Illinois football unveils team captains for 2023 season
Illinois football is gearing up for the 2023 season, and the program announced its group of team captains on Tuesday.
The Illini will have 6 team captains this fall, 3 on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. It’s a strong group of veterans to land the honor.
Here is the group of captains revealed Tuesday:
- WR Isaiah Williams
- TE Tip Reiman
- OL Isaiah Adams
- DL Johnny Newton
- DL Keith Randolph Jr.
- LB Tarique Barnes
Your 2023 Captains. #Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy pic.twitter.com/UF287QpUNB
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) August 22, 2023
Offensively, Williams was the team’s leading wide receiver a season ago while Reiman led the tight end group with 19 catches for 174 yards. Adams started all 13 games on the line last season.
Defensively, Newton and Randolph — better known as “The Law Firm” — led the team in TFL and anchored the defensive front. Barnes returns to the unit after 46 tackles, 8.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks to go with 2 pass breakups.
Together, this group of captains helped turn the program around with 8 wins and a bowl appearance in 2022. Illinois will try to build on that this fall with a season opener against Toledo set for Sept. 2.