The Where Are They Now Series of former Illini Football Head Coaches continues today, with part 2, covering Bill Cubit and Tim Beckman. For part one, covering Ron Zook, Lovie Smith and Ron Turner, go here.
Bill Cubit
Summarizing his era of Illini Football:
See the plaque above, which is filled with loads of unspoken, unintentional comedy. He had one year, with which he went 5-7, highlighted by his winning the fishiest game in Illini football history. BTN re-ran the 2015 win over Nebraska last year, and watching it again, it seems just as weird and controversial as ever. Pay close attention to what happened with the point spread the morning of that game.
Look at the final series, where Illinois ran the exact same play six times until the refs helped them score.
Now look at what Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong did on his final series, preceding that Illini drive led by Wes Lunt. Not saying it was fixed, I have no idea, but man, everything about the ending and result looks like something not entirely on the up and up.
What he is/was instead of being a true Big Ten Head Football Coach:
Seemed a decent sort and a good guy, at least when compared to Beckman, but that all changed when he promoted Ryan Cubit, his son who…well Google his name and DUI, and see what you find, to a position well above his resume. Ryan Cubit has never been on a staff that wasn’t led by his Dad.
Lovie engaged in nefarious nepotism with his kid too, it is worth noting! Cubit was a decent OC though, with a great mind for the passing game. And that viral video of his personally selling tickets on the quad was endearing.
Football Jobs After the Illini:
After a year out of football, Cubit returned to Martin County High School in Stuart, Florida in 2017, to reprise the head coaching role he held 1986-1988. After one 4–5 season, he stepped down. The next year, Cubit joined the coaching staff of his alma mater, University of Delaware, as an asst. head coach and running backs coach.
Again he stepped down after one season.
Current Gig: At 70, he’s retired now. Take a look at his Twitter feed, which last had a posting in October. The bio says it all “Grateful for my beautiful wife, my incredible children, fantastic grandchildren and the opportunity to coach some of the best in the business.”
He’s done with football.
Tim Beckman
Summarizing his era of Illini Football:
Let’s just try to not relive this train wreck of an atrocity too much. Beckman pulled off the rare combo of being bad at what he does and being a bad guy. He wasn’t just terrible at his job, he also broke the rules to even get to that level (so I guess his teams would have been even worse if he played by the rules?). While he was a terrible coach, he was even worse at talking about being an Illini football coach. Take that plaque down! Sheesh!
What he is/was instead of being a true Big Ten Head Football Coach:
a decent MAC level coach, a decade ago, but one incapable of doing an interview without embarrassing himself.
Football Jobs After the Illini:
About a year after he was canned by the University of Illinois, then UNC head coach Larry Fedora hired him to serve as an unpaid assistant defensive coach. (Plot twist: week two that season was a trip to Illinois).
However, after a ton of backlash, Beckman resigned, saying he did not want to be a “distraction.” It was later revealed that UNC chancellor Carol Folt was against letting Beckman into the program. This effectively killed his coaching career, because if you can’t even work for free, under one of your closest connections in the business, well, you’re done.
Current Gig:
On April 11, 2016, Beckman settled with the university for a one time payment of $250,000. He was also the state’s highest paid individual employee while he was at U of I. Maybe he saved and invested wisely? Because football is long done with him, and now, at age 59, he’s currently living a quiet life, outside the public eye. We’ll leave it at that.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.