12:33 PM ETAdam RittenbergCloseESPN Senior Writer College Football Reporter. Joined ESPN.com in 2008. Graduate of Northwest University. Mark Schlabach Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior College Football Writer The author of seven books on college football, Louis Smith, a graduate of the University of Georgia, is the Illinois head football coach after five seasons, the school announced Sunday. Illinois called a team meeting for ET Sunday afternoon to inform players of the decision. Fight Illinois dropped to 14th place in the Northwest 28th on Saturday. Illinois will play its eighth game this weekend at the Big Ten Championships weekend. Smith, 62, went 17-39 in five seasons (10-33 in the Big Ten) in Illinois, making his first stop in college football since 1995, coaching defensive backs in the state of Ohio. He had a long NFL career, which included leadership training stops with the Chicago Pierce and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith guided Pierce to a Super Bowl in 2006 and led the team 81-63. Illinois Athletics Director Josh Whitman hired Smith just weeks after his own hire in the winter of 2016. Smith led Illinois to a bowl appearance in 2019, and this fall the team had high expectations as many key players returned. “Lowe Smith led the Illinois football program with unquestioning integrity in his nearly five years of service,” Whitman said in a statement. “I have great respect for Coach Smith and I will always be grateful to him for providing a consistent, experienced hand at a time when our project needs stability. His unwavering leadership, which was never needed more than this epidemic, will be remembered forever.” Nevertheless, based on a comprehensive assessment of the project’s current and future outlook, I have concluded that the project has not progressed at the rate we expected at this advanced stage during Coach Smith’s tenure. I believe we need the new leadership of the football program to achieve our competitive objectives. I will always love the time Lowe and I spent together. I want nothing more than the best for him and Marion. Candle, several coordinators including Dullen’s Willy Fritz and Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator Clark Lea and Wisconsin Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhardt.
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