“All three of them are very, very close friends. You’ve got three (Illinois high) state champions.”īailey led Bolingbrook to the 2011 Illinois Class 8A state championship his junior year, O’Toole led Wheaton Warrenville to Class 7A state titles in 20 and Lunt led Rochester High to a pair of Class 4A state titles in 20. There’s definitely a fight for that position. He wants to line up at quarterback and lead the Fighting Illini, so he’ll be involved in that competition. “That’s what Aaron Bailey was recruited for. “Aaron Bailey is a quarterback,” Beckman said Monday. His versatility has led some observers to wonder if he may see action at a position other than quarterback this season. He carried the ball 20 times and scored three touchdowns last season. O’Toole served as backup last season to Scheelhaase.īailey is an adept runner. He completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 1,108 yards that year, but threw only six touchdowns compared to seven interceptions. Lunt is a transfer from Oklahoma State, where he played in six games in 2012. He’s second in Illinois history in career completions with 775, had a 63 percent completion average and is second in school history for quarterback rushing yards with 2,066.Īaron Bailey, Reilly O’Toole and Wes Lunt are the candidates to take over for Scheelhaase. he went on to become Illinois’ all-time leader in career total offense with 10,634 yards. Scheelhaase was recruited out of Kansas City Rockhurst by former Illinois head coach Ron Zook. 5 in Champaign and will shift to Camp Rantoul Aug.
The Fighting Illini were 1-7 in the Big Ten, fifth in the Leaders Division. Illinois is coming off a 4-8 record last season. I’ve been around football now for 49 years, and there’s only one Nathan Scheelhaase that I’ve ever met.”
“How do you replace a four-year starter and a leader? I mean, he’s an outstanding person. “Nathan was an outstanding football player for us and will always be missed,” Beckman told reporters gathered for his news conference at the Hilton Chicago.
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