Illinois football flips homegrown class of 2025 recruit from North Carolina

The Illinois football team hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts for the class of 2025.

Entering Monday, the Illini had 14 commitments and a class ranking of No. 66 in the nation. That isn’t going to win you a lot in the future if the class of 2025 were to end. But there is still plenty of time to land big-time recruits.

While a lot of players are committed to programs, Illinois is trying to pry a few big-time recruits away from the hands of opposing teams. In the case of Logan Farrell, the Illini were trying to bring him back home.

On Monday night, Hayes Fawcett of On3.com reported that Farrell has decided to flip his commitment from North Carolina to Illinois. This post was confirmed by Farrell, as he quote-posted Fawcett’s post and said, “Staying HOME.”

This is a really good flip for the Orange and Blue. Farrell is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end from John Hersey High School in Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 703 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 36 tight end in the country and the No. 17 player coming out of Illinois.

Illinois football is looking to build out the tight end room with the class of 2025 and beyond

Farrell is exactly what Illinois needs in the offense. He is a dual-threat tight end who can not only go out and catch the ball, but he can also block with the best of the best. With the way Barry Lunney calls an offense, Farrell will fit in perfectly.

I also love how Illinois is pursuing a number of talented tight ends. Farrell is a top 1,000 recruit, and he is going to make an impact early on. Farrell isn’t the only tight end Illinois is trying to pull in, though.

In addition to the flip of Farrell, Illinois also had two huge 2026 tight ends in for a visit during the Michigan game. Dunlap, Illinois, native Mack Sutter was one of those tight ends. He is a four-star recruit who is the No. 107 player in the class of 2026.

The other tight end was JC Anderson from Mt. Zion, Illinois. He is also a four-star recruit who is the No. 125 player in the class of 2026.

Landing Farrell isn’t just big because of the talent, but the fact he is an in-state recruit staying home is huge. Illinois is also eyeing keeping two more big-time tight ends in-state for 2026. I love this trend and hope it continues for recruiting classes to come.