Illinois Football: 5 options for the Illini offensive coordinator job

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – OCTOBER 14: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen during the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

The Illinois football team made a few coaching changes this past Saturday that should benefit the program.

The biggest change for the Illini came on the offensive side of the ball. Lovie Smith decided to move on from offensive coordinator Garrick McGee. This was a marriage that only lasted two seasons in Champaign.

McGee came into the Illinois program with some solid accolades. He was supposed to transform the Illini into an offensive machine that would put up a decent amount of points. But, that never happened in his time with the program.

The year before McGee took the reins, Illinois averaged 20.7 points per game, which ranked No. 110 in the nation. In his first season with the team, the Illini actually regressed, coming back down to 16.7 PPG which was No. 123 out of 128 teams in the nation.

This past season, Illinois continued to drop. They only averaged 15.4 PPG and that ranked No. 125 in the nation. I understand the Illinois quarterback situation, but a part of your job is to develop players and McGee failed to do so. Also, I think there were some issues with some offensive players as well.

Now Illinois is looking for a new offensive coordinator. There are a lot of names floating around out there but after looking at some possibilities, I have come up with a list.

Here are five candidates for the Illini offensive coordinator position.

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