What Do Illinois' Brad Underwood and the NFL's Mike Tomlin Have in Common?

Great coaching isn’t all forward-thinking and innovation. There’s nothing wrong with finding success in another venue, acknowledging it and applying it to your own blueprint. Recognizing the brilliance of other great minds and borrowing proven solutions isn’t anything to frown upon. Bedrock principles that work in one setting often translate to others.

Brad Underwood and Illinois living by Mike Tomlin's words

Whether or not he's thought deeply about it, Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood adheres to the philosophy, taking a page straight from the book of one of the NFL's most respected coaches in recent decades.

“It’s playing to a standard,” Underwood told the media on Thursday, referencing Illinois’ efforts on the glass. "It’s the Mike Tomlin quote: ‘The standard is the standard.’ It’s what we’re trying to do. And making guys do it and continuing to understand that, if you don’t do it, there’s consequences. Your rear end finds the bench."

In other words, regardless of circumstances, a program's standards must be met day in and day out. Clearly, the Steelers – who haven’t had a losing season since Tomlin took over in 2007 – live by that mantra. And it appears the Illini do now, as well.

Mind you, this comes on the heels of the Illini running away with a lopsided 61-19 rebounding advantage in a huge win over Jackson State. Despite that margin being in favor of the Illini, Underwood wasn’t satisfied – which is surely a key reason Illinois is one of the premier rebounding teams in the country on a year-to-year basis.

“And especially when we’ve got guys that are very, very capable of doing that," Underwood said. "It’s no coincidence that Jake Davis is in the starting lineup. He’s got the highest rate of going to the offensive glass of anybody on our team – and that’s through all the practices. And so we emphasize it. To me, it’s a foundational piece, and we’ve got to continue to do that."

Once again, despite what on paper appears to be an outstanding rebounding performance from freshman forward David Mirkovic (a game-high 14 boards), Underwood wasn't enthused by Mirkovic’s wire-to-wire efforts on the glass.

“I got very frustrated with Tomi. I got very frustrated with David," Underwood said. "In the second half, if David would have gone to the glass, he could have had 20 [rebounds]. And not just feeling complacent, because you have a few [rebounds]."

As for Tomislav Ivisic, Underwood was far from pleased. In Ivisic's defense, he is still building his conditioning back after having his tonsils removed and suffering an illness, but the 7-footer's four rebounds In 23 minutes still felt like light work to his head coach.

“We’ve got to have much more from Tomi on the glass than what he gave us," Underwood said. "He was a guy last year that was close consistently to a double-digit rebounding. And his effort the other night was not up to his standard or ours. So, yeah, come sit on the bench. We’ll find somebody.”