Illinois Football: WR Pat Bryant has cemented a Legacy

Pat Bryant came to Illinois Football at a very interesting time. On June 14th, 2020, Bryant announced his verbal commitment to Lovie Smith and the Illini amidst the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bryant had a slew of Power-four offers including Arkansas, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, however, he chose Lovie Smith’s program due to the NFL experience. Like most prospects in his class, Pat signed with Illinois just days before Lovie Smith was fired and Bret Bielema was hired. Despite the coaching change, Bryant held true to his commitment and joined the Illini in the summer of 2021.

Each year, Bryant has shown steady improvements. This has culminated in him being a surefire NFL prospect and a spearhead behind an outstanding season for the Illini.

Loyalty

In the age of NIL, money talks in prep recruiting and amongst college football players. Throughout the past few years, there have been many reports of Illinois football players being offered plenty by outside programs in hopes of luring them away from Champaign. However, a theme of Bret Bielema has been retention. Despite not having the deepest NIL pockets, Bielema has built genuine relationships with his players and has them bought into a development culture. This has benefitted Illinois as players like Jer’Zhan Newton, Isaiah Adams, Pat Bryant and more have likely been offered plenty by college football powerhouses to come to a bigger stage.

However, Pat Bryant has stayed true to the Illini. With four games left (including the bowl game), Bryant has 126 catches for 1828 yards and 17 touchdowns. That is a legacy to remember.

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