Illinois Football Names Six Team Captains for 2026 Season
August 19, 2026 | Football
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini football program named six captains for the 2026 football season: Matthew Bailey, Collin Dixon, Katin Houser, Aidan Laughery, Jake Renfro, and Xavier Scott. The six captains were determined by a team vote.
DB Matthew Bailey
Bailey is a two-time All-Big Ten performer. He enters the 2026 campaign as a Phil Steele Preseason All-Conference Third Team pick and is a candidate for the Lott IMPACT Award. Bailey has led the Illini in total tackles each of the last two seasons, and for his career has amassed 185 total stops, four interceptions, and four forced fumbles from his safety position.
WR Collin Dixon
Dixon ranks as the Fighting Illini's leading returning wide receiver, coming off a 2025 campaign in which he tied for the team lead with five receiving touchdowns (14th in the Big Ten during the regular season). He posted 35 catches for 548 yards for a team-best average of 15.7 yards per reception. Entering 2026, Dixon has been tabbed as an Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten Fourth Team selection.
QB Katin Houser
Houser joined the Fighting Illini in January as one of the top transfer quarterbacks in the nation. Over his first four collegiate seasons at Michigan State (2022-23) and East Carolina (2024-25), he has thrown for 6,438 yards and 43 touchdowns, with 15 rushing touchdowns. Last season Houser appeared on the Manning Award watch list, posting 3,300 yards on 66% passing with 19 touchdowns and just six interceptions and added 193 rushing yards and nine more scores on the ground.
RB Aidan Laughery
Laughery, a central-Illinois product from Gibson City, is in his fifth year at Illinois and is the Fighting Illini's active leader in the running backs room with 191 carries for 1,061 yards – a 5.6 yards per carry average. His eight-career rushing TDs also rank first among the Illini's current stable of rushers. Last season, Laughery opened the year with 101 yards and two touchdowns against Western Illinois and capped the season with a team-high 77 yards in the Illini's victory over #23 Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.
OL Jake Renfro
Renfro joined the Fighting Illini as one of the top center transfers in college football and enters 2026 having played in 38 career games with 36 starts at Cincinnati (2020-22) and Wisconsin (2023-25). A former All-American Athletic Conference First Team performer who helped lead Cincinnati to a College Football Playoff Berth in 2021, Renfro has been named to the Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List for the second consecutive season.
DB Xavier Scott
Scott, a 2024 All-Big Ten First Team selection and semifinalist for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award as one of the top 15 defensive backs in college football, returns to lead the Fighting Illini secondary in 2026 after missing the final 10 games of 2025 due to injury. The 2026 Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten Third Team honoree has played in 39 career games and boasts 26 career starts for the Fighting Illini. He has recorded 127 career tackles and ranks first among active Illini with six career interceptions and 20 career pass breakups.
