What Lovie Smith said during Illinois’ 2019 NSD press conference

The 2019 National Signing Day is coming to a close, but the Big Ten has made some splashes.

The Fighting Illini rank 14th in the conference when it comes to the Class of 2019 rankings according to 247Sports. Illinois has 13 total commits, which is the fewest in the conference.

Despite that, Lovie Smith talked about a number of players and recruiting in general on Wednesday during his press conference and sounded quite optimistic.

#illini Lovie: "Trinity has been good to us."

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Tarique Barnes runs a 10.8 100-meter dash. Helps add athleticism against spread offenses.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Richie Petitbon is an outstanding player. Grew up with Reggie Corbin. He'll be an offensive guard for us.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Luke Ford was a 5-star athlete that we recruited really hard. Adding him to this class also is big. Excellent size, catches the ball, tough guy.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Verdis Brown, Milo Eifler should be counted among newcomers. Add those guys to the guys we signed and we feel really good about where we are.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis are big for us. Made a big effort to hit Texas harder, including Houston. Atlanta and Tampa will be bigger areas in future.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie on why Miles was best for the job: I'm the obvious reference. I know him better than anyone. I know what I'm looking for. We can meet and talk football forever.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: It's a small class, but if you look individually, you see that we have an excellent group of players coming in.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Speed improves a lot in this class. Kyron Cumby said he's going to go to the Olympics. Marquez Beason said he wants to run a 10.3. Tarique Barnes is faster than most RBs.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: If I'm a LB, I'd want to go to the University of Illinois. Not just because of the history but we know a little something about LB play. Right, Miles?

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: We have a spring game. We didn't the last few years due to low numbers. The only reason we wouldn't be able to do it is if we have injuries.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019

#illini Lovie: Milo Eifler is a 4-star, heavily recruited player. He's athletic but we got to see him in practice every day. Great skill set.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 6, 2019