Illinois football targeting a big-time enforcer on the recruiting trail

The Illinois football team hit the state of Indiana hard in the past few days when it comes to recruiting.

So far, the Illini haven’t landed a single player for the class of 2026. This isn’t too unusual, as we are still in the recruiting period for the 2025 class.

But the Illinois coaching staff is still trying to build up the options for 2026. Plenty of talented recruits are still on the board, and one of the most recent scholarship offers was to Trevor Gibbs.

Gibbs is a 6-foot-2, 225-pound athlete from Crown Point High School in Indiana. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 44 linebacker in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 5 player coming out of Indiana.

Illinois came in with the scholarship offer on Tuesday. This wasn’t the first offer for the talented dual-position athlete, though. Gibbs already has roughly six scholarship offers with some of the bigger programs including Indiana and Cincinnati, in addition to Illinois.

Trevor Gibbs could be an enforcer for the Illinois football team on both sides of the ball

Illinois is targeting players who can play multiple positions. Over the past month, it feels like our main targets have been players deemed “athlete”.

Gibbs falls into this category. He can play tight end or linebacker. When he plays either position, he is an enforcer.

On the offensive side of the ball, Gibbs can go out for passes, but he is more of a dominating blocker who can open holes for running backs or make a kay block for his quarterback.

Defensively, Gibbs is a talented pass rusher. He can get to the ball carrier and wreak havoc in the backfield. I love this kid’s energy and tenacity that he plays with on the field.

Illinois getting in the Gibbs sweepstakes would be a good thing. He is someone who can give either side of the ball an edge. I love this offer by the Orange and Blue.