Illinois Football: Another in-state recruit commits to the Illini

The Illinois football team has been hitting the recruiting scene hard over the last week.

The future of the Illini program is slowly but surely looking up. The Illini saw 13 official visits and landed three commitments over the weekend, including 6-foot 5, 240-pound 2023 in-state defensive end Pat Farrell out of St. Rita High School.

The three-star recruit has had a keen interest in Illinois for quite some time now, and that interest turned into a commitment on Sunday night.

“Committed,” 🔸🔹 Farrell wrote on his Twitter account. Since the tweet has been posted, it has gotten tons of attention from the Illini fateful, pulling in 161 retweets and eclipsing over 1,000 likes in the process.

Farrell, a three-star recruit, had received offers from the likes of UConn, Cornell, and Northern Illinois, but the Illini were his first power-five offer.

Pat Farrell will bring a winning culture to the Illinois football program.

While at St. Rita, Farrell has enjoyed tremendous success on and off the field. In 2021, he and his teammates made it down state in Class 7A before losing to Wheaton North 35-6. It capped the team’s final record at 11-3, as it was their first loss since week three to 8A powerhouse, Loyola Academy.

Check out Farrell’s Hudl highlight tape below, as he brings in a lot of promise to Bret Bielema, Ryan Walters, and the rest of the coaching staff. According to 247 Sports, the Illini have the No. 30 recruiting class in the country, a huge improvement from previous coaching regimes and one that should gradually move up as time goes on.

This is a massive commitment for the Illinois football program which has struggled for years to find consistency in recruiting. This past weekend saw three players pledge to Bielema, including Farrell, which is a sign that winning football is a priority for the Orange and Blue.

Farrell is a winner, as evident by his hard work in the classroom, sporting a 3.75 GPA and a 10-plus win football team. If he can maintain that consistency entering his senior season, the sky is the limit for the Mustangs’ standout player.