Football

As new long-term contracts for the football and men’s basketball head coaches were approved today, Illinois athletics director has completed his gamble on betting the coaches he trusts the most.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Mike Cagley/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In some way, shape or form, every athletics director at a power conference program is a gambler.

Like it or not, a big part of Josh Whitman’s job description is consistently making decisions with multi-million dollars of consequences for the current and future revenue of his department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When he commits that kind of guaranteed money to a head coach, it’s part of what he calls “the formula of success”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The idea of ‘speed dating’ has been used by several power conference coaching staffs to describe the current process of transfer portal recruiting and the term might not be more applicable than to Donovan Turner’s verbal pledge.

Turner, a 6-foot-1 and 192-pound defensive back, gave his verbal pledge to commit to Illinois on Wednesday evening after crossing the country with his high school and early college football journey. Turner was most recently a 2024 first-team selection in the Southern California Football Association National Division All-Central League while playing at the junior college level at Long Beach (Calif.) City College. Turner had 30 total tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions in nine games last season after transferring back near his hometown after playing the 2022 and 2023 seasons at the University of Massachusetts.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There's an old saying: "Strike while the iron is hot." The Illinois football program, in just four years under head coach Bret Bielema, has rapidly transformed into a contender.

With several quality wins on the field, success in recruiting high school players, and savvy use of the transfer portal, Illinois is making its mark. It’s no surprise that one of the state’s top prospect in the Class of 2026, wide receiver Nasir Rankin, committed to the Illini today.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The state of Illinois continues to be a fertile recruiting ground for Bret Bielema and the Fighting Illini.

King Liggins, a three-star defensive lineman from Brother Rice High School in Chicago, announced his commitment to Illinois, becoming the fifth in-state recruit to pledge to the Illini in the 2026 class.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 20, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – One of the top football recruits in the state of Illinois from the class of 2026 is set to make his college decision known on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Nasir Rankin, a four-star wide receiver from Morgan Park High School, will choose between North Carolina, USC, Illinois, Nebraska, and Duke - schools he listed on his social media accounts.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Last Tuesday, Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman announced a major contract extension for current head football coach Bret Bielema.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

May 14, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The recruiting front had been relatively quiet for Illinois athletics in recent days, until early this morning. Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema, fresh off his new contract extension, gave Illini fans something to smile about with his trademark social media tease: “Just feels like a good day for some good news for the #famILly.”

That good news came in the form of a commitment from Parker Crim, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound edge rusher from Lima, Ohio.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 14, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois has made a new contractual commitment to Bret Bielema for at least the next six years and what could be the next decade.

University officials announced the new signed deal with its fifth-year head coach on Tuesday afternoon that would keep Bielema in charge of the Illini football operation through at least the 2030 season. This six-year contract would be the third brand new agreement that University of Illinois officials have signed with Bielema since he agreed to become the Illini new head coach in Dec. 2020.

Bielema’s new contract will need to be voted on for approval by the Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meeting on May 22 in Urbana.

Less than four years ago, Art Sitkowski came off the bench to help Illinois win in Bret Bielema’s Illini debut. In the spring season of 2025, that ‘be ready’ mentality is still being preached.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 10, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The motivational tale of being one snap away from action is a story Art Sitkowski has lived and isn’t conjecture when he passes it down to the quarterbacks on the Illinois roster.

The House vs. NCAA settlement ruling by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has forced the Illini head coach to maintain three different roster plans heading into preseason camp in a few months.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 5, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is no longer fully committed to an outline plan of a 105-player roster when preseason camp opens in August.

The recent directive handed down by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in the House vs. NCAA settlement talks has forced Bielema and to have a primary plan but also backup plans for his roster size for the upcoming 2025 season.

The federal judge told the lawyers for the NCAA and its member schools last month that she would not approve the multibillion-dollar antitrust settlement that is expected to reshape the economics of college sports unless the language of the proposed policy for limiting roster sizes was change.

Illinois veteran defensive back Tyler Strain will be returning to the 2025 roster after investigating transfer options.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

May 2, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Tyler Strain will not be playing his final year of eligibility elsewhere.

Within the back-and-forth movement of the Illinois roster in this post-spring transfer portal window, the veteran defensive back has elected to return to Bret Bielema’s Illini roster for the 2025 season after initially entering the transfer portal to gauge interest in his services outside of Champaign-Urbana.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 2, 2025

Not that the Illinois recruiting budget is suffering with a surge of fan support, not to mention the influx of CFP money, but hat's off to Bret Bielema for saving recruiting money by adding yet another brother of an Illinois player under Bielema (that makes 7!).  Nathan Knapik, who played only 23 snaps for Idaho in his redshirt freshman campaign last year, is joining his brother Ayden in transferring to the Illini from Idaho.  Ayden was an all-conference player in his last year at Idaho, but Nathan is largely an unknown so when Coach Bielema offered him a spot it was largely... based on Ayden.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst May 1, […]

Pat Bryant’s “traits” all led to the former Illini wide receiver being the perfect player to grab in the third round of the 2025 National Football League draft this weekend.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 29, 2025

Several reasons can be cited for how Pat Bryant became the perfect candidate to be drafted earlier than most, if not all, draft analysts had the former Illinois wide receiver hearing his name called in the draft this past weekend.

Pretty much all of those reasons center around the idea that the two highest ranking football people inside the Denver Broncos facility (general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton) are in philosophically in sync on an old-school gut check way of scouting and evaluating prospects.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

April 28, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois football continues working the transfer portal to fill needs, and on Sunday the Illini landed a commitment from Northern Iowa transfer Carter Hewitt to beef up their defensive line play.