The Illinois football team received some big news on Thursday that could help the program in the near future.
Lovie Smith is known for his defense and having great linebackers. The likes of Derrick Brooks, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs have all been coached by Lovie at one point in their careers. Lovie is now starting to build a solid linebacker corps with Illinois as well. This will be the strength of the defense throughout the rest of his time in Champaign. That is why getting someone line Antonio Doyle Jr. is important.
Doyle is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound outside linebacker from Lutheran North High School in Hazelwood, Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 175 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 13 outside linebacker in the nation. He is also the No. 4 player in the state of Missouri as well.
Illinois was one of the first programs to offer Doyle a scholarship. They ended up offering him one back in November 2018. Since then, his recruitment has blown up, but he is now coming down to a decision. He has already scheduled two official visits, one to Missouri on June 8 and the other to Texas A&M on June 22. On Thursday night, Doyle announced on Twitter that he will take his third official visit to Illinois. I don’t believe a date is set for that one, though.
The fact Illinois is in the top five for Doyle is big news. He would be a great piece to add to this already great linebacker corps. The Illini will be stacked at linebacker if Doyle decides to come to Champaign.
In 2020, there is a shot that Illinois would have three four-star recruits at linebacker as either starters or primary backups with Milo Eifler, Shammond Cooper and Doyle. This doesn’t include Jake Hansen who is a tackling machine and will be a senior, and Khalan Tolson who is rising and is a beast in the middle. Illinois is actually building solid depth at linebacker and Doyle would fit in perfectly.
Hopefully, the official visit goes well for Doyle, whenever that may be. He is a big-time player who could help this team tremendously.