The Good and the Bad: Illinois’ 2024 Offseason

Only days left until the 2024 college football season, a new era in which we have shrunk from the Power 5 to the Power 4 at the expense of the Pac-12. The Big Ten has absorbed USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, making it the sport’s largest conference with 18 teams. There are no longer any divisions, so the top two teams by conference record always play in the Big Ten Championship.

Illinois is one of the teams affected by the new wave in college football. They play Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Iowa annually and now only have protected games against Purdue and Northwestern, so the schedule looks very different than in years past.

The team also looks very different: 90% of the players from the great 2022 squad are now gone, most have gone to the NFL or graduated, and some have transferred. The roster turnover continued in the offseason.

Let’s take a look at how HC Bret Bielema navigated this crucial offseason.

The good

Zakhari Franklin

Franklin has been a huge asset to OC Barry Lunney Jr. and the team in recruiting transfers. He is currently the nation’s leader in receiving yards. In four years at UTSA, including two under Lunney, he had 262 receptions, 3,348 yards and 37 TDs. Last year at Ole Miss, he was injured and played little.

Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images

Now he’s the Illini’s best receiver, with a group that looks pretty strong with him, Pat Bryant, Malik Elzy, Kenari Wilcher and fellow transfer Mario Sanders. Luke Altmyer has no shortage of weapons on the outside.

Terrance Brooks

Illinois lost a couple of defensive backs to the transfer portal (more on that later), but was able to get great replacements. Brooks was the prize of the offseason on the defensive side. He’s entering his junior season, has already made 19 starts at Texas and had 3 interceptions and 6 pass deflections for an elite team in 2023.

He’s instantly Illinois’ top CB and their highest-rated player in EA CFB 25. He was a 4-star transfer recruit according to 247 and a 4-star recruit straight out of high school. They also grabbed Ohio State’s Torrie Cox Jr., who was a 2022 All-American third teamer as a freshman.

JC Davis

Davis is another big transfer acquisition and appears to be Illinois’ top draft prospect in 2025. He has been a top-notch left tackle for New Mexico the past two seasons. He is PFF’s highest-rated offensive lineman returning this season and was named to the All-Big Ten teams multiple times in the preseason.

Given Bret Bielema’s history on the offensive line, Davis is expected to be another early draft pick for the Illini after another stellar season.

DL reinforcements

Illinois’ defensive line lost a lot of talent this offseason with Jer’Zhan Newton, Keith Randolph and Denzel Daxon. While starter TeRah Edwards returns, the other players haven’t had much playing time, so Bielema and DC Aaron Henry have hit hard at the position.

They got Dennis Briggs Jr. from Florida State, a mammoth at 6’5″, 280 pounds. They got Gentle Hunt, who was on the All-Second Team in the SWAC. And they got Enyce Sledge, a former elite DL recruit from Auburn. It won’t be as good as the Law Firm, but it should be good enough.

Seth Coleman’s return

Most of Illinois’ prospects declared for the draft last season, but Seth Coleman has decided to return for another season and stay in the orange and blue. With 95 tackles, 14 TFL and 11 sacks over the last two seasons, Coleman was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and remains one of the best pass rushers in the Big Ten.

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He and Gabe Jacas return and form a great pass-rushing duo.

Three Day 2 picks in the NFL Draft

It wasn’t as successful as the 2022 NFL Draft, but Illinois got some picks on day two. The Arizona Cardinals drafted two Illini, selecting OL Isaiah Adams 71st in round three and TE Tip Reiman 82nd.

The Washington Commanders drafted DT Jer’Zhan Newton in the second round with the 36th overall pick, although he likely would have been selected in the first round had he not undergone foot surgery.

New hires

Although Illinois lost a great coach in George McDonald, the WR coach who moved to Ole Miss, he was replaced by Justin Stepp, the WR coach from South Carolina who has drafted quite a few receivers in recent seasons.

Bielema has also brought in two former head coaches as analysts: Dana Dimel (UTEP) and Myers Hendrickson (Western Michigan), who could help Bielema with his game management deficiencies.

The bad

The loss of Andrew Dennis

Dennis was a huge recruiting hit for Illinois, coming out of Michigan State and being an elite 4-star recruit, the top in the Illini’s class of 2024. However, after just one semester (early enrollment), he transferred and returned to Michigan State.

The reason for this is unclear, but it is a huge loss for a program that had started to nab those better recruits and not just the typical 3-star guys.

The loss of Zachary Tobe

Illinois’ secondary wasn’t great last season (which is why a guy like Taz Nicholson isn’t listed as a big loss in 2022 despite his good season), but Tobe was a bright spot. As a true freshman, Tobe had some great performances that PFF graded him very highly for.

He’s also very tall at 6’2″ and 200 pounds. For some reason, he transferred to Georgia Tech, even though most expected him to be a starting center.

Reggie Love loses

Most expected Josh McCray to be the RB to transfer, as he struggled in Lunney’s offense and battled injuries, but Love ended up going to Purdue. He’s not a starter here or there, so it was surprising to see him leave and transfer to Purdue, where Devin Mockobee will likely get more playing time than Kaden Feagin.

Some players are surprisingly not drafted

It’s always better when more people are drafted for a program. But other than the three previously mentioned, only Casey Washington was drafted (sixth round by the Atlanta Falcons). Isaiah Williams, Julian Pearl and Keith Randolph were all considered possible draftees but were not drafted.

Overall, Illinois had a good offseason. It’s almost impossible to get everything right and have everyone stay in this new landscape of college football, but for those who left, Bret Bielema and Co. did an adequate job of replacing them. Now let’s hope it’s enough to qualify for bowl eligibility in a tougher Big Ten.