Illinois Football: Can blue-chip USC transfers spark culture change?

Lovie Smith has been working hard to change the culture of Illinois football, but did he finally catch a break with two blue-chip USC transfers?

A decade, or so, ago, Lovie Smith would have never imagined himself fighting for his job in the collegiate ranks. He was the head coach of the Chicago Bears who had won three NFC North titles in six years and even made it to Super Bowl XLI, losing to the Colts.

Now he’s fighting to keep his job with the Fighting Illinois of Illinois.

How times have changed, but Smith has always remained the same coach. He’s tough, but fair, and players seem to love him. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated to wins in Champaign.

When he was hired as head coach in 2016, the excitement could have been felt across the state of Illinois. The Fighting Illini would no longer be a doormat in the Big Ten but instead get back to contending for titles and potentially reach another Rose Bowl.

That’s not how it’s gone so far, though. Smith is just 9-27 in his first three years with the Illini, including 4-23 in conference play.

Smith’s recruiting classes haven’t been great either, ranked 13th (2016), 12th (2017), 10th (2018) and 13th (2019) in the Big Ten. That’s not something that’s going to help the Illini break through in the conference and start pushing for Big Ten West titles.

However, he just landed two USC transfers in former four-star wide out Trevon Sidney and former five-star defensive end Oluwole Betiku.

Sidney would have two remaining years of eligibility and Betiku has one. The two never lived up to expectations at USC, but could help change the culture at Illinois, especially if they can realize their potential in a short period of time.

Yes, I truly believe that if these two kids can step up and become stars on both sides of the ball, Illinois will become a bowl-bound team and it will aid recruiting tremendously.

If four and five-star recruits see that they can have success in Champaign playing for a program that isn’t quite known for football success, they, too, then can help turn Illinois into a perennial winner.