When the Fighting Illini football team saw that they were going to be razor-thin in the linebacking corps following a few injuries and a couple others moving onto the next level, they hit the transfer portal looking for immediate help.

They found Calvin Hart Jr., and Hart was looking for a change as well, and the match was made.

Hart, who had played at North Carolina State this past fall, wasn’t necessarily unhappy in Raleigh, but instead was looking for a change of scenery.

“After the conversations that I had with Coach B (Bielema), it was evident that hearing from him and what he knows with his expertise, that this was the right place for me,” Hart said.

Hart, who is from south Florida, says that he brings a different type of swagger to his game like most players that get recruited from his area, so the initial conversations with Bielema were positive at first.

“The players from south Florida do a little talking, but we make sure that we back that talk up on the field, so we’re a little different than most guys,” Hart said.

Hart will be a candidate to see playing time right away due to the lack of depth in the position, and Hart acknowledged that upon entering the transfer portal.

“When you enter the transfer portal, you start looking for places that you might fit in right away,” Hart said. “Once in the portal, however, it is stressful because it feels like you are being re-recruited again. I feel like I have a natural gift and there were times that I felt I wasn’t being treated like I should, so I looked elsewhere and felt that what Illinois was telling me mattered to me.”

George McDonald, who was recently named the assistant to the head coach and also wide receivers coach under Bielema, had originally recruited Hart to NC State, so he has a great relationship with McDonald, now that they are reunited at Illinois.

“He was one of the first coaches that reached out to me during my junior year of high school, and he is the guy that brought me to NC State from south Florida,” Hart said. “We have a great relationship and one of the first things that I did was reach out to him and welcome him home, since he played here (at Illinois) back in the 1990’s.”

Hart will bring a style of trying to turn over the ball on defense, something he says comes naturally to him.

“I’m one of those guys that likes to force turnovers by stripping the ball and getting to it as fast as I can,” Hart said. “Basically, my competition is myself and I was raised to do my very best on each play, and that is how I plan to operate at linebacker at Illinois.”

When Hart committed to Illinois, the linebackers’ coach had not been hired yet. Through conversations with Bielema, he was sold on his prior success as a defensive-minded coach and then, when Andy Buh was hired, he got the opportunity to talk to his new position coach.

“Honestly, I had no idea who the linebackers coach was going to be when I made my decision, and I put all of my trust in Coach B,” Hart said. “Once Coach Buh was hired, I got the chance to talk to him and one of the first things that he told me was that he was very much looking forward to coaching me.”

Even though the linebacking corps are relatively thin now, Hart knows the history of the greats that have played the position at Illinois and hopes to one day be named alongside those that have gone before him.