Day one of training camp is like New Year's Day for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema. It marks the official start of a new season and Bielema's first at the helm in Champaign.

#HappyNewYear to Illini nation and all of our Illinois football #famILLy https://t.co/4T1fEAYXyK

— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) August 2, 2021

Bielema is beginning his 13th year as a head coach at the Power-5 level, but with over a dozen fresh faces on the Illini coaching staff, Monday's camp was new territory for everyone involved. While the roster is full of players who have been Illini for multiple years now, a new staff gives every guy a chance to stand out, making this season's camp even more competitive. 

"I think it's always excitement," senior Tony Adams said. "First day of camp, everybody is anxious to put the pads back on. Everybody wanna get out here and prove themselves as the guy. New staff, new opportunities for certain people, so everybody's coming out here competing and playing their hardest."

The most important thing for Bielema on day one was seeing the improvements made since spring football. But with Week 0 against Nebraska just over three weeks away, Bielema and his staff are looking to see daily improvements through all 118 players.

Each day before position group meetings, the coaching staff puts a note on the corner of each player's desk with two things they need to improve on that day. As Bielema watched his players at Memorial Stadium Monday morning, he saw how impactful those small adjustments could be. 

"Practice number one, a lot of positive things. Like I told our guys, tremendous improvement from practice one in spring to where we are today," Bielema said. "The key is make the most of this. We got a three-hour recovery here, they'll come back in the afternoon, get a chance to watch practice. … And then we go in the evening and install and just kind of keep working that window, really all the way up until about 10 days out from Nebraska, and then we'll jump into game preparation. So really no surprises, I thought the guys did a tremendous job of getting themselves ready for today."

Having 42 total seniors, including 22 super-seniors helps keep the Illini's preparation level at an all-time high. With guys like Doug Kramer, Vederian Lowe, Jake Hansen and Adams all returning for an extra season in Champaign, expectations among the players match those of the coaches. Adams believes having that foundation of veterans gives the team a different maturity level as they know what it takes to be successful. 

While the players know what kind of talent the group of seniors possess, some of the coaching staff saw guys like Alex Palczewski or Hansen in action for the first time on Monday. 

Hansen, who resides on Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy watch lists, explored the NFL after the 2020 season, leaving him out of spring football practices and the Orange and Blue Spring game. But after seeing Hansen's leadership capabilities following his return, Bielema was excited to see his linebacker in a football setting for the first time. 

"Part of our staff today was just getting the chance to see a guy like Jake Hansen," Bielema said. "We've seen him on film. We saw him in the spring, we've seen him work out, but today was football. Jake is a very aggressive personality, his demeanor. Pat Pierson had given me some stats that he'd been able to kind of unearth. Some of the numbers he's statistically put up in the world of college football is just incredible. You can see the things that he does well, but I think the thing that Jake probably gets excited about is, I think he came into this a little bit different to everybody else. There were a lot of things going on here that he only heard about then he came here and saw it just a couple days before spring ball and he was able to witness it. As frustrating as it was for him not to be out there, he got to see it and observe it. And for the most part now he's in it fully immersed."

With day one now under the Illini's belt, their focus is to keep the same intensity and competitiveness throughout the rest of training camp. 

"There was a lot of energy in the building," Donny Navarro said. "From the time we walked in, guys were really excited, guys were focused. Guys are feeling confident after coming off that 8-week cycle. A lot of guys transformed their bodies and feeling the best that they've had in a long time. It's really exciting to get out there and be with the team. I love being with this team and we're excited to keep growing and improve everyday."