off as well, creating an account, following prospects and sending his fist tweet.

https://twitter.com/LovieSmith/status/707347770005446656

He may not display the same personality Harbaugh does in 140 characters or fewer, but the core of their approaches will very much be the same as each tries to sell an NFL background that sets them apart from the rest of the Big Ten.

With that will likely come rumors of Smith one day making a return back to the pros with each annual NFL coaching carousel. Smith, however, has already asserted that this is the start of the "third quarter" in his coaching career, as he attempts to become the Big Ten West's—and perhaps eventually, college football's—premier pros-to-prep head coach.

"I signed a six-year contract," Smith said. "I’m not going anywhere."

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.

When Josh Whitman announced the firing of head football coach Bill Cubit less than a day into his reign as Illinois' new athletic director, two theories seemed to prevail when it came to the untimely move.

Theory 1: Whitman had something up his sleeve to justify the sudden shakeup.

Theory 2: By firing his head coach a week away from the start of spring practice, the new Fighting Illini AD was only furthering the mess that had been left for him by his predecessors in Champaign.

"The decision to change football staffs has broader implications than just about anything else," Whitman said in a Saturday press conference. "You make a decision to change football coaches, you throw a lot of things into chaos."

Perhaps Whitman was comfortable in admitting the risk of his decision because he knew that Theory 1 was in play.

Just hours after the announcement of Cubit's firing, news began to trickle out of the Prairie State that Whitman had his replacement in sight. Less than two days later, Illinois made it official by announcing Monday that longtime NFL head coach Lovie Smith would be taking over the Fighting Illini program.

#WEWILLWIN pic.twitter.com/eIC379IiyD

— Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) March 7, 2016

In a press release announcing his new six-year, $21 million contract, Smith said:

I am extremely excited to be named head coach of the Fighting Illini. Josh approached me about this possibility, and I immediately seized on the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the young men who are part of the program today and in the future.

I take this responsibility very seriously and can't wait to get a staff in place to start our move to make Illinois a contender for Big Ten titles.

With Smith's track record, that goal could become a reality as early as his first season in Champaign.

In Smith, Illinois now has a head coach with instant credibility, one who's spent 11 of the past 12 years as a head coach at football's highest level. In his decade-plus as an NFL head coach, Smith went to one Super Bowl and coached in an additional NFC Championship Game, accumulating a combined 89-87 record during stints with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This isn't merely a retread head coach looking for his next gig but one who many felt was unjustly fired after he improved Tampa Bay's record by four wins in 2015 while developing No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston at quarterback.

Per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, the firing of Smith wasn't about performance as much as it was the fear of losing offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who had become a hot head coaching candidate as a member of Smith's staff.

In essence, Illinois now has a head coach who would likely still be the head coach of an NFL team if not for the off-field politics that often play out in pro football.

"Naming Lovie Smith as the Illinois head football coach is the first step in taking this program to a place of national prominence," Whitman said in Monday's statement.

"National prominence" might be a stretch—at least for now—for a program that still plays in the same conference as Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan. Smith may possess star power and credibility of his own, but not as much as Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh, nor will he enjoy the benefits of continuity that Mark Dantonio has built in his nine years in East Lansing.

But as far as his new league is concerned, Smith finds himself in the right division.

While it may be improved as a whole, the Big Ten West is there for the taking, with reigning champ Iowa unproven as a consistent contender. Wisconsin is solid, and Northwestern and Nebraska both appear to be on the rise, but one could have made a convincing case for the Fighting Illini as a division dark horse even prior to Smith's hiring.

Smith inherits a defensive unit that ranked 30th in the nation in 2015, and his presence should only help improve it, even following the departures of key players Mason Monheim, Jihad Ward and Clayton Fejedelem. In particular, the defensive-minded Smith should be able to get the most out of outside linebacker Dawuane Smoot, who recorded eight sacks in his junior season in 2015.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Fighting Illini's new head coach will have his work cut out for him, taking over a team that ranked 88th in total offense last season. But Illinois does return 74 percent of its production, according to SB Nation's Bill Connelly, and pro-style QB Wes Lunt should receive a boost with the return of wideout Mike Dudek (76 receptions, 1,038 yards and six touchdowns in 2014) from injury.

