re: I'm surprised lovie smith isn't doing better than 1-4 so far at Illinois

It amazes me how people underestimate the ability of coaches in Division I college football. I would actually say it's much more difficult for a defensive coach to succeed in college than in the NFL for various reasons. In the NFL, offenses tend to be homogeneous but in college football, a coach has to prepare for many different offenses over the course of a season. They also have don't have the caliber of athletes in college like they have in pros so it's a lot harder to win games by having a ball-control offense and relying on a great defense to consistently make stops.