Illinois hires Lovie Smith as coach

— -- Lovie Smith is returning to the state of Illinois, joining the Fighting Illini as their new coach.

Illinois announced that it has given Smith a six-year, $21 million deal to run its football program. It will be Smith's first head-coaching job at the college level. He will be paid $2 million a year in each of his first two seasons.

"[Athletic director] Josh [Whitman] approached me about this possibility, and I immediately seized on the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the young men who are part of the program today and in the future," Smith said in a statement. "I take this responsibility very seriously and can't wait to get a staff in place to start our move to make Illinois a contender for Big Ten titles."

The school will introduce Smith in a news conference at 3 p.m. ET.

Smith will be Illinois' first black head football coach. The university has sometimes been criticized by state lawmakers and others for never hiring a black coach to run its football or men's basketball programs.

Whitman preceded the hiring announcement by tweeting a pair of photos of him and Smith.

"Naming Lovie Smith as the Illinois head football coach is the first step in taking this program to a place of national prominence," Whitman said in a statement.

Smith had been the coach of the  Chicago Bears (2004-12) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-15). The Buccaneers fired Smith in January after posting an 8-24 record in two seasons. The defensive-minded Smith took the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006, Chicago's first appearance since 1985. Smith still ranks third on the Bears' wins list behind George Halas and Mike Ditka.

The 57-year-old Smith last coached in college as a defensive assistant with Ohio State in 1995. He has also worked with Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona State, Wisconsin and Tulsa.

Smith is the fifth active FBS coach with previous experience as an NFL coach, joining Nick Saban ( Alabama), Jim Mora ( UCLA), Jim Harbaugh ( Michigan) and Mike Riley ( Nebraska).

On Saturday, Illinois fired coach Bill Cubit on Whitman's first day as athletic director. After coaching the team to a 5-7 record as an interim coach last season, Cubit had been signed to a two-year contract Nov. 29.

Whitman made the move to dismiss Cubit, saying immediate stability was needed for program that has not had a winning season since 2011.

"The timing for this move was extremely tight, and we needed to move quickly," Whitman said in the statement. "A coach of Lovie's caliber would not have been available to us if we had waited until after the 2016 season."

It is not clear how the firing of Cubit or the hiring of Smith will affect the recruiting class Cubit assembled this year. The Illini return key pieces: starting quarterback Wes Lunt, a group of receivers that could among the best in the Big Ten and what could also be a deep group of running backs. But Illinois will be thin at a number of positions on defense.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.