The search for a new football coach officially came to an end Friday as former Toledo head coach Tim Beckman was announced as the new leader of Illinois football.

“I am very excited to introduce Tim Beckman as the new head footbal coach at the University of Illinois,” athletic director Mike Thomas said in a press release. “He brings an impressive resume to Illinois and is highly regarded within the entire coaching community. Coach Beckman sold me on his vision for Illinois football through the interview process.”

Beckman’s vision for the program was a popular topic at his introductory press conference Friday. He frequently talked about making Illinois “a family.”

“We talk about building a family, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do here at the University of Illinois,” Beckman said. “We’re going to have a close-knit, very accountable group of young men that are willing to set aside their own personal goals to achieve team goals. It’s very important that each one of these players understands that.”

Beckman’s contract, which is still being ironed out in detail, will pay the coach $9 million over five years, with a smaller salary in the first year and gradually escalating pay each season. Thomas also said there will be performance incentives tied to Big Ten championships and other successes.

While Beckman wasn’t quite the big name that many fans expected or hoped for, Thomas said he was most concerned with finding the right fit for Illinois.

“Certainly it was my goal to hire who I thought was the best coach possible and I do believe we found that person in Tim Beckman,” Thomas said.

One of the first situations Beckman will address is that of his assistants. He said his plan is to meet with the current Illinois coaches in the next few days, but that he would like to bring as many of his assistants from Toledo as possible. And while neither Beckman nor any of his possible assistants will coach in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, he is looking to get as many people out recruiting in the next week as possible. This week is the last chance before a “dead period” that will shut down contact between coaches and possible recruits.

Beckman has been known as a successful recruiter, bringing in the top recruiting class in the Mid-American Conference in each of the last two seasons. He said his top priority will be keeping the best Illinois players here in the state.

“We’re gonna take Champaign, we’re gonna take a four-hour radius, and that is gonna be our primary area to recruit,” Beckman said. “Where ever that four-hour radius goes, and I’m sure it will stretch a little bit here and there, that’s exactly what we did at the University of Toledo where I came from. … That’s our primary area.”

Beckman held a 21-16 record in three seasons as head coach at Toledo, taking over a team that had gone just 3-9 before his arrival. Before assuming that position, he had served as cornerbacks coach at Ohio State from 2005-06 and defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2007-08.

Hiring football coaches from MAC schools is nothing new for Thomas, who had success at Cincinatti hiring both Brian Kelly and Butch Jones. Kelly led the Bearcats to back-to-back BCS bowls in 2008-09 and was a three-time winner of Big East Coach of the Year honors. Jones, now in his second season at Cincinatti, led the Bearcats to a share of the Big East conference title this season.