It was a year of change for Fighting Illini football in 2016. Here's a look at some of the top stories from the calendar year:
WHITMAN RETURNS HOME
Former Fighting Illini tight end Josh Whitman took over as Director of Athletics at Illinois in February. Whitman, a two-time First Team Academic All-American on the gridiron for Illinois, was named Illinois' 14th permanent director of athletics on Feb. 17 and officially started on March 5.
#WEWILLWIN
Whitman wasted no time making his mark on the program, hiring longtime NFL coach Lovie Smith as head football coach on March 7, 2016, just two days after officially taking over as AD. Whitman announced the hiring on twitter with a photo of he and Lovie in the Memorial Stadium colonnades holding a #WEWILLWIN sign.
PHILLIPS BLOWS UP
DE Carroll Phillips had a monster senior season, earning first team All-Big Ten honors, the first Illini to do so since 2011, after racking up 56 tackles, 20.0 TFLs, 9.0 sacks, 3 QB hurries, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery. He ranked fifth in FBS in TFLs per game (1.7 during regular season) and his 20.0 TFLs tied for the fifth-most in a season in Illinois history.
DOWN GOES SPARTY
On Nov. 5, third-string QB Jeff George Jr. led the Illini to a thrilling come-from-behind win over Michigan State. He connected with WR Sam Mays from 16 yards out for the game-winning touchdown with 1:35 remaining. Then the defense sealed the game with a late fourth-down stop. It was the 600th win in program history.
TURNER SPECTACULAR
Junior wide receiver Malik Turner continued to make highlight-reel catches, including SportsCenter top-10 receptions against both Purdue and Michigan.
ATTENDANCE ON THE RISE
The Illini averaged 45,644 fans per game in 2016, an increase of 10.4 percent over last season. Only Miami (23 percent), Colorado (18 percent) and Duke (13 percent) made bigger leaps in attendance. Illinois welcomed a sellout crowd of 60,670 against North Carolina on Sept. 10, marking the first sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium since hosting Michigan on Nov. 12, 2011.
MEMORIAL STADIUM GETTING FACELIFT
On Oct. 3, 2016, Whitman announced plans for extensive renovations to the Memorial Stadium south horseshoe and east side. Plans for this new project include constructing a new home for all football operations, including locker rooms, training, recovery, and sports medicine facilities; meeting and office spaces; and recruiting venues. The building will be housed inside a new south grandstand. The project is expected to cost $132 million and will be completed by the 2020 season.
BUTKUS FIRST INTO HOF
The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Oct. 27 the formation of the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame to honor the greatest student-athletes, coaches and administrators in the illustrious history of Fighting Illini Athletics, which stretches more than 120 years. Fighting Illini icon Dick Butkus, who many consider the greatest linebacker and defensive player in the history of football, was announced as the first member of the Hall of Fame's inaugural class.
THREE SELECTED IN NFL DRAFT
DE Jihad Ward (Raiders, 2nd round), OG Ted Karras (Patriots, 6th round) and S Clayton Fejedelem (Bengals, 7th round) all were selected in the NFL 2016 Draft. All three made the regular season rosters, as did two undrafted rookie free agends, WR Geronimo Allison (Packers) and RB Josh Ferguson (Colts). In all, 17 former Illini are on 2017 NFL rosters.
BREAKING RECORDS IN THE CLASSROOM
A total of 42 football student-athletes earned degrees in 2015-16, and 11 graduates were on the 2016 roster pursuing master's degrees. In addition, Illinois once again broke the program record for most individual earning Academic All-Big Ten status with 42 in 2016, and the team earned a spring GPA of 3.05.
