CHAMPAIGN — Lovie Smith was surprised on Sunday when Hardy Nickerson told him that he was resigning as the team's defensive coordinator. Smith equated the resignation to injuries — you don't plan on them, but they can happen. But Smith has a plan in place after Nickerson resigned, citing personal reasons. Smith will call the defensive plays when Minnesota visits Illinois at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Smith and Nickerson have a deep coaching history together and have known each other since 1996. Nickerson had been the defensive coordinator after being hired in March 2016. “Our relationship is a lot more than just coaches working together on a daily basis,” Smith said on Monday. “We’ve been through an awful lot. It’s a personal relationship that you have. Whenever someone leaves the program, it’s tough. Hardy came in yesterday morning and of course resigned his position of defensive coordinator from our football team for personal reasons. “It’s a tough day — tough time for our program. We’re not satisfied with a lot of things that we’re doing football-wise right now. Defensively, we haven’t played good defense, but you kind of work through things. Medical issues come up. They can make you do some things that you ordinarily wouldn’t do." The Illinois defense is allowing an average of 510.4 yards, ranking 125th out of 129th in the Football Bowl Series. Illinois ranks 119th in rushing defense, allowing 222 yards per game, and ranks 124th in passing yards allowed with 288.4 yards. Illinois allowed 712 yards in Saturday’s 63-33 loss to Maryland. The Illini have allowed at least 400 total yards to their opponents in six of the eight games this season, and have allowed at least 500 yards four times. “I’ve been involved defensively, but I don’t call special teams plays, offensive plays or defensive plays, but I have been more involved, of course, defensively this year,” Smith said. “I’ve been involved every year defensively. I haven’t been in that role, but I feel comfortable being in that role.” Nickerson left his position as linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers to join Smith in Champaign in 2016. Smith and Nickerson worked together in Chicago in 2007, when Nickerson was linebackers coach and Smith was the head coach, and again from 2014-15 in Tampa Bay, where Smith was the head coach and Nickerson the linebackers coach. × Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} “When I was contacted about being offered this job back in 2016, I was excited for the opportunity to come in to coordinate and run Illinois’ defense,” Nickerson said in a news release. “I had every intention of helping put our defensive student-athletes in the best possible position to win, and, ultimately, to make the University of Illinois community and fans proud of our results. Due to health-related circumstances beyond my control I must step aside at this time. “I would like to thank Lovie Smith and Josh Whitman for giving me the opportunity to coach at the University of Illinois. I’d also like to thank my colleagues and staff, as well as the entire Illinois football program, for the privilege of working with them," Nickerson said. "Most importantly, I want to thank our student-athletes for all of their hard work and great effort. Working with you every day has been fun. I wish you all nothing but the best in all that you do going forward.” Smith called defensive plays last season for one game when Nickerson was away from the team after the death of his mother. Calling plays and completing his other duties as a head coach won't be an issue, Smith said. "During the course of the game, I know most head coaches like to think there are 30 million things that we’re doing, but we can make some calls when the defense is out there and pay attention to the rest of the game when that’s going on, also," Smith said. Nickerson was also the linebackers coach for the Illini, a role that defensive analyst Rob Wright will assume. Wright is in his third season at Illinois, and first as a defensive analyst. He was a graduate assistant for Illinois in 2016 and '17. Wright came to Champaign after spending five seasons at the University of Miami, first as a walk-on then as a student assistant before taking over in 2015 as a special teams quality control analyst. “Rob’s been around our program a long time,” Smith said. “Of course, Rob will help me with the linebackers. Rob knows everything that we’re supposed to do and is a bright guy. He’s been around football for a long period of time, also. Under the circumstances, we have a good backup plan with him being involved in it.” Illinois offensive coordinator Rod Smith only knew Nickerson for one season, but built a good relationship with him. “It’s difficult because, I haven’t known Hardy but just for a short time, but for me he’s a tremendous man, a man of character and a man of integrity,” Rod Smith said. “I hate it. It’s tough. It really is. One, you hope that Hardy is OK physically. I wish him nothing but the best. It’s a downer, but at the same time, just like anything, I told our team, ‘It’s time to galvanize, control what we can control and move forward.’” 13 Illini inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Contact Joey Wagner at (217) 421-6970. Follow him on Twitter: @mrwagner25 Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0<doc-sep>Smith said in a statement Monday: “Hardy informed me yesterday that he felt it was in the program’s best interest to leave our staff. I’ve known and coached with Hardy for many years, and know what an outstanding person he is. We are all disappointed in the performance of our defense this season, and we all bear responsibility for that. I wish Hardy nothing but the best as he moves forward with his career.”