When Lovie Smith appeared live on SportsCenter a few weeks ago, ESPN reporter Marty Smith also made the trip to Champaign to record his own interview with the Illinois head coach. That conversation finally aired on the network Sunday morning and, as always, it was extremely cool to see the Orange and Blue being featured.
"Our goal is to become Big Ten champions." - Lovie Smith https://t.co/gjVmWx2bKm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 27, 2016
Lovie briefly touched on some topics we’ve already heard before, but this time around he also addressed some of the unique opportunities that the college level has presented over the past several months. In that regard, it’s abundantly clear that Lovie takes great pride in being a teacher/role-model for his players.
Of course, Lovie was also asked about expectations for his first season on the job. He had the following to say near the end of the session:
"We don’t want to put a number on it, we want to play up to our potential. Our goal is to become Big Ten champions and, when that happens, we’re going to enjoy the journey to accomplish that, but it’s one day at a time. At the end of the year I think we’re going to be satisfied with our run."
Our @LovieSmith conversation in moments. @SportsCenter. @IlliniFootball pic.twitter.com/siYTLuLTku
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) August 27, 2016