Aug. 22—CHAMPAIGN — Matthew Bailey put becoming an Illinois captain this fall on his goal board at the beginning of the year.
The transition from a personnel standpoint — the sheer volume of newcomers on the 2026 roster — made it clear to Bailey that he needed to step up as a leader. His selection this week by his teammates as one of six team captains, however, didn't change much about how the veteran safety wanted to approach his fifth and final season with the Illini.
"I think that's the expectation as an older guy on this team," Bailey said about assuming that leadership position. "You're expected to uphold that standard and teach what you have seen and teach what you've learned however many years you've been here and the experiences that you've been through.
"It only emphasizes it more because now you're put on a brighter stage. People are looking at you having that 'C' on your chest to be the answer for whatever this team needs as we go into the season."
Bailey was one of three fifth-year players selected as captain along with fellow defensive back Xavier Scott and running back Aidan Laughery. They've all spent their entire careers at Illinois. That's the same for senior wide receiver Collin Dixon.
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Katin Houser and Jake Renfro's time in Champaign is counted in months, not years. The Illinois quarterback and center, respectively, haven't been around long, but made an impression on their new teammates to wind up in the two other captain spots.
"I think they were just intentional about building relationships and building camaraderie on the offensive side of the ball and continuing that from the winter through the summer and into fall," Bailey said.
Bailey was especially impressed with Renfro given the Wisconsin transfer spent the entire spring on the sideline coming back from an injury that cost him most of the 2025 season with the Badgers. It wasn't new territory for Renfro, who's dealt with injury issues throughout his first six seasons at Cincinnati and Wisconsin, but he still wound up a team captain for the first time in his career.
"To do it at a new place and a place I grew up a fan of was really special," Renfro said. His dad, Rick, played at Illinois and was on the 1983 Big Ten championship team that played in the Rose Bowl.
"He was really fired up," Renfro continued. "Making that call to the parents was a really cool moment."
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Illinois offensive line coach Bart Miller was equally as impressed with Renfro's path to team captain. While the seventh-year offensive lineman sat out the entirety of spring practices, Miller said he saw the way the veteran center approached every day resonating with his new teammates.
"He wasn't in spring practice form a physical standpoint, but he took every rep mentally," Miller continued. "There's a lot of selflessness to the way he went about his spring, and it showed. When he did get healthy, his work ethic, his toughness, the drive he shows, I think people will follow that."
Renfro turned 24 on June 5 and is the only seventh-year player on the Illinois roster. Wide receiver Ty Robinson and offensive lineman Dezmond Schuster aren't far behind as sixth-year players, with both of them turning 23 this spring.
But Renfro is the oldest on the team. He's heard about it, too, getting tabbed, "Unc" or "Gramps," by his teammates.
"Everyone knows I'm the old guy," Renfro said. "It's funny. I deserve it. It's been a good little joke. There's really not much I can (fire back) because they're right."
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Illinois should have most of its projected starters available for the Sept. 3 opener against UAB now that Hudson Clement has cleared concussion protocol.
The only likely starter in jeopardy of missing the first game of the season is linebacker Daniel Brown. The fifth-year linebacker, who has been available only sparingly in training camp, underwent a recent platelet-rich plasma procedure to stimulate healing of an undisclosed injury.
"Daniel tried to go last week, and it just kind of flared up a little bit more," Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. "He went two or three practices and it didn't feel good, so we went back and reassessed it. He had (the PRP procedure), so we've got him on the shelf. We think we'll get him back some time next week moving around. (His return) should in the first two or three games."
Should Brown miss the season opener — or any subsequent games — Illinois is comfortable moving forward with Mason Muragin in the lineup. It would be a massive change in opportunity for the 6-foot-4, 250-pound linebacker, who is in his fourth season with the program but has played in just two career games.
"Probably the surprise of the spring/summer into this fall is Mason Muragin," Bielema said. "He's playing at an extremely high level. I pulled him off a special teams unit because if Daniel's not going to be there he'll be our starter going into week one.
"I've kind of limited what he can do special teams wise, and I know that frustrates him because he wants to be out there. He went from a guy I was trying to get on every special teams to a guy that I'm pulling off to try and limit him."
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Bielema estimated his kickers' success rate at 90 percent on competitive kicks so far in training camp. Who will emerge as Illinois' No. 1 kicker, though, is still to be determined as Ethan Moczulski and Lucas Osada go head-to-head for that spot.
Bielema said he'd give the advantage to Moczulski on longer field-goal attempts. The Spokane, Wash., native holds the Illinois record for longest made field goal after making a 59-yarder against Central Michigan in 2024.
That record-setting kick came on one of Moczulski's two career field goal attempts. He started his career at Texas A&M, spent the 2024 season at Illinois handling kickoff duties and mostly backing up David Olano and then transferred to Washington, where he was also the Huskies' kickoff specialist.
"One thing I've learned with him and about him is he's very even-keeled," Illinois special teams coordinator Chris Hurd said about Moczulski. "He doesn't allow things to affect him mentally for the most part. He doesn't get too high and doesn't get too low. Maybe that's the Northwest in him a little bit. He keeps it even and keeps it low key. For a kicker, that's really good."
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Osada played in two games last season for Illinois after transferring from North Carolina. He also backed up Olano and handled one kickoff against Western Michigan early in the season and a second against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.
"Lucas is a very serious kid," Hurd said. "He analyzes what he does. He knows what he wants to do and knows what he wants to accomplish. He's very goal oriented. He wants to go out there and earn a job, earn his spot on this team.
"He looks at it and is probably a little bit harder on himself, but in a good way. He does a really good job of not putting himself in a position where he buries himself. Even though he's very self critical, I think he does a good job of not putting himself in a position where he overthinks and paralyzes himself."
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