Divisional crossover games against Michigan and Michigan State could present issues, but the Fighting Illini could potentially remain in conference contention in 2016 with two league losses.

This hiring, however, is more about the long term than it is just the upcoming year, as evidenced by the length of Smith's contract. And while it's been more than 20 years since recruiting was last one of his responsibilities, his NFL experience should give him instant gravitas on the recruiting trail—just as it has for Harbaugh in his 14 months in Ann Arbor.

When it comes to NFL-to-college transitions, this hiring has more of the feel of Pete Carroll to USC or Jim Mora to UCLA than it does Dave Wannstedt to Pitt. In fact, one could argue the Fighting Illini have been one of college football's biggest sleeping giants, given the fertile recruiting ground of the Midwest, in particular Chicago.

"We will build a program that contends annually for Big Ten and national championships," Whitman said.

For a program that has shown the ability to make major bowl games in the past but hasn't enjoyed a winning season since 2011, those are certainly lofty expectations.

The last time he did or said something that raised eyebrows, Whitman proved to have an ace up his sleeve. Now it will be up to Smith to make the seemingly impossible a reality in Champaign.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.

A tumultuous time for the University of Illinois football program may have a promising ending as the athletic department opens its search for a new head coach. 

Continue for updates. 

---

Illini Targeting Lovie Smith 

Saturday, March 5

According to David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune, citing two NFL sources, Lovie Smith "will be [a] candidate" for the Illini's head coaching vacancy. 

Per Ryan Baker of CBS 2 in Chicago, citing "credible sources," he will be named Illinois' next football coach. 

It's been an interesting day for the Illini, as new athletic director Josh Whitman announced the firing of Bill Cubit. The 62-year-old took over as Illinois' football coach on an interim basis in August before he received a two-year contract to remain the head coach in November. 

Cubit originally took over after Tim Beckham was fired in August following an external review of the program brought up allegations of player mistreatment, including forcing players to play despite injuries and efforts to discourage injury reporting. 

Smith, who was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January, is familiar with the Illinois area and program after coaching the Chicago Bears for nine years from 2004-12, leading the franchise to an NFC championship in 2006. 

Illinois' football program can certainly use a spark after posting losing records in each of the last four seasons and not winning more than seven games in a season since 2007.  

The University of Illinois announced the dismissal of head football coach Bill Cubit on Saturday following one year as the program's interim boss. 

The team's official Twitter account relayed a statement from new athletic director Josh Whitman: 

Statement from @IlliniAD on dismissal of Bill Cubit at #Illini football coach. pic.twitter.com/DlIMpq8Umi

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) March 5, 2016

Freshman quarterback Eli Peters expressed his shock at the decision:

Are you kidding me...

— Eli Peters (@the_eli_peters) March 5, 2016

Meanwhile, offensive lineman Joseph Spencer thanked the coach for his work:

https://twitter.com/IlliniJoe71/status/706167784946995200

Cubit took over as interim head coach last August after former head coach Tim Beckman was fired in the midst of an NCAA investigation into the reporting of injuries and the medical treatment of members of the football team.    

The Illini went 5-7 under Cubit during the 2015 season, and as USA Today's Erick Smith noted, the dismissal came on Whitman's first day as the school's athletic director. 

However, ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg theorized Whitman may not have made the move in hasty fashion: 

Whitman must have replacement ready to go. Otherwise, program will keep getting set back. Timing is just awful. Feel for the players.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) March 5, 2016

Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel provided another perspective through the prism of Cubit's appointment to the position of head coach: 

Awkward timing, but the Cubit situation was awkward to begin with. Might as well address it now.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) March 5, 2016

Illinois also announced Ryan Cubit was relieved of his duties as the program's offensive coordinator, while all other assistants currently with the team will be afforded a chance to retain their jobs via interviews with the next head coach. 

The school's statement mentioned that Bill will receive the remaining $985,000 on his deal, while Ryan will take home $361,000. 

With the 2005 MAC Coach of the Year out in Champaign, the team will need to find a replacement fast. As Bleacher Report's Bryan Fischer noted, the Illini are scheduled to start spring practice in six days.

And with the personnel shuffle just beginning, Illinois could be in for another long year as it searches for stability that has long been elusive.