Illinois football is expected to welcome almost 20 players to the program on Wednesday, the first day of the three-day early signing period. 

The early signing period, which has been in place since 2018, looks a bit different this year. 

First, the early signing period was moved up two weeks in an effort to allow coaches to focus solely on the transfer portal in December. The transfer portal opens on Monday, Dec. 9, and closes on Dec. 28. Though Illinois coach Bret Bielema has criticized the fact that head coaches — who are limited from recruiting on the road during the spring — can no longer visit prospects in their homes before they sign with their programs, which he says is one of the best ways to truly get to know recruits and their families.

Also, prospects no longer will sign national letters of intent — which have existed for 60 years — but now will sign financial aid agreements with universities. However, signing the new piece of paper will have the same binding qualities to a university and likely will include contract details once revenue sharing begins next academic year. The financial aid agreement will also bind transfers to universities, prohibiting other schools from contacting and “flipping” transfers after they sign.

This is a busy month for college coaches in building their 2025 rosters, and it starts on Wednesday for the Illini.

How the Illini class stacks up

With 19 commitments, Illinois currently has the No. 46-ranked recruiting class nationally and No. 15 class in the Big Ten, ahead of Northwestern, Michigan State and Purdue. The Illini have an average star ranking of 86.90, which ranks 14th in the Big Ten, ahead of Indiana (86.76), Michigan State (86.66), Minnesota (86.39) and Northwestern (85.73).

The Illini have two Composite four-star prospects — WR Brayden Trimble and LB Grant Beerman — which ranks tied for 13th in the Big Ten.

All four of Bielema’s recruiting classes at Illinois have ranked among the top-51 in the Composite team rankings and this class is currently tied for his second highest-ranked class (2023 was 38th and 2022 was 46th). During the previous 10 years before Bielema’s arrival, Illinois had just three classes rank in the top-51.

In-state focus

When Illinois hired Bielema four years ago, one of the first things he did was make in-state recruiting a priority. He reached out to almost every in-state high school coach to try to build bridges that needed repairs after Lovie Smith neglected some of the in-state prospects for talent out of Florida and Texas. 

Illinois is struggling to land the top-tier in-state prospects from inside its borders as Iowa, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington all stole away top-10 Illinois prospects. But the Illini certainly are landing more and more of the no-doubt Power Four prospects in the state — and those wins stand out in the Illini’s Class of 2025.

Three-star prospect Carson Boyd plays in St. Louis but is from across the border in O’Fallon (Ill.) The dynamic dual-threat is the best quarterback Class of 2025 prospect who lives in the Land of Lincoln. Mount Zion wide receiver Brayden Trimble is the No. 12 in-state prospect who has similarities to current Illini star Zakhari Franklin, and he continues the Illini’s strong recruiting in its central Illinois backyard. The Illini kept No. 14 in-state prospect and Homewood-Flossmooor defensive lineman Cameron Brooks at home despite overtures from Michigan at the end. 

Also, Tinley Park Andrew OL Michael McDonough (No. 24 in-state), hard-hitting Blue Island Eisenhower DB Andre Lovett (No. 21 in-state) and Arlington Heights Hersey TE Logan Farrell (No. 26 in-state) also were good Power Four gets for the Illini in-state. Maroa-Forsyth TE Grant Smith (No. 37 in state prospect) also rose in the rankings after a strong fall.

Brotherly love

Another interesting note about this class is Bielema likes to recruit brothers. Three of the Illini’s commitments in the Class of 2025 are brothers of recent Illini stars. 

Three-star Florida ATH Jershaun Newton — who will begin his college career at quarterback but has the potential to play running back or linebacker too — is the younger brother of Illini defensive line great Jer’Zhan Newton

Three-star Florida DB Xanai Scott is the younger brother of Illini star DB Xavier Scott, who has one more season of eligibility remaining. Three-star Florida DB Tywan Cox is the younger brother of current Illini starting cornerback Torrie Cox Jr.

With the addition of these three brothers, Bielema will have had six sets of brothers play for him at Illinois, joining Chase and Sydney Brown, Jake and Lane Hansen, and Josh and James Kreutz.