Illinois football held a press conference on Wednesday at Memorial Stadium. Head coach Bret Bieleam, offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr., defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, and running back Chase Brown all taking questions from the media.

Illinois is in the middle of bye week after defeating Minnesota on Saturday to improve to 6-1. They sit atop the Big Ten West standings. Next up is a trip to Nebraska on October 29.

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The Illiois staff will take advantage of the bye week to go on the recruiting trail. The success on the field so far this season definitely changes the recruiting pitch as Bret Bielema and his staff look to finish strong in the '23 class ahead of Nat Signing Day.

Flipping high-level prospects that have committed elsewhere is always part of the strategy late in the recruiting cycle, but it's more on the front burner for Illinois now that they have winning to sell

Bieleam clearly made a reference to Chicago Simeon wide receiver Malik Elzy, who just backed out of a commitment to Cincinnati. The Illini are pursing other currently committed prospects, and have also dove head first into the JUCO market.

HC Bret Bielema: "From the pilots that we hop on the plane with to the schools that we walk into, everybody is a lot more aware of Illinois football. At this time of year, a lot of times recruits change their minds. We've that literally in the last 24 hours. We can see people that we've had interest in, and maybe they've had interest. We're a different Illinois than we ware last June."