The 2024 season starts today.
Monday marked the first of 25 practices during the Fighting Illini's fall training camp ahead of their season opener on Aug. 29 against Eastern Illinois at Memorial Stadium. Head coach Bret Bielema, offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr., and defensive coordinator Aaron Henry met with the media ahead of the team's first practice, which is set to take place on Monday night.
"It's time," Lunney said. "I'm excited for everybody involved: coaches, players, and fans. It's an exciting time of year for football, and our guys are in a good position. We're ready to go get some work done."
With Illinois ready to get back to work ahead of a historic 2024 season, here are a few takeaways from the first media availability of fall training camp.
Illinois will take full advantage of all practices, scrimmages given earlier season opener
The Illini begin their 2024 slate on a Thursday, two days earlier than a majority of other college football programs, though Bielema has no concerns about missing out on any time this fall. With every practice and scrimmage planned out leading up to the season opener, he feels good about the way things sit right now.
"Every team in college football has 25 practices to get ready for your first game. We have all 25 mapped out," Bielema said. "How we'll use those practices will depend on how well we escalate and how well we stay healthy."
The 8 p.m. kickoff on Aug. 29 will mark the third-earliest season opener in program history, though the only two earlier contests came under Bielema (Aug. 27, 2022, vs. Wyoming; Aug. 28, 2021, vs. Nebraska). The Illini are now accustomed to the earlier season openers, and they are eager to get back to business this fall.
Aiming to win their first game of the season for the fourth year in a row, the Orange and Blue are ready for the opportunities ahead in 2024.
"I'm excited for today, not only for the coaches but for the players; everybody from A to Z," Bielema said. "Football can be a little bit of a grind at this time of the year. You have to have guys who love it. They have to understand it. They have to appreciate it. As coaches, we have to speak it. They have to be able to understand it. I stress a lot, from January to where we are today, about communication. It's one thing to speak it; they have to be able to understand it, and then we have to be able to hear them as well."
New faces on defense bring depth, experience to Henry's unit in 2024
Now entering his second fall camp since taking over defensive coordinator duties, Henry has built a defensive unit that features a plethora of collegiate starting experience. That was intentional when the Illini went to work in the transfer portal, he says, as he brought in multiple top targets who will contribute immediately.
From the defensive line to the secondary, Henry and the Illini coaching staff have crafted a roster that has won dozens of college football games, at Illinois and other programs.
"I feel like we have a plethora of guys now who have seen a lot of football. There are so many different positions and guys on the back end who have had winning game reps under their belt," Henry said. "It's going to benefit us. I'm very intrigued to see how they handle going against our wide receivers because I think we have a really good wide receiver corps. I'm just really intrigued to see how they handle going against those guys."
Using fall camp as an opportunity for his guys to fight for playing time and demonstrate their understanding of the Illini's defensive scheme, Henry is ecstatic about the state of his roster heading into the season.
"We have a bunch of new faces. You want to see how guys run around and how guys handle the install. I think one of the most important things is just, especially the new guys, gelling with our guys who are already here. How do they handle how we practice and how we operate and do things?" Henry said. "You will get a feel – as the week progresses, at least until you put them in pads – for who runs well and who can cover well. You will get somewhat of an idea about that.
"As we progress, if we can show improvement from a coverage standpoint, getting properly aligned, communicating, and all those fundamental things, I think I'll be able to see progression in some of the new faces and the guys that have been here."
Lunney is ready to get back to work, not skip a beat on the first day of fall camp
Lunney heads into his third season as the program's offensive coordinator after making strides in each of his first two years at Illinois. With a mix of returning production and new faces, Lunney will continue to build on his success thus far in Champaign.
Returning his season-opening starting quarterback and three running backs who all contributed one season ago, Lunney added proven talent via the transfer portal at wide receiver and offensive line to bolster the group's depth in 2024.
"We've done some things in the offseason to help us enhance what we've been doing and how we've been doing it," Lunney said. "Day 1is about picking up where we left off and getting some of the new guys acclimated. My goal is to hit the ground running from where we left off in the spring."
Looking to develop the offense's consistency this fall, Lunney is confident in his unit with the team's first kickoff one month away.
"There's a belief system in this building because we have a lot of guys pulling the same rope," Lunney said. "Our biggest challenge is to be a consistent, dependable unit offensively. That doesn't mean you score a certain amount of points each week; it just means each week, you show up.
"It's been proven that what we do can work. If I call it the right way, we implement it the right way, and our guys play the right way, there are going to be positive results. That doesn't mean every play and every series. Part of that can be gleaned from last year's success down the stretch, and we have a bunch of older players who understand what that looks like."
Print Friendly Version
