Sometimes players leave a lasting impression on coaches and is often the case, the same can be said about a coach’s influence on a player.

That sentiment rings true in the case of Lovie Smith, who was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Fighting Illini football team on Sunday by University of Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman. Smith compiled a 17-39 record in his five seasons as head coach at Illinois, including a paltry 10-33 mark in Big Ten games during that span.

Senior co-captains Jake Hansen and Doug Kramer weighed in on Whitman’s decision on Monday, and judging by the two players’ comments, there was a mutual respect that they had for Smith as a head coach.

Hansen, who has been a stalwart on the defensive side of the football, which is what Smith was known for and coached that unit since former defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson stepped away from the program for personal reasons two seasons ago.

Although Hansen respected who Smith was and what he did as a coach at Illinois, he says that Lovie wasn’t the main reason that he committed to Illinois.

“When I made my commitment to Illinois, I did it because of the school, not necessarily the coach,” Hansen said. “Yes, Lovie Smith was a name that resonated with football players all over, but college football is a business no matter what anybody says and thinks. It turns out that we just weren’t productive enough when he (Smith) was here and that wasn’t good enough.”

Hansen will weigh his options with his family before making a decision to either come back for his extra year of eligibility or move on to the next level, but regardless of the decision that he makes, he knows that Smith has prepared him well.

“He has coached in the NFL and really taught me a lot about what you need to do to play at that level, and in the end, I can’t say that I would want to trade the experience in to go someplace else,” Hansen said.

Kramer, who has been on the offensive line during Smith’s entire tenure, said that he and the other co-captains were able to address the rest of the team on Monday following the news. Kramer also confirmed that AD Whitman was in the room when the announcement was made as Lovie Smith addressed the team one final time as their coach.

“He gave me a chance when not many other coaches did, and I’m forever grateful for that, Kramer said. “Illinois was my dream school growing up and when it looked like that dream wouldn’t be realized, he came in and gave me the opportunity. He was a man that was levelheaded and I learned a lot from him because of that, but the situation is not ideal and we’ll miss him, but life goes on and we need to keep pushing forward.”

Offensive coordinator Rod Smith will coach the team on an interim basis in their final regular season game on Saturday at Penn State, and Kramer acknowledged that this situation is a strange one to be in.

“In my five years here, I thought I had seen everything,” Kramer said. “But this is a new situation for all of us having a different coach lead us in the last game, but we have to just take the situation for what it is worth and move ahead”

Added Hansen, “Coach (Rod) Smith kind of fired me up today when he met with us, and I’m ready to go out to Penn State and see what we can do.”

A trademark phrase that Lovie used to say frequently was “sometimes divorce is good”. Well, in this case, it may be good for the program in the long run, but the players have lasting impressions of the coach that led them into battle for the last few seasons.