University Of Illinois Hires Football Coach Tim Beckman
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Dec 10, 2011 7:00PM
The University of Illinois announced yesterday that it has hired Tim Beckman to take over as head coach of the U. of I. football team. Beckman was formerly the head coach for University of Toledo, where he turned around the football program from a 3-9 record in 2008 to an 8-4 record in 2011, and he took the team to the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. At the press conference yesterday, Beckman said:
Photo of Beckman from Fighting Illini website.
"We will work tirelessly in building the football program to compete for Big Ten and national championships, and be a source of pride for Fighting Illini fans across the nation. We will recruit the very best student-athletes to represent the University and will work extremely hard to develop strong relationships within the state of Illinois."
Beckman is starting out with a salary of $1.6 million — that's slightly more than the $1.5 million salary Coach Ron Zook made. U. of I. paid out $2.6 million to buy out Zook's contract after he led the team to six straight wins, followed by six straight losses.