Football

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.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

April 26, 2025

What do you make of a guy who has numerous Big Ten and SEC offers plus Miami and Louisville from the ACC, yet isn't rated by any service as one of the top 20 prospects in the State of Illinois?  What do you make of a guy who plays with tremendous aggression, violent hands, and quickness on the offensive line, yet looks like an overgrown linebacker compared to his peers?  Well, you make him a defensive lineman.  That's what Tony Balanganayi is going to be at Illinois, and that is why you can look into his background and see that numerous great football programs want him despite his poor fit at the next level at his primary position.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Bryant represents the highest drafted Illini wide receiver in […]

Luke Altmyer didn’t suddenly become a better person for spurning the post-spring transfer portal in the same way he wouldn’t have become a worse person for making the opposite decision.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 25, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Luke Altmyer has the right to consider himself the same person this week as he was last week.

Altmyer, who turns 23 years old in October and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this past December, has the same value system this week that he had a months ago. And it’s a pretty safe bet he’ll be of the same moral character a few months from now too.

In the effort of full disclosure, I will admit to having a very high opinion of Altmyer. I voted for the Illini quarterback to win the 2024 version of the newly-formed Loren Tate Award given by our local group of beat reporters to “the Illinois football player who not only is most cooperative with local media but exhibits himself with professional integrity in all interactions”.

Illinois loses potential defensive line starter for the 2025 […]

Steve Sturm, IlliniGuys Football Analyst

April 21, 2025

The Illini should probably just move their offseason defensive backs camp to Florida at this point.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

April 20, 2025

Illinois finally closed the deal on a longstanding recruitment of Jacksonville (Florida) Raines linebacker Tony Williams on Monday.  Williams is the type of athletic linebacker that linebackers coach Archie McDaniel has made a priority, and in fact, McDaniel had made no secret of his desire to feelings about Williams throughout the recruiting process.  McDaniel had been pushing for a commitment for months but Williams held off until he could visit the campus last weekend. 

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

April 19, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Just like that, Victor Singleton, a 2026 four-star cornerback from Central Catholic (Toledo, Ohio), who had recently been on campus at the University of Illinois, has decommitted, according to On3Sports.

Illinois secures quality depth in the transfer portal with a Football Championship Subdivision product looking to compete with a Big Ten Conference program. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 19, 2025

Less than 12 hours after completing its spring football season, Illinois has once again gone to the Football Championship Subdivision level to add depth to its offensive line for the upcoming 2025 season. 

Ethan Moczulski, who holds the record for the longest converted field goal in Illini football history, has filed paperwork to enter the post-spring transfer portal. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 17, 2025

The player who holds the record for the longest field goal in University of Illinois football history has elected to do his kicking somewhere else for the remainder of his college eligibility. 

The 5-foot-9 Strain, a four-year player who redshirted in 2021, will have one season of eligibility remaining after missing the spring practice season following shoulder surgery.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 17, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Tyler Strain has elected to play his final season of eligibility somewhere other than Illinois.