By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
Lovie Smith calls his front line "the engine of our defense." That must make Bobby Roundtree the Fighting Illini head football coach's primary sparkplug.
It's hard to believe that one of Big Ten football's most explosive pass rushers wasn't much into sports as an eighth grader.
"I was always a pretty big kid," Roundtree said, "but I didn't know much about football when I began playing. When I started making plays, I thought maybe I could get better and get a scholarship."
Just two years later, he got his first offer from the University of Akron.
"I couldn't stop smiling because I thought 'I'm actually doing something pretty good,'" he said. "I went home and told Mom and she got excited."
Before too long, the Illini got involved in recruiting Roundtree.
"The coaching staff was pretty aggressive," he said. "Coach Stoke (Andrew Hayes-Stoker) was always coming to check up on me to make sure Illinois was still in the picture."
Still, there was lots of competition for the Largo (Florida) High School star.
"I was thinking about going to Indiana with a few of the other guys I played with," Roundtree said. "But coach kept putting in my head 'You don't want to be a follower; make your own trend.' He told me that I could be big somewhere else and I didn't have to follow. So I just trusted the process and decided to come to Illinois. My mom loves how the coaches are with me now."
When he came to Illinois as a college freshman, Roundtree had intended to wear jersey No. 3. But Lovie Smith talked him out of that plan.
"Defensive players just don't wear single-digit numbers," Smith said. "I said to Bobby, 'Hey, you want to be something special? The best defensive lineman to rush the passer at the University of Illinois is Simeon Rice. You want to wear a number? Wear his (No. 97). There's a lot that will be expected of you.'"
Roundtree in No. 97 (right) trying to live up to the standard set by Illini Hall of Famer and fellow No. 97 Simeon Rice (left), the all-time Big Ten sacks leader (44.5).
Roundtree had an impressive first season for the Illini in 2017, starting nine games at defensive end, notching 50 tackles, including four tackles for loss, and being named to BTN.com's All-Freshman Team.
The 6-5, 255-pounder progressed even further as a sophomore. He collected 7.5 quarterback sacks among his 12.5 TFLs and 66 total stops. The conference's media members noticed, too, giving him honorable mention on the 2018 All-Big Ten squad.
"I felt like I made a big jump," Roundtree said. "I was a lot more comfortable with the game and I knew more about what the coaches expected. I was jumping around and having fun. Coach held me to a higher standard, so I was trying to put in more work and show the younger guys that just because you're young, it doesn't mean you can't be a factor. I was being more of a leader this year. I'm a laid back type of guy. I'm not vocal, so I try to lead by example."
An incredible work ethic, says line coach Austin Clark, will enable his 21-year old protégé to continue his meteoric rise to stardom.
"The biggest thing that Bobby Roundtree does is that he plays with unbelievable effort on every snap," Clark said. "That's the thing that's helped him make the biggest jump. He just plays so hard. Sometimes you have to coach effort, but Bobby is a guy who plays hard on every single play. When you tell Bobby something, he doesn't question it. He's just going to do it to the best of his ability and he's going to do it until he gets it right. We look forward to him being a leader for us this coming year."
Can Bobby Roundtree live up to the standards set by the man who previously wore the number he wears today?
"I just know that he (Simeon Rice) was one of the best that ever came through," Roundtree said. "Every time I go to practice, I see his picture and his number. I always look at it because I hear people talking about the comparison."
Clark hesitates to compare the two men.
"Bobby Roundtree is his own type of player," Clark says. "He is learning how to become a complete player. Bobby's learning how to develop his rush plan. He's learning how to use his length and he's learning a variety of ways how to attack the quarterback. He does a good job of getting his hands up in the pass game; that's a hidden art. At the end of the day, Bobby just wants to win and do what's best for the team. I wish we had 110 Bobby Roundtrees."
Don't forget about his current Illini linemates, Roundtree says. They will be the key to his success.
The 2019 Illini defensive line is loaded, with everyone returning from the 2018 squad, including those pictured Jamal Milan (55), Roundtree (97), Tymir Oliver (96) and Owen Carney Jr. (99), plus many more talented playmakers.
"Coach Smith tells us everyday that it starts up front," he said. "We've got more guys who are able to play. Calvin (Avery) and Jamal (Milan), Tymir (Oliver), K-Jack (Kenyon Jackson), Verdis (Brown) and all the others. We're all putting in extra work. We're going a lot harder than we did when I first got here. Everybody just wants to be the man, so we're all trying to outwork each other. I know we're just going to be better."
Today, seven former recent Illini defensive linemen play for NFL teams. That group includes Whitney Mercilus (Texans), Corey Liuget (Chargers) Chunky Clements (Rams), Carroll Phillips (Colts), Dawaune Smoot (Jaguars), Akeem Spence (Dolphins) and Jihad Ward (Colts). It's a fact not lost on Bobby Roundtree.
"Guys who've made it to the league come back and talk to us about what we have to do to get to the NFL," he says. "I just sit back and listen to what they say. They see something in us. I try to envision what they did and what I could do to be better than them. I'm getting better each year."
