Illini Excited For Unleashing of Healthy Daniel Brown at Rush Linebacker

Since arriving as the top-ranked junior college pass rusher in the 2024 recruiting class, Illinois OLB Daniel Brown has seen injuries delay what coaches have hoped is an instant impact.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Even two years later, Bret Bielema still tells the story of during an October bye week in the 2023 season, the Illinois head coach visited multiple junior colleges in the Iowa and Kansas area during a five-day period where nearly all of those program’s head coaches had the same question . . .

 

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