By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

May 1, 2025

Coach Bret Bielema had barely left the podium after telling the press that he was going to have to have some difficult talks with the players on his roster when the news broke that Illinois was adding SEMO offensive lineman Tyler McMillan from the transfer portal.  Though a few linemen had visited Illinois in recent weeks to give Illini fans a hint that the staff wanted an infusion of talent and experience for 2026, the addition of McMillan came out of nowhere for another reason: he was benched at FCS school Southeast Missouri State.  SEMO is from one of the weaker FCS conferences as well, so even a star from that league would be making an imposing jump in moving to the Big Ten.  However, Melvin Priestly also had a checkered career at low FCS school Grambling, yet he hit the ground running at Illinois after seizing the starting job right away.  And, like Priestly, Illinois has a personal connection to McMillan because defensive backs coach Corey Parker coached him at River Rouge (Michigan) High School before McMillan went to college so obviously Parker has convinced the staff that McMillan has what it takes to make that big jump.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

The first thing you'll notice from these highlights is that McMillan played left tackle at SEMO.  He also played left tackle in his first stop in college ball: Northwestern State. McMillan also looked pretty good in his brief time at SEMO, with a 67 overall PFF grade and an 85 PFF grade in pass blocking.  So, since JC Davis will have to move on to the NFL next year, McMillan is especially enticing as a possible future left tackle.  McMillan put together a pretty good highlight package to show to teams too:

I keep seeing projections that McMillan will play guard too, and if you look closely you'll see why.  He's not very long and he doesn't move and slide very well either.  On the other hand, he's very mature physically and he's dominating the FCS defenders he's facing in these clips.  However, if you're counting on McMillan to play LT in the Big Ten, I think it's going to be a Julian Pearl-type of experience: He'll be fine, but it will have to be shorter splits with a tight end frequently lined up on his side of the field.  He's successful, but he's doing it with quick short sets and positioning that show good coaching rather than athletic ability.  When pass rushers go wide on him, McMillan has a hard time getting outside to redirect.  McMillan's lack of length is also on display in those pass blocking clips as well because there really aren't clips of him holding a pass rusher at bay which is arms locked.  Part of that is that McMillan is able to physically dominate his opposition, but that won't be the case in the Big Ten.  I'd say McMillan is ahead of Priestly when he committed, but there is some work to do.

How does he fit in?

The departures of Magnus Moller and Zach Aamland this spring and the placement of Ayden Knapik at right tackle make this clear:  McMillan is coming in to be the back-up left tackle this year with an inside track on being the starting left tackle in 2026.  Illinois brought in three players who seem to be a good fit at left tackle in the Class of 2025 in McDonough, Hirdes and Frechette, but clearly those players won't be a factor in 2025 and it would require a special situation for them to be a factor in 2026 as well.  Keeping in mind that line coach Bart Miller will do his best to put his best five linemen on the field and then shoehorn them into different spots, this addition sure does seem to be all about finding a left tackle and perhaps adding some more mature depth at the guard positions for 2025.

IlliniGuys.com's Matt Stevens reports that the staff believes that Knapik needs a redshirt year, so that's a bit of a disappointment as well.  You'd like one of the recruited players to step forward, but that apparently isn't happening.  Simply put, the staff hasn't developed offensive linemen internally in the Bielema era, so this is another band aid sort of solution.  Josh Gesky was a holdover from the Lovie Smith era and Brandon Henderson looks pretty darn good to me.  I will repeat my excitement about the future of Brandon Hansen as well.  However, this move, along with visits from a few other portal linemen, tells me that the staff isn't satisfied with the high school recruits they've brought in on the line.  So, I'm not very excited about the reasons this happened.  I'm not very excited about aspects of McMillan's background because despite being a high school honor student he has been a little too nomadic for my tastes.  However, on the other hand, McMillan was plenty effective at the lower level and I see a guy who is ready to grapple with Big Ten defensive linemen, and that's not something to ignore.  So, call this a 4 on the 10-point excitement scale.  If the staff wanted a player like this and has the personal connection to vouch for him, this kid looks like he's valuable depth in the short term and a good way to get some experience on the line in 2026 when the Illini figure to be starting over on the line.

McMillan actually committed to Tulsa but then signed with Mississippi Valley State prior to playing at Northwestern State. So, Illinois will arguably be McMillan's 5th school in only four years.