Illinois Football Preview: WIU Coach Joe Davis Talks Illini Ahead of Week One

In preparations for Western Illinois’ week one matchup in Champaign, head coach Joe Davis has spoken with the media several on several occasions about his team’s approach to facing 12th-ranked Illinois Football. Davis embraces the challenge of playing one of the top teams in the nation, and despite knowing Bret Bielema’s veteran crew will be a tall task, Davis sees this game as a chance for his program to grow on and off the field.

Plus, the matchup holds additional meaning for the Leathernecks’ 2nd-year head coach — who previously spent two seasons (2022-2023) living just an hour south of C-U in Charleston, while successfully handling Offensive Coordinator duties at Eastern Illinois University.

“The University of Illinois is very talented. They’re ranked for a reason,” Says Davis.

“They’re very, very deep. They’ve done an excellent job retaining players and have a very good fiscal NIL plan to keep guys there, who may have gone and been third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-round draft picks. They were able to pay those guys enough to come back and try to up their draft stock.

“So, well aware of the challenge of it. But, we’ll have a great plan for these guys on Friday night. Our guys will certainly play very, very hard in this football game and be very competitive.”

Davis on Scheduling Illinois Football, and Connection to Champaign

Earlier this offseason, Davis also spoke with the media about the FCS’ scheduling trend of taking on multiple FBS opponents for the financial benefit, to help programs boost funds for NIL, facilities, travel, etc. For WIU, that meant adding Illinois and Northwestern—two in-state Big Ten programs—to the slate, following a breakthrough 2024 season where the Leathernecks snapped a 27-game losing streak dating back to 2021.

When asked about inheriting Illinois Football on the schedule, the WIU head coach stated, “I think it was correct forward thinking by our administration… Certainly didn’t know at the time that Illinois was going to be arguably a top 10 FBS team coming back. We’re going to have our hands full. But, ultimately, we need a great team and great coaches, and we’ll take this approach that ‘you’re not going to prepare any differently.’ We’re going into that game with the same mindset, and the same preparation, the same schedule, the same amount of work if we were playing SEMO or UT Martin.”

On a personal level, the chance to take on Illinois Football at home also brings Davis back to familiar territory for him and his family. “Certainly, an exciting task for us. There’s some personal aspect to that. I still own a house in Champaign County from when I coached at Eastern.”

He continues, “My wife is from Urbana-Champaign… she went to U of I. So, we’ll have a nice contingent of folks there for that first game.”

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