CHAMPAIGN – Lou Hernandez likes to recall those days down in the basement, where the Illini could smell the metal, rust and the heavy air of building muscle. That camped dungeon weight room stands at one of his favorite places in his 25-year career and a strength and conditioning coach.

“A little, old basement,’’ Hernandez said. “That room got us to the Rose Bowl.’’

Then the Illini built the current weight room in 2009, a massive remodel and an underground fortress that can be observed from the recruiting lounge behind the north end zone in Memorial Stadium. As Hernandez heads into the summer workout season as the best set of eyes and ears on the program with daily direct contact to the Illini roster, he’s back in the room built 10 years ago and awaiting a move into a step up in weight room status when the Illini move into the new football performance center soon.

“It’s great to be back in the community,’’ Hernandez said. “The thing that’s so exciting right now is I got to come back to my old weight room. We built this in 2009. I missed it when I moved on. This is the room that took us to back-to-back winning bowl seasons. Now we’re really excited about what the future holds with that new weight room.’’

Hernandez was a key element in the rise of the Illini under coach Ron Zook. A native Texan, Hernandez worked with Zook’s recruits to help build them into a Big Ten Conference contender. Illinois had five NFL first round picks in five seasons, and Hernandez developed the mind and the body to create competitive rosters. A strength coach who prefers to develop fast twitch and explosive moves rather than just building bulk, Hernandez worked at North Carolina after Zook was fired in 2011. He left the Tar Heels when North Carolina made a coaching change during the offseason.

His excitement comes across in a 30-miunte conversation that was planned for 5 or 10 minutes, so it’s understood he’s glad to be back. Hernandez is here to build athletes, not tight muscle-bound guys who can’t move. While nutrition and flexibility also play a major role, Hernandez is all about “Olympic, fast-twitch development.’’

“That’s probably our No. 1 emphasis,’’ he said. “Our second emphasis is the overall strength when it comes to basic lifts like the bench and squats. Then we sprinkle some body building because size is important.

“The biggest thing is we’re not here to create body builders and weight lifters. We’re here to create the bet Division I football player that will develop himself and get them to be the best they can be. That’s not necessarily how big they can get. It’s how well they can perform and at optimum size. We do that by measuring body fat, testing and evaluating by using specific exercises, some particular movements and runs. Lots of things that are measured at the combine are the same kind of measurements we use in comparison.’’

Therefore, flexibility is extremely important, he said.

“We talk about being the total package,’’ Hernandez said. “You just don’t want to be a bench presser or a squatter or a sprinter. In order to do all of that, it involves range of motion.’’

The Illini might use four different stretching exercises in one workout, and Hernandez wants to implement yoga into the Illini regimen.

“I’m a big believer in yoga,’’ he said. “I’m trying to get that set up for our guys. It’s one hour of concentrated stretching. We need a lot of restorative work to get them ready for the next day, keep them pliable and to be able to do that consistently and injury free, stretching is extremely important. ‘’

Hernandez works closely with Sebastian Zorn, the team nutritionist who is in charge of fueling the engines of Illini football players with the proper food.

“No fuel, no performance,’’ he said. “It’s extremely important they understand that.’’

During the summer months when the coaches have limited access to the roster, Hernandez has his hands on the roster more than anyone else. He gets a first look at the drive and makeup of each freshman, who will report on June 2. Hernandez gets a feel for each player before the kid ever steps onto Zuppke Field.

“There are a lot of coaches who want to confirm what they believe an athlete might be, or they want to get an idea of how an athlete might handle the pain, discomfort and adversity of situations,’’ Hernandez said. “The game of football is hard. It’s tough and demanding. If they can’t make it through the summer program, they’re probably not going to make it through a Saturday afternoon. We want to prepare guys to do that. It starts down in the weight room. There’s nowhere to hide. You’re very easily exposed. It exposes our athletes to what kind of person they are.’’

His success stories? Remember offensive lineman Jeff Allen was in terrible physical condition when he arrived on campus in the Zook era, but he thrived on the challenge, the hard work and adversity, Hernandez said. He became a second-round NFL pick who is still in the league.

Rashard Mendenhall was a timid 195-pounder who developed into a 205-pound sophomore and a 227-pound junior who didn’t lose his speed. As his body changed, so did his confidence level.

“He put the team on his back and had an incredible season,’’ Hernandez said.

Coach Lovie Smith prefers to put the freshman class together in the weight room.

“We know when you step foot on campus, we’re not expecting them at the moment to have the same workout capacity, the same maturity,’’ Hernandez said. “They don’t have the same expectations. The most important thing is to understand expectations, safety and get great at technique. Once they understand technique, we can load the weight. It’s amazing to see the improvements. That new stimulus will provide results.’’

It’s a process, he said, but the first step came when Hernandez put up his favorite sign in the weight room. It reads: Get your mind right.

“We have to have the right mindset when we come into work,’’ Hernandez said. “It’s all about their approach. Some guys are more motivated than others. Some guys are sitting on the fence need to understand to lock in, conquer and be successful. Once they step onto the field, they carry the same mindset to get the job done and conquer the task in front of us.’’

With coach Lou, there’s no sitting on the fence in his weight room.