Illinois sells 2,000 season tickets after Lovie Smith hired as coach

Lovie Smith’s record as an NFL head coach may be something of a mixed bag, but Illinois fans are pumped up by the hire all the same.

According to the official website of Illini Football, the school’s ticket office sold 2,000 season tickets in the 48 hours following the announcement that Smith had been hired as the team’s head coach.

Such is the state of Loviemania in Champaign that fans who buy or renew their season tickets by March 11 will get a Lovie t-shirt.

The news came down on Saturday that Smith was the man at Illinois. It’s fair to say that, since then, the Illini football program has received more positive national press than they did during the entire 2015 season. Will Lovie bring success immediately – or ever? Who knows. He has, at least, brought credibility, money, and interest to a program that was in dire need of all three.

H/T Campus Rush