When Bret Bielema walked into the Illinois locker room for the first time in December 2020, he knew he needed to establish his own identity. Bielema quickly made his mark. It started with a simple word: family. That word has since transformed the program, becoming a key component to not just recruiting and branding, but also to the team's core values.

With family becoming an integral word in daily meetings and routines, "#famILLy" was born.

"The thing that I kept saying in every meeting I was ever at was, 'Hey, let's talk about family. Let's be about family. Let's talk about how we do things around here,'" Bielema said. "Obviously we were live on social media, and we kept talking about certain things.

"I was showed the hashtag 'famILLy' with two L's, and I was like, 'This is awesome.' That really was the brainchild of it. It was definitely something I just immediately gravitated to and said, 'Let's use this in every graphic we can. Let's take this and build upon it.'"

The first weekend of official visits cemented the "famILLy" identity, as Bielema received lots of positive feedback from visiting parents. That weekend served as the first opportunities for Bielema to interact with parents in-person at Illinois, ending the months-long cycle of virtual conversations due to COVID-19.

Now certain that "#famILLy" could be a big piece of both the recruiting and culture puzzles, Bielema went all in.

"Every parent I sat down and visited with on Sunday when they were leaving campus, said, 'I knew that there was a lot of talk about family, but once I got here and saw it, now I understand it,' Bielema said. "That was the selling point for me, not only with us in recruiting, but also within the building when we were building our culture."

With a roster full of players from across the United States and from countries around the world, Bielema has emphasized the need to embrace differences and individual identities while still fostering a welcoming team culture.

"One of the things I commonly talked about to our players is DNA," Bielema said. "DNA is really the genetic evidence of who you are. It's the thing that is unique to you that no one else has, that makes you who you are. Everybody has their own unique DNA. 

"All of us have different DNA, but the more we can commonly come together as a family, the better off we'll cohesively work. That's a big part. That's the way we recruit. Obviously, we want to have a player that's talented enough, but we really try to find someone who fits into our atmosphere and our culture."

Not just limited to players and coaches, "famILLy" encompasses everyone who steps foot in Smith Center. More than just a hashtag on social media or a word painted on the turf at Memorial Stadium, "famILLy" means a lot to the Illini. Here are their perspectives:

Chase Brown

"Family is a different thing for everybody, but here at Illinois, it's just that feeling when you come into the locker room with the assurance that you can just go to anybody, for anything, at any time. That's something that we sell, and I think a lot of guys that you talk to on the team, as much as we use that as our mantra, it's something that's real. It's not something that we take lightly."

Tommy DeVito

"I think it starts with the coaches and what atmosphere Coach B brings in every single day. We're a family every single day, and the way that he allows the coaches to act and the way he has them act, that just trickles down to us as players. We see how they act and then we relate as well. I think that it all starts with Coach B, and it trickles down, and I think that it truly is family."

Jer'Zhan Newton

"The boys in the locker room, the coaches: They're like brothers, uncles, fathers to me. The family thing is real. I could call them at 3 a.m. if I need something. They call me at 1 a.m. Whether homework or somebody just got a flat tire, I'm there regardless of the facts. We can all depend on each other."

Caleb Griffin

"It just means outside of football and after this playing career, after being here, we're still going to be connected. We're still going to be brothers. That's really all it is to me. On the field, it's obviously important in football that you have each other's back. It's 11 guys having to do their own job. But also off the field, when we're out on campus, when we're just out being guys, we know we have each other's back. We look out for each other, and that's something that's been really big."

Calvin Hart Jr.

"It's being able to trust and love the guys around you. Not even just the guys that are my teammates, but the coaches, the nutritionists, the trainers, the staff in general, down to the janitors; we're all great people. It's a family chemistry that's in the building. We don't just like to talk about it. We kind of like to live by what we talk about, so when I think about family, it's being able to just be able to have chemistry, talk to whoever, make different relationships with different people throughout the building, and just keep that going within the facility. We preach it a lot. It is our motto, but we also are living by it, too."

Artur Sitkowski

"It means everything. It embodies our whole entire culture. Family is like no matter what happens, we got each other's back. It could be anyone. It could be a guy off the street; you're family if you're with us. Anyone who comes to our program, you're one of us. I don't think it's just a slogan that people just use. I think it's everything. It's everything that embodies our program."

