The head coach at Johnsburg used to coach in my area (downstate), and while I don’t know the man personally and refuse to even acknowledge him by name, when I played against the teams he coached, the whole team was filled with cheap-shot artists. They still got blown out of just about every game they played. He later was fired from that position because let’s face it . . . you gotta win at some point.

He later took a higher-profile job where he won tons. The problem was that he was generally received as a complete jackass who, because he was on top, decided he could run up the score on just about every opponent he could do so to (to put it in perspective, his teams regularly posted 70+ point wins against a team filled with deaf people). When he WAS defeated (often in the playoffs), generally the mood the next day/week/month/year/whatever was that the other team was lucky to have beaten his team, even if his team was outplayed (and having seen at least one of these defeats in person . . . I can acknowledge that AT LEAST once his team WAS outplayed and outcoached).

I’m not saying this IS what happened because obviously the ultimate decision falls on the recruit and his family, but I would NOT be shocked if said coach told him to de-commit – probably telling the kid “Hey! Look at Iowa! They’re good and stuff!” so said coach’s name could be further pumped up instead of suggesting he stay with his commitment to Illinois where the kid could blaze his own trail.

Oh, and CJ . . . you would’ve been a wide receiver at Illinois anyway. You’re pretty misguided.