CHAMPAIGN – There’s going to be a college football season, Illinois linebacker Jake Hansen predicted, but he’s still trying to determine the best way to prepare for it.

After months of wrangling from athletic directors, university presidents and state governors facing different levels of the pandemic with different strategies, college football appears to be slowly climbing out of the chaos caused by COVID-19.

But with Illini football set to begin returning to campus on June 3, players were showing some caution about getting back together.

“I will be back in the near future,’’ said Illini defensive back Nate Hobbs.

Linebacker Jake Hansen was “still thinking it over with family what I want to do as far as coming back,’’ he said.

For offensive guard Kendrick Green, there’s no question about returning. He essentially never left campus, because his mom downsized when he went to college.

“I don’t have a room at my mom’s anymore,’’ he said. “I’m 350 pounds. I’m not sleeping on the couch. I have a nice bed in Champaign. That’s where I’ll be.’’

Welcome to college football, 2020. (Here’s a promise. No more mentioning the new normal.) In the era of pandemic and coronavirus, every player’s reaction is different, just like it seems every Power 5 program has its own timetable for getting back up to speed.

Is there a college football season this fall? It sure sounds like it because college athletics can’t survive without this cash cow. Only time will tell on how teams bring back players, coaches, and support staff, if and how many fans will be allowed in the stadiums and how the political process for handling the outbreak will affect teams inside each power conference.

This is a work in progress, and things appear unsettled just at a time when the Illini looked to be climbing out of a hole left by Mike Thomas and Tim Beckman. With a large senior class and a blossoming offense, the Illini were excited about taking another step after last season’s bowl trip was their first in five years.

“It’s been building up to this,’’ Hansen said. “This is a big year for us. This is the year for us to do something really special.’’

Just like every school may have its own plan, every player may have his own questions about when to return.

“I talked with a bunch of leaders on the team,’’ Hansen said. “A lot of them want to come back. They have similar concerns to me. The diplomacy of it, how many times we’ll be tested, how often we can get into the facility and get quality work in.

“Everyone is motivated to get back. No one is disappointed they have to come back to campus.’’

Hansen’s debate is if he can better prepare for the season by staying at home in Florida, where he has access to a full weight room. He questions how much time he will be able to spend in the Illini weight room, because the athletic department’s plan may call for limited time there because of social distancing.

“It’s more form me from a training standpoint,’’ Hansen said. “Are we going to be able to train at the highest level? I don’t want to come back if we can’t get in the weight room and do what we want to do, because of time crunches and things like that. That’s one of the things to take into consideration.

“The hesitation for me isn’t as much about the germs and me worrying about getting the coronavirus. For me, it’s getting the quality work I usually get in the summer. If not, I’d like to be home where I can work out in a personal gym. If we’re able to do that at Illinois, then by all means, I will be at Illinois as early as possible.’’

Green kept to himself this summer, but he also faced a different challenge than Hansen. Green had no weight room open to him, so he relied upon body weights, cardio training, and abdominal work to keep himself in shape.

“The biggest thing for a lineman is watching what you eat, being on the right diet,’’ Green said “Big guys just can’t let it go.’’

Before leaving Louisville for a return to campus, Hobbs understood change was ahead.

“The living situation and the football situation will be totally different,’’ he said.

With players temperatures checked daily, rules keeping players from gathering in numbers, quarantining players upon their arrival and only visiting the football complex at scheduled times, everything is designed “if we do end up having (the virus), we won’t spread it,’’ he said.

As we said months ago, it’s about the self-determination of players pushing themselves to follow meal plans and workout regimens sent by Illini staff. When teams from all across the power conferences return to campus, it’s show and tell. Who followed through? Who didn’t?

The Illini already spent time in the spring working on their minds. Coaches used the time to drill the playbook, digging deeper to teach players the bigger picture behind the schemes.

“We learned a lot of football we wouldn’t have covered,’’ Green said. “We learned a lot about defense, reading defenses and reading coverages. (Line coach Bob McClain said) you guys are going to learn ball.’’

“Formations, different fronts. We’d watch film on how some plays could have been done better, why plays didn’t go well. There were a lot of things we wouldn’t have covered during spring ball. As far as I’m concerned, we all have aspirations of playing the NFL. When it comes to that next step, you have to know ball. All that stuff was beneficial for us.’’

The Illini might have their minds right about the game, but there’s only so much time to prepare physically for the Big Ten Conference grind.

“We’ll do the max that our body will allow,’’ Green said. “We’re going to attack summer accordingly.

“Guys are really going to do what’s best for them, At the end of the day, you can’t be upset with anybody for that. The majority of the team will get back for the summer.’’