Mike Poeta was named the head coach at the University of Illinois on Wednesday (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Mike Poeta was announced as the new Head Coach of Illinois on Wednesday. A star prep wrestler from the Chicago area, he was a monster for the Illini when he won two Big Ten titles and reached two NCAA finals.
Perhaps most importantly, Poeta was a redshirt freshman in 2005, the year in which Illinois won the Big Ten when they put five in the finals. Iowa was 4th that year. Penn State 7th. Ohio State? Dead last at 11th. Maryland, Nebraska, and Rutgers weren't even in the conference yet.
Two things to take away from that: 1) Poeta witnessed firsthand what it took to be a top-level team and 2) the landscape of college wrestling has changed a lot in 16 years.
Rather quietly, Jim Heffernan had a fantastic career. In his 29 years on staff, they were Top 10 at NCAA's thirteen times. He coached 73 All Americans and had at least one AA every season for the last 28 years.
Poeta keeping that kind of pace should be attainable. But job #1 will be recruiting. Illinois, and Chicago in particular, is one of the nation's hotbeds of high school talent. And yet, not many of those prospects make their way to Champaign. Since 2016, when Poeta began as an Assistant at Illinois, the state has produced 22 Top 50 recruits. Illinois landed just 2 of them.
Top 50 Recruits From Illinois Since 2016: Isaiah White, Eric Schultz, Nathan Traxler, Rudy Yates, Travis Piotrowski, Jacob Warner, Austin Gomez, Austin O'Connor, Jason Renteria, Patrick Brucki, Kordell Norfleet, Anthony Cassioppi, Real Woods, Will Lewan, Markus Hartman, Kendall Coleman, Peter Christensen, Abe Assad, Luke Luffman, Dean Hamiti, Joel Vandevere, and Hayden Copass.
Those That Went To Illinois: Piotrowski and Luffman
How well will Poeta do as Head Coach? I really don't know. Some of the finest college coaches I spoke to say the man can coach. And in my limited experience with him, he came across as an awesome guy. I have to think if he can raise the retention rate of home-state blue-chippers even a little bit, he'll be in a great position to succeed.
What I do know, however, is that it was one of the more bizarre job searches I've ever heard of.
The position wasn't actually opened up. No one could actually 'apply.' The administration had a shortlist of four candidates: Poeta, Doug Schwab, Mark Branch, and Tony Ramos. Each of them had a 30 to 60-minute Zoom call, and that was that.
Branch never heard back. Ramos never heard back. Schwab was offered the job and turned it down. The next day they announced that Poeta got the job.
To your questions...
What are the most common reasons a top recruit doesn't pan out? - @oldestgreatest
Drinking and drugs and it's not close. Sure there is a percentage of clean living top prospects that just don't get it at the next level. But the majority of blue-chippers that don't meet next-level expectations are hittin' the bottle and partying on campus.
Will the NCAA ever police the $$ involved with the RTC's? - @FarnhamBrian
No. Nor should they. This topic could use a full article, or at least a solid rant by me on a show. But the short answer is: money for our senior athletes is good. The blue bloods having more RTC money is what makes them blue bloods. Jumping levels in this sport (or anything in life) requires hard work, whether that's in recruiting, training, coaching, or, yes, fundraising.
Quit whining and get to work.
You're limited to three toppings on a burger. Go - @wormbofello
Fried onions, Bacon, BBQ sauce.
Here's another one - when your burger is just about done cooking, hit it with an obscene amount of Italian season and let it seer in on both sides. Then mayo. Then ketchup. (No cheese needed). Thank me later.
A Rewind - From the mailbag last week.
What are your top 5 teams for next week's NJCAA Championship?! - @CCCWrestling
Clackamas
Pratt
NE Oklahoma
Western Wyoming
Iowa Central
Reality
Clackamas
Western Wyoming
Iowa Central
Pratt
NE Oklahoma
How Many States will Adopt the new Weight class options that were given? And Does it provide any Benefit to High school athletes with this "Suggestion"? - @OfficialMachuta
The NFHS (National Federation of High Schools) released 3 sets of new weight class options for next season.
To be honest, I don't know what power they even have. But one thing is for sure - the ability to enforce weight classes is certainly not among them. Michigan, Idaho, Montana, and a handful of other states use different weights than the Federation uses. PA and NY last year just made up their own. I don't know what the point of coming up with three new options really does, when they have been proven impotent on the matter previously.
Shrug. I quite like wrestling people in the state making wrestling decisions for their state. It's a non-issue for me.
What's your thoughts on New England wrestling? Is it not recruited as heavy as it should be? - @jrc0311
New England keeps getting better. There are numerous kids in my Junior High rankings or on my radar from that region. You're going to see some straight-up hammers for Blair from NH and CT and RI in the future.
I don't know that it has been 'under-recruited' to this point, but they are coming.
Like almost everything in high school wrestling these days - the credit (or deficiency) in any geographic location goes to the clubs.
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