The first practice of head coach Bret Bielema's second season is officially in the books after players participated in drills on the brand-new Memorial Stadium turf on Saturday.

Though Bielema and his staff already have one season in Champaign under their belts, year two will certainly look different: New offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. brings an uptempo offense in his first year with the Illini, the departure of several seniors from the 2021 roster requires new leadership to emerge and new special teams coordinator and specialists coach Sean Snyder inherits an inexperienced unit.

With opening day less than four weeks away and the Illini back on the field this summer, let's look at a few of the biggest takeaways from the first practice of the season.

The starting quarterback race is still at the starting line

With the graduation of Brandon Peters and the arrival of several new faces in the quarterback room, the QB1 spot is one of the fiercest battles to watch in training camp.

"That guy's got to have leadership skills," Bielema said. "He's got to have the ability to handle adversity. He's got to be able to bring others along with him. He's got to be able to take criticism when things don't go well, so I think someone has to separate themselves over a period of time. I don't think it's a one-day evaluation and promotion. It's something of an accumulative effect."

Junior Artur Sitkowski has the most experience at Illinois among the current starting quarterback contenders. Sitkowski transferred from Rutgers last season and made five starts before suffering a season-ending injury against Penn State on Oct. 23.

Across those five starts, Sitkowski recorded over 700 passing yards and six touchdowns and helped Illinois pull off an opening-day victory over Nebraska in Bielema and company's first regular-season contest with the Illini.

"Art is a kind of a coaching voice, right, like very authoritarian, very not afraid to dictate, not afraid to speak up, not afraid to criticize others but also himself in a positive way," Bielema said.

Senior Tommy DeVito is also primed to battle for the starting job. A transfer from Syracuse, DeVito has 27 collegiate appearances, 28 touchdowns, and nearly 4,000 career passing yards on his resume. 

"Tommy, you know, is truly one of those guys and embraces, enjoys, and loves life every day," Bielema said. "Very outspoken demeanor."

The starting gig is far from a two-man race, though, as Northern Michigan transfer senior Ryan Johnson, redshirt freshman Jake Huber, and freshmen Kirkland Michaux and Donovan Leary have all made early impressions on Bielema and his staff.

A decision on QB1 will not come for a few weeks, though Bielema is not concerned and is instead excited to watch the competition within the quarterback room.

The offense is excited about the uptempo scheme under new OC Barry Lunney Jr.

While the man under center won't be determined until later in training camp, new offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. has already made it clear that he plans to use an uptempo offense in his first season in Champaign.

Junior wide receiver Casey Washington looks to make a bigger impact in Lunney's offense after he notched career-high numbers in games played, receptions, and receiving yards last season. Washington says Lunney is a much more "aggressive caller" who isn't afraid to speed up the tempo of the offense, but he's confident the unit can adapt quickly.

"Our offensive coordinator, man, that dude's a confident guy and you know we're gonna take shots and we're gonna run the ball, too," Washington said. "We're gonna establish the run game, and we're gonna play off of that. But Coach Lunney knows what he's doing."

One integral piece of this new system is senior offensive lineman Alex Palczewski, who opted to return to the Illini for a sixth season. After splitting time at tackle and guard last season, Palczewski will move back to right tackle this season.

"Right tackle, it's where I feel at home, it's where I feel most comfortable," Palczewski said. "I feel a lot better now. I feel like this is where I can contribute the most."

The offensive line will look much different from the past few seasons with the departure of Doug Kramer and Vederian Lowe, who combined to start 100 games for Illinois between 2017 to 2021.

As the most experienced player in the offensive line unit with 52 career starts, Palczewski says he is finally fully healthy and expects to be the best version of himself this season.

"It's crazy how much better I'm feeling," Palczewski said. "That was a big reason why I want to come back because I truly believe that we have the best strength stuff, the best training staff in the nation, like just being there every single morning with Coach Tank (Wright).

"I mean, I can't thank them enough because I just feel so much better, so much more athletic, and I'm just so happy I came back for another year."

