Illinois Football: Who replaces Donnie Abraham for the Illini

The Illinois football team went through some changes on Tuesday afternoon as one of their coaches stepped down.

In a press release by the University of Illinois Athletics Department, it was announced that assistant coach and cornerbacks coach Donnie Abraham has resigned from the program. Head coach Lovie Smith says that the current coaching staff will absorb the duties that are left by Abraham.

This move comes as a surprise so close to the start of the 2018 campaign. But, the reasoning behind the resignation seems to be a good one, in my opinion. In the press release, Abraham thanks the university, Josh Whitman and Lovie Smith. He also explains that he wants to see his son’s senior year in high school as well. This is completely understandable, and I wish Abraham nothing but the best. Coaching will always be there for him, but his son only has one senior year in high school.

Now, the big question remains; how will this move affect the Illinois football program? Well, let’s start off with recruiting. I had a chance to get a quote from one of the best players in the Illinois class of 2019 on Tuesday night. Here is what Marquez Beason had to say.

“He’s a great coach, man and father figure,” said Beason, “He will be greatly missed. He and Coach Stoker recruited me, so it’s weird for him to leave.”

Beason has and always will be strongly committed to the Illinois football program as we move forward with a new cornerbacks coach. I really liked Abraham’s ability to recruit, and that will be missed dearly. But, who is going to replace him in the future?

The first name people brought up was Charles “Peanut” Tillman. He played 13 years in the NFL, the majority with the Chicago Bears when Lovie coached the team. He has been down to the Illinois practices a few times as well. This would be a great option but most likely a pipe dream.

Another option could be East St. Louis High School’s wide receivers and defensive backs coach, Terry Hawthorne. He played four years at defensive back for the Illini and was sensational. He led the team in interceptions two of the four seasons he was in Champaign, and Illinois won two bowl games in his time with the team. Hawthorne has been getting good coaching experience in East St. Louis, and he would be a great option to help build that pipeline to a football powerhouse.

There is also the option of promoting from within. There are plenty of options currently on the coaching staff who know this team and would help in building this program into a contender again.

Illinois lost a valuable member of the coaching staff on Tuesday afternoon. They will continue building, but Abraham will be missed.