Tate: Can Illini football ever be fixed?

In light of suggestions that Lovie Smith is finding the Illini football task more difficult than he could have imagined, the question of the day is:

Has the UI brand been too damaged by demoralizing on-field setbacks for Smith’s recruiting efforts to take hold?

An upgrade in talent is the UI’s only route to recovery. As to the difficulty of it, yes, if he’s human, Smith is encountering the same feelings that Ron Turner, Ron Zook, Tim Beckman and Bill Cubit dealt with.

This job is a bear.

Despite uplifting entreaties by whirlwind athletic director Josh Whitman — and the coaches’ acceptance of these hard times as “part of the process” — stark realization must be setting in. Is this Humpty Dumpty…