Palczewski played in a high-paced offense during his first few seasons in Champaign, and he's excited to return to that uptempo scheme this year.

"This is what I'm used to," Palczewski said. "That's the stuff I absolutely love, so the biggest part is just getting used to actually moving and just running because you can do drills and workouts and all that but until you put on the pads, helmets, and actually start blocking someone, it's a little bit of a different animal, but I mean I love this uptempo offense."

Special teams will look different, and the specialist starters have yet to be determined

With assistant coach Ben Miller still away from the team after he was diagnosed with colon cancer in February, Bielema brought in Sean Snyder to take over special teams duties this season.

Snyder has nearly three decades of college football experience, while he served as special teams coordinator at Kansas State from 2011-2018 and at the USC from 2020-2021.

"When I began to look at guys into this position, right, there's a lot of guys that are, especially as coordinators, who really are good at special teams, but they're not great at, maybe they don't have a lot of experience, at kicking the ball, snapping the ball, punting the ball," Bielema said. "That's his forte. That's where he made his deal."

Kicker James McCourt, punter Blake Hayes, and long snapper Ethan Tabel have all moved on from the program after writing their names in the Illini record books during their tenures in Champaign, which has led to competitions for the starting jobs at each spot.

Snyder will not be alone in making these decisions, though, as Bielema will use himself and his defensive coaches – defensive backs coach Aaron Henry, linebackers coach Andy Buh, and outside linebackers coach Kevin Kane – along with some graduate assistants as the special teams staff.

Though the special teams coaching staff consists of several coaches, Bielema still wants to give Snyder the command to run all four special teams units.

"He's a voice. He and I have already met a lot," Bielema said. "I'm sure he's gotten tired of me already, but we've had a lot of experiences over the years together and I'm excited for his experience."

The defense looks to build off a huge turnaround in DC Ryan Walters' first season

It's no secret that the Illini defense made significant strides in 2021, especially in the final nine games of the season. Junior linebacker Tarique Barnes says it's only the beginning of what the defense is capable of ahead of defensive coordinator Ryan Walters' second season.

"I just think we're building our expectations. ... Last year was the first year, so everything was first," Barnes said. "Obviously you want to go out and we want to win, we're gonna win, we're gonna do all this stuff. But I think that when you have a second season to do that, when you have time under there, I just think that you begin to adapt to certain things or begin to learn a little bit more about what you can and can't do, learn a little bit more about the system."

The defense has lost several key pieces from last year's team, including Tony Adams, Owen Carney Jr., Isaiah Gay, Jake Hansen, Kerby Joseph, Roderick Perry II, and Khalan Tolson, though the Illini still have plenty of production from last year's roster.

This includes junior defensive back Devon Witherspoon, who wants to take on a bigger leadership role and will use his confidence to bolster his teammates.

"(I want to) just keep raising my confidence and my style of play," Witherspoon said. "Hopefully it'll affect everybody else so we can all be great players."

To take a step forward this season, Barnes says it will take effort from the entire roster, starting at the top with the seniors and moving down to the freshmen.

"I think taking a step forward is obviously bringing more energy and really holding each other accountable as teammates on the field and even off the field: film, weight room, even just brotherhood with one another," Barnes said. "I think all of that plays a part if you want to be able to trust and believe in the people next to you, and I think that making sure that everybody's on the same page is the easiest way to do that."

Bielema is impressed by his first true freshman class

Though Bielema may be in his second season in Champaign, this year will feature his first complete freshman class. 

The Illini currently have 35 players listed as freshmen, nearly half of whom hail from the state of Illinois.

Bielema has already been impressed with the freshmen, and he's excited for them to make an impact this season and beyond.

"Every person that touched that freshman class just talked about the difference in the way they went through their compliance meeting when they first got here, the way they handled their semester academically, and the way they handled freshman transition," Bielema said. "There's a group of academic people that work with the incoming guys for the entire summer. They talked about their demeanor, their approach, just their overall presence. 

"I'm excited about this group. I think it's hopefully a good indication of where we're going."

The second day of summer practices will take place on Sunday at Memorial Stadium.