<doc-sep>CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 19: General view of an Illinois Fighting Illini helmet before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Memorial Stadium on October 19, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Wisconsin defeated Illinois 56-32. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) The Illinois football team is going through some changes as big news broke regarding their defense on Monday afternoon. Jeremy Werner of 247Sports first broke the news that Illinois defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson has resigned. This is a huge change for an Illini defense that was struggling immensely this season under Nickerson’s leadership. In the article written by Werner, he received a quote from Lovie Smith that read the following. “Hardy informed me yesterday that he felt it was in the program’s best interest to leave our staff,” Lovie Smith said in a statement. “I’ve known and coached with Hardy for many years, and know what an outstanding person he is. We are all disappointed in the performance of our defense this season, and we all bear responsibility for that. I wish Hardy nothing but the best as he moves forward with his career.” This is a move by Lovie Smith that makes complete sense. While I really respect Nickerson and his football acumen, I think it was time for a change. This Illini defense was really having a hard time stopping opposing offenses and a change needed to be made. After the blowout loss to Maryland by 30 points on Saturday, Illinois ranked near dead last in every statistical category. They average giving up 274.3 yards per game on the ground, which ranks No. 126 in the nation. Illinois isn’t much better in pass defense giving up 286.4 yards per game through the air, which ranks No. 120 in the nation. A change needed to be made regardless of who has signed up for the class of 2019 already. But, the question in some Illini fan’s minds is, are we going to lose anyone since there is a change on the defensive side of the ball? I hope the three defensive commitments we have right now all stick to their commitment despite Illinois losing their defensive coordinator. This might be a chance for Lovie to take over the defense and make this squad into something special. It will be interesting to see where the program goes from here.<doc-sep>
Illinois defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson has resigned, Illinois announced on Monday. In Year three under Lovie Smith and Hardy Nickerson, the Illinois defense is among the worst in the country in most statistical categories. The Illini have allowed 52.6 points per game during the last three weeks in blowout losses to Purdue, Wisconsin and Maryland. “Hardy informed me yesterday that he felt it was in the program’s best interest to leave our staff,” Lovie Smith said in a statement. “I’ve known and coached with Hardy for many years, and know what an outstanding person he is. We are all disappointed in the performance of our defense this season, and we all bear responsibility for that. I wish Hardy nothing but the best as he moves forward with his career.” Nickerson joined Illinois for Lovie Smith's first staff and has coached linebackers for the last three seasons. “When I was contacted about being offered this job back in 2016, I was excited for the opportunity to come in to coordinate and run Illinois’ defense,” Hardy Nickerson said. “I had every intention of helping put our defensive student-athletes in the best possible position to win, and, ultimately, to make the University of Illinois community and fans proud of our results. Due to health-related circumstances beyond my control I must step aside at this time. “I would like to thank Lovie Smith and Josh Whitman for giving me the opportunity to coach at the University of Illinois. I’d also like to thank my colleagues and staff, as well as the entire Illinois Football Program, for the privilege of working with them. Most importantly, I want to thank our student-athletes for all of their hard work and great effort. Working with you every day has been fun. I wish you all nothing but the best in all that you do going forward.” Nickerson is the second Illini defensive assistant to leave the team since August. Illinois cornerbacks coach Donnie Abraham resigned from the team two weeks before the season opener. Abraham and Nickerson both played for Smith in the NFL. Lovie Smith's son, Miles, has taken over as an assistant. Illinois hasn't announced who will fill in for Nickerson as defensive coordinator or as assistant coach, but Smith is expected to take over play-calling duties. Both of Smith's original coordinator hires have been fired. Smith fired offensive coordinator Garrick McGee after last season and replaced him with Rod Smith, who has helped the Illini offense improve. Asked after Saturday's game by Illini Inquirer if he would consider a similarly big change on defense, Smith said: “You’re talking about things I did in the offseason. This is where we are right now. We can play better defense than we played today. We can play better team ball than we did today, and that’s what we’re going to concentrate on.” Illini defensive statistics (among 129 FBS teams)