The quarterback situation for the Illinois football program is pretty set for the 2025 season.

Within the past week, the Illini received word that starting quarterback Luke Altmyer was returning to the program. This is a big announcement considering Altmyer has been the Illinois quarterback the past two seasons and helped us to a nine-win campaign in 2024.

Illinois doesn’t have experience backing up Altmyer, though. Since the season ended, we have gone through some changes in the quarterback room.

Both Cal Swanson and Donovan Leary have departed the program to find greener pastures. That leaves freshman Trey Petty, freshman Carson Boyd, Jacob Huber, and Kirkland Michaux as potential backups. There is exactly one snap at the FBS level between those four backup quarterbacks.

Bret Bielema knows he needs a backup quarterback for 2025. Illinois could use someone who has experience while the young guys like Petty and Boyd develop. That option could be Ethan Hampton.

Coming out of Aurora Christian Schools in Illinois, Hampton was a three-star recruit who was the No. 1704 player in the class of 2021. Out of high school, he ended up picking Northern Illinois as his landing spot.

After four seasons with the Huskies, Hampton entered the transfer portal in early December. He took a visit to Wake Forest, and on December 14, Hampton committed to the Demon Deacons.

Well, on Monday, Wake Forest’s head coach Dave Clawson stepped down. This changed everything for Hampton, as he decided to back away from his commitment to Wake Forest after the news broke.

Shortly after Hampton reopened his recruitment, Sam Gillenwater of On3.com reported that Hampton has two official visits lined up. Hampton will be visiting Illinois on Tuesday and then will take a trip to Tulane on Friday.

Bret Bielema is trying to replicate a successful Illinois football formula from a couple of years ago

Hampton’s goal is unknown at this point. Does he want to be a starting quarterback or does he want to be a key piece on a good team that can potentially make the College Football Playoff?

Illinois can provide the latter. We have a team that was close to the CFP this season, and with Altmyer returning, who knows the heights we can reach?

Hampton’s numbers won’t blow you away. In four seasons with the Huskies, he amassed 2,568 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He completed just 58.0% of his passes as well. But this chase isn’t completely about his numbers. It is about quarterback room stability.

It does seem that Bielema is trying to replicate a formula Illinois fans experienced just a couple of years ago. Just two seasons ago, Altmyer was in his first year, and Illinois decided to bring in an experienced backup quarterback.

This was a great decision by Bielema. Illinois added John Paddock to the depth chart. Much like Hampton, Paddock was a fifth-year player from a MAC program. Paddock came from Ball State.

When Altmyer went down with an injury, Paddock came in and had some magic. He almost led us to a bowl game that season. I think adding a player like Hampton would give Illinois a very similar setup as we had just two seasons ago.