It has been a pretty good offseason for the Illinois football program, as the transfer portal hasn’t hit us too hard.
Have there been some transfer portal departures that I wish wouldn’t have happened? Sure, I liked Kenari Wilcher and Demetrius Hill, but sometimes you just lose players for one reason or another. The Illini have managed to navigate the choppy waters well, though.
I assumed the transfer portal was going to be getting a rest this late in the game, but my assumptions were wrong. On Friday night, the Illini lost a quarterback to the transfer portal. Kirkland Michaux took to social media to announce that he was transferring out of the program.
— Kirkland Michaux (@kmichaux8) January 31, 2025
Michaux started his college career at Blinn Junior College. He was there for two seasons before transferring out and committing to Illinois. With the Illini, Michaux didn’t play in a game until this past season when he played a snap against Michigan State.
Illinois football has an exciting quarterback room entering the 2025 season
It is never fun losing a player to the transfer portal. Illinois has now lost three quarterbacks this offseason. Michaux joins Cal Swanson and Donovan Leary on the transfer portal train.
I see these departures as obvious ones, though. Illinois was bound to lose talent to the transfer portal because we had so many quarterbacks on the roster. It isn’t typical to have six or seven quarterbacks.
Heading into the 2025 campaign, I think Illinois has one of the best quarterback rooms I have seen in years.
Luke Altmyer is back for one more season. He should be one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten. I love the options behind Altmyer as well.
I believe Illinois’ backup for 2025 is going to be incoming Northern Illinois transfer Ethan Hampton. He and Trey Petty should be fighting for No. 2 on the depth chart.
Illinois was also able to land Carson Boyd and Jershaun Newton to play quarterback. Both are great athletes with big arms.
Bret Bielema has built the Illinois quarterback room into something special. This program is skyrocketing in the right direction, and it is a fun ride.