Are you ready for some football? (2024)

The Illinois football team gathered Sunday for the start of fall training camp. Monday marks the first day of practice, and beat writer Scott Richey has a roster breakdown, position by position, to catch you up on Bret Bielema’s latest squad:

Quarterback

Luke Altmyer is back for year two as QB1 for the Illini with a sense of comfort in coordinator Barry Lunney Jr.’s offense after making nine starts in 2023. Comfort that should help Altmyer avoid the interception trouble he had early last fall and build off his 1,883-yard, 13-touchdown season. Illinois needs Altmyer — the only quarterback on the roster to have appeared in a college football game — to stay healthy or at least get in some blowouts so backup Donovan Leary can get some experience.

Running back

No one was safe from injury last fall in Illinois’ running backs room, with none of the four of the primary options playing more than nine games. Leading rusher Reggie Love III left for Purdue, leaving Kaden Feagin (438 yards, two touchdowns) as the top returner. But the 6-foot-3, 250-pound sophom*ore will split carries with at least Josh McCray and Aidan Laughery in what Bret Bielema’s basically called a timeshare. Jordan Anderson (once he’s healthy) and true freshman Ca’Lil Valentine might also figure into the rotation.

Wide receiver

The task of replacing a 1,000-yard receiver (Isaiah Williams) and an NFL draft pick (Casey Washington) will fall to Pat Bryant, star transfer Zakhari Franklin and a slew of young wide receivers. Landing Franklin, who has 3,386 receiving yards and 38 touchdowns in his career, was a borderline necessity to inject experience into the Illini’s receiver options. Some combination of Malik Elzy, Hank Beatty, Ashton Hollins, Kenari Wilcher and Mario Sanders II will have to step into a more prominent role.

Tight end

Illinois was sort of planning on still having Tip Reiman at tight end this season. Then the former walk-on essentially maxed out the physical testing at the NFL draft combine and wound up a third-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals. So the Illini hit the portal to fill out its tight end room, adding FCS All-American Cole Rusk (Murray State) and Division II transfer Carson Goda (Saint Anselm) as pass-catching options. They join Tanner Arkin, who came on strong at the end of last season, and 6-7, 260-pound Henry Boyer.

Offensive line

Bolstering the offensive line was at the top of the Bret Bielema’s offseason wish list. Partly to fill in the gaps after losing Isaiah Adams and Julian Pearl. Partly to keep building depth. Transfers J.C. Davis (New Mexico) and Melvin Priestly (Grambling State) project as Illinois’ starting tackles. The interior of the line could be the same with Josh Gesky, Josh Kreutz and Zy Crisler, but Michigan State transfer Kevin Wigenton II might challenge for a spot at guard. Depth comes in the form of Brandon Henderson, Hunter Whitenack and a healthy Dezmond Schuster.

Defensive line

With Johnny Newton, Keith Randolph Jr. and Denzel Daxon all in NFL training camps, the Illini are basically starting from scratch with their defensive line. TeRah Edwards did rotate with Daxon at nose tackle last fall, but the rest of Illinois’ in-house defensive line options are mostly untested. That’s why Bret Bielema hit the portal to land transfers Dennis Briggs Jr. (Florida State), Gentle Hunt (Florida A&M) and Enyce Sledge (Auburn). All three should factor into the rotation.

Outside linebackers

There isn’t much question about the top of the depth chart at outside linebacker with Seth Coleman, Gabe Jacas and Alec Bryant all back for another season after getting the bulk of the snaps in 2023. The rest of Illinois’ depth at the position has taken on a different look after Calvin Smith (Purdue) and Jared Badie (San Diego State) opted to transfer and Mason Muragin tore his ACL this summer. The Illini found a speed rusher in JUCO transfer Daniel Brown and might have landed another under-the-radar, yet ready to play, freshman in Joe Barna.

Linebackers

Tarique Barnes was the last man standing at linebacker from the Lovie Smith era and helped bring along Dylan Rosiek, Kenenna Odeluga and James Kreutz last fall. Now those three are the top options in the middle of the Illinois defense. Rosiek earned All-Big Ten honorable-mention recognition in 2023 as Barnes’ regular running mate and could be a leader of the Illini defense. Odeluga flashed as a pass rusher in a bigger role last fall as a sophom*ore, and Kreutz doubled as a human missile on occasions. Unseating any of the three from the top of the depth chart will be difficult.

Defensive backs

The differences between a 2022 secondary full of eventual NFL defensive backs and a 2023 group rather short on experience were stark. The result was a rather significant step back defensively from one of the nation’s best to a bottom-four unit in the Big Ten. Xavier Scott, Miles Scott and Tyler Strain return as starters, but Illinois’ secondary will get a significant boost from transfers Terrance Brooks (Texas) and Torrie Cox Jr. (Ohio), who have 39 combined starts in their careers. The return of a healthy Matthew Bailey is just as impactful.

Special teams

David Olano told Bret Bielema a redshirt wasn’t necessary last season. The Naperville native took over kickoff duties in the fourth game of the season and is in line for full kicking duties this fall with Caleb Griffin running out of eligibility. But Illinois did bring in Texas A&M transfer Ethan Moczulski to provide some competition. Punting duties should again fall to 31-year-old Australian Hugh Robertson, who has started the last 25 games and was an All-Big Ten honorable-mention selection in 2023. Redshirt freshman Declan Duley, though, could push him for that role.

Coaching staff

Bret Bielema flipped nearly half of his coaching staff this offseason, with attrition coming both in firing linebackers coach Andy Buh and defensive backs coach Antonio Fenelus and with wide receivers coach George McDonald (Mississippi) and outside linebackers Charlie Bullen (New York Giants) pursuing other opportunities. That leaves defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, offensive line coach Bart Miller and defensive line coach Terrance Jamison as the only assistants remaining from Bielema’s first staff in Champaign. New in 2024 are linebackers coach Archie McDaniel, wide receivers coach Justin Stepp and outside linebackers coach Clint Sintim. And Corey Parker was the second defensive backs coach hired after David Gibbs resigned in April for medical reasons. Offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. is back for a third season after the Illini finished third in the Big Ten in total offense a year ago.