Illinois football losing linebacker to transfer portal makes future clearer

The transfer portal has been a hot topic for the past few months, but things are about to heat up for the Illinois football program.

We are a day away from the transfer portal officially opening, and the Illini are only a couple of days removed from winning a bowl game. That means to expect more transfer portal departures in the coming days and weeks.

With that being said, the transfer portal departures haven’t hit the Orange and Blue too hard yet. The biggest departure actually came on Wednesday when On3.com reported that Illinois linebacker Jojo Hayden decided to find greener pastures.

Hayden was a solid get for Illinois. He was a three-star recruit and was ranked as the No. 1024 player in the class of 2023. He was also the No. 82 linebacker in the country and the No. 21 player coming out of Illinois.

After a redshirt year in 2023, Hayden had eight tackles as a freshman. He then got his chance to shine with the Illini in 2025, as he finished with 26 tackles on the season.

With two years of eligibility left, Hayden is now looking for a new home, and Illinois has lost some depth at linebacker.

The loss of Jojo Hayden to the transfer portal signals what lies ahead for Illinois football at linebacker

Losing a player is never fun, and I would rather have Hayden on the roster in 2026. But Illinois isn’t losing one of our top linebackers with this departure.

Hayden was third on the team in snaps with 244 snaps in 2025, but Pro Football Focus has him as the fourth-highest rated linebacker on the roster. He didn’t take the leap that Illinois needed, and to compete with the top teams in the country, Illinois needs to revamp the linebacker corps.

I believe Bret Bielema is doing just that. What we are looking at in 2026 is Illinois building around Grant Beerman. The former four-star is just finishing up his true freshman campaign, and I believe he took a redshirt. In the limited time on the field, he did rank as Illinois’ second-best linebacker this season.

In addition to Beerman being elevated, James Kreutz will be back for his senior year. Illinois is also bringing in Cam Thomas from the class of 2026. He is knocking on the door of being a four-star recruit and is also from Beerman’s high school, Lakota West.

I haven’t even mentioned the transfer portal when it comes to Illinois adding talent to the linebacker corps. It wouldn’t shock me to see Bielema snag a linebacker in the next couple of weeks.

Hayden will be missed, and I wish him nothing but the best. But Illinois is going to be just fine. I believe he likely saw the writing on the wall, and now he is finding a new home. Good luck in the future.