Casey Washington

"I think more than anything, it's not just a word. Every day, Coach B comes to us with the same energy, and he's created a culture around here. I think that's very important when you want to do big things. There's guys from different places, and we got guys from all across the country here, and just being able to come together as one, and as a team, and be together as one is a big thing. You say the word, 'family,' and you know, every college team has a phrase that they say, and it's on social media, and it's like, 'Oh, that's their thing or whatever.' I think here more than anything, it's actually something that we focus on day to day, and it means a lot to us. It's big now, and it'll be big when I'm here, and when I'm gone, and forever."

Jartavius Martin

"I mean, for me, it's just like having my brothers' back through thick and thin, good and bad. Just being able to come to them, and this coaching staff, and anyone in this building when I need help with something. Coach B came in on the first day and welcomed everybody back, so that was a huge step for this program from day one since he's been here. Just everybody on the staff just being open, speaking to you in the hallway, just like the little details and small things that make you feel welcome and want to be in the building every day."

Aidan Laughery

"I would say family is just coaches caring about you, wanting the best for you. Things that we do in the facility, the coaches being there for us, with whatever's going on at home, not only just what's going on in facilities. It's more than just football all around."

Reggie Love III

"Really just all the main three things: being smart, tough, and dependable. That goes for everybody in the room, so knowing I can depend on my guys to put us in the best position to win games. When we come in that building, we're all here. We're unified. It means a lot to me. That's one of the reasons I picked Illinois, and when Coach B came, it just expanded it a little bit more. Everybody holds each other accountable. It's great. We all laugh. We joke. Sometimes somebody might cry – not me, though. Somebody might cry, and it's just other guys being there to pick up other guys when they're having a bad day. That's the biggest thing that we have in the locker room."

Jared Badie

"It really just means buying into this culture, and putting aside our differences, and just coming together as one under one goal, and that's to bring championships to this program. We got a lot of different guys from a lot of different places, and I think we've all been able to come together in the locker room, and bond, and just really just come together and just unite on that one goal. That's really what it means to me. Ever since Coach B got the job, he was pushing that family atmosphere. Recruiting the people first and bringing the players later, I thought that was super huge. I don't want to be in a locker room where it's a toxic environment, and I think he's done a great job of making it an environment where it's positive. We're all there for each other, and we're all there for each other's success, so I think it's been great."

Sydney Brown

"Family is something that we've kind of built here. I think as Coach B entered the program here, it's something that he pushed right away. As soon as Coach B walked into the room and the first time that he actually spoke to the team, it was something that the guys bought into. It's something that he preached to the team. The number one thing of being part of this team and being part of a team is that you can't have individuals. The moment you have individuals on the team is when you break up that team, you break up that family part. I think it's just something we're buying into."

Isaac Darkangelo

"What I think family is is having people around you that you can not only trust, but also having people around you that support you and believe in you, and I think that's what Coach B has brought here. Definitely in the locker room and with the coaches, there are people that you can trust and people you can count on, but at the same time, they're there when you need them. Everybody's so close-knit with each other. Everyone has their bad days, and the cool part is that anyone in the building is there for you when you need them. You see it all around the facilities and just the culture that has been brought in here, and I think it's really cool."

Alex Pihlstrom

"For me, it's about thinking about getting better every single day. Obviously, you have the goals and aspirations of winning championships, winning games, making bowl games, but I think the biggest thing is developmental and just getting better every single day. I think that's been really important for this new staff, just kind of bringing in a new culture. You can say all you want about, 'Oh, we want to do these things and win all these games,' but if you're not focusing on getting better every single day, it's not going matter in the long run because you can't jump from Point A to Point Z. I think for the O line, it really means something to us because as a brotherhood, it's the most unrecognizable position in sports. We're not gonna get any praise, and we're OK with that. It's just all about caring for the guy next to you, knowing that he's going to go to war with you, and you're happy with that, and you're excited to play with him. I think that's the biggest thing."

Isaiah Adams

"Family is just people who I can depend on, who I can trust. What a family means to me is just love that we have for each other. When you're on that field through adversity, it's someone you can lean on. When you're having a rough day and you just need to talk to someone, I think you go into the locker room, and you see those guys, and I think that really helps."

Hank Beatty

"It's probably talked about every single day. Before I got here, I didn't really know how the culture was going to be. You could tell a little bit from the recruiting standpoint, but sometimes it's not always what it seems like, but whenever I got here, it was the truth. Everybody, all the older guys, all the younger guys, just coming together, just being able to hang out with each other, and being themselves, and being supportive of each other. It's cool to see guys bond on the field and carry that off the field."

Keith Randolph Jr.

"It means everything. I think without family, you have nothing. I feel like I'm as close with anybody on the team because of that family motto. Coach B's really pushing it. We break out on it every day, so I love it."