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Illinois Football: Top 5 options to be the Illini head coach 1.0

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 5, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; A general view during the first half in a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; A general view during the first half in a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Receivers coach Nathan Scheelhaase works with his guysReceivers Coach /

The Illinois football program made a big change on Sunday, firing head coach Lovie Smith.

This was a much-needed change for the program. Lovie was a great guy and mentor, but the results were not showing up on a consistent basis. It was time for a chance.

But who is going to take over for Lovie? Who is going to be the next head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini?

Here are the top five options to be the Illini head coach.

1. Nathan Scheelhaase

Illinois football is looking for a new coach, but you don’t have to travel very far to find someone who is prepared for the job and is a former Illini player.

When Ron Zook took over the Illini, he brought in some solid talent. Players who weren’t usually coming to Champaign were picking the Orange and Blue. One of those players was Nathan Scheelhaase.

A four-star dual-threat quarterback ranked as the No. 228 player in the class of 2010, Scheelhaase committed to Zook and the Illini. He was from the state of Missouri, though, so this was a great get for the Illinois program.

In his four seasons with the Illini, Scheelhaase threw for 8,568 yards, 55 touchdowns and 37 interceptions. He was also able to rush for a total of 2,066 yards and 19 touchdowns. By the end of his time with Illinois, Scheelhaase set the program’s all-time offensive yardage record with 10,634 career yards.

After his playing career, Scheelhaase went into coaching. He was Illinois’ running backs coach in 2015 and then transitioned into an offensive analyst in 2016 and 2017. Scheelhaase then moved on to Iowa State where he was a running backs coach in 2018 and the wide receivers coach the last two seasons.

Scheelhaase checks a lot of my boxes for what I want in the next Illinois head coach. He has coaching experience at the DI level. He is someone who was a former dual-threat quarterback and can help develop Isaiah Williams. And, the biggest thing for me, Scheelhaase is from the Midwest, so maybe we can actually keep some talent home.

I believe Scheelhaase should be the No. 1 option for the Orange and Blue. Hopefully, we can go into Iowa State and pull the talented up-and-coming coach away from the Cyclones.

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