Illinois Football: Why Touted Transfer Brooks has not seen the field

Many Illinois Football fans are scratching their heads at the current situation surrounding Illini DB Terrance Brooks. The Texas transfer started for the Longhorns in 2023 and was later recruited to Illinois to make an immediate impact. However, thus far, Brooks has not seen much playing time. In fact, he did not record a single snap versus the Kansas Jayhawks.

Certainly, the talent is there with Terrance. So, what is keeping the impressive transfer portal pickup off the field?

During Illinois’ Monday media session, Defensive Coordinator Aaron Henry provided some answers to the speculation.

Aug 29, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini team salute their fans at the final of Thursday’s 45-0 game over Eastern Illinois Panthers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Henry On Terrance Brooks Situation

“He’s (Brooks) been practicing awesome,” says the Illini DC. “The reality of it is, just to give you guys some perspective, our goal as coaches, is not to not play our best players….”

Henry continues, “You probably saw Torrie Cox and Kaleb Patterson out there the majority of the game. Well, there is a build-up throughout the course of the week, that has allotted those players that opportunity. I don’t really care about stars, or where a player is coming from, or how many games he’s started. I just watch them in practice every single day.” Henry adds “I watch them operate, I watch how they conduct themselves, and, I watch how they fit into the scheme, which we are trying to have every single day.

Furthermore, Aaron says “Coach talks about tough, smart, and dependable. So, one thing I want to continue to hit on, we are going to play our best players. We are going to play the best players, who give us the best opportunity, every single day, to win.”

In conclusion, the Illinois Football assistant states “I can promise you, coach Henry does not go to sleep at night, and say “I’m going to screw this cat, because he is our best player….” We just feel like, at the position he is at, we’ve got some really good battles there. Maybe he (Terrance) will have more of an opportunity this week, I don’t know. I try to make practice harder than games, and how practice goes (Henry Shrugs) we’ll see. It’s a good problem to have though, because I didn’t have this problem last year. I was trying to figure out who was going to play where. He’s practicing hard though, I will say that.”

Final Thought

I would say Henry was pretty clear. Unless there is an unknown situation off the field, it seems Terrance is just not beating Patterson and Cox Jr for time. Both players have stepped up, and played well through the first two weeks of the season. Additionally, Kaleb and Torrie appear to be winning the battles in practice. Of course, Brooks can earn that time, and win those battles on a day day basis. Thus far, however, it appears we have a strong battle within the secondary.