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Mar. 11—Spring practices start Wednesday for the resurgent Illinois football program, with the unofficial kickoff event for Bret Bielema his first ‘Monday Night SportsTalk’ appearance at the Esquire in downtown Champaign.
Beat writer Scott Richey spotlights what the fifth-year Illini coach had to say in front of a packed house:
Quick look this week
Illinois won’t get in too much work this week with practices Wednesday and Friday before the team, coaches included, leave for spring break. The players will go home or maybe someplace warm. Bielema has his first Disney cruise planned with his wife, Jen, and daughters, Briella and Brexli, after getting a quick look at his team on the field following seven weeks of winter conditioning with four weeks of practice after spring break.
“We had several guys that ran some very impressive numbers (Monday), but nothing more impressive than what you’ll see on Wednesday with them throwing and catching it,” Bielema said. “It’s only about an hour-and-a-half and it’s only in ‘spiders’ and helmets, which is 1-inch shoulder pads. We don’t really get to play American football yet, but Wednesday and Friday, we’ll get a good dose of that.”
Retaining the roster
Illinois has a 111-man roster heading into spring practices, with 108 of those players recruited by Bielema.
The three that committed to former coach Lovie Smith, but have only played for Bielema, are Dylan Rosiek, Josh Kreutz and Tyler Strain. It’s a group that also includes 18 of 22 starters returning from last year’s 10-3 Citrus Bowl winning team. Player retention was a clear point of emphasis for the Illini staff this offseason.
“We brought in 10-12 of our top-tier players and expressed to them our desire to retain them,” Bielema said. “Guys that had eligibility we knew were going to get approached by other schools around the country….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/catching-coach-esquire-144800862.html
Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Publish date : 2025-03-11 14:48:00
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