Illini football rebuilding or reloading?

In 2001, Illinois won the Big Ten title and played in the Sugar Bowl and fostered all sorts of lofty expectations.

And then nothing happened.

Six seasons and one coaching change later, the Illini finally delivered another winning record.

The fact that Illinois went on to grace the Rose Bowl sidelines for the first time since 1984 -- and finish No. 20 in the final Associated Press poll -- has generated another set of grandiose plans.

Or has it?

As the Illini kick off their 15 spring practices with today's session at Memorial Stadium, they'll hit the field with fourth-year coach Ron Zook's words ringing in their ears.

Specifically, that everyone is waiting for Illinois again to prove to be a one-year fluke.

"I think he says it every day when we see him," said senior Brit Miller, who'll replace J Leman at middle linebacker. "He always reminds us that it's kind of a 'what have you done for me lately' kind of world. Especially football."

So that's the chip that rests on Illinois' shoulder this spring.

Now here's the carrot dangling right in front of their faces.

"In my mind," Zook said Tuesday, "we're a better football team than we were a year ago."

That's quite a statement considering Illinois lost 11 of its 24 Rose Bowl starters -- including Big Ten offensive player of the year Rashard Mendenhall, first-team AP All-American guard Martin O'Donnell and two-time all-Big Ten middle linebacker Leman.

Perhaps Illinois' biggest task this spring is to find guys who can team up to replace most of Mendenhall's record-setting production.

Senior Daniel Dufrene (294 yards, 2 TDs) and true freshman Mikel LeShoure, who graduated a semester early from Champaign Centennial High School, are the top candidates this spring.

Redshirt freshman Troy Pollard, who's rehabbing the knee he wrecked last year at Indiana, and highly touted incoming freshman Jason Ford will join the fray this summer.

"Daniel looks great," Zook said. "He's got like 4.5 percent body fat. He's worked extremely hard. In our 6 a.m. drills, he was very, very competitive.

"I was very impressed with Mikel. He was 8 percent body fat at 237 (pounds). That's pretty good. I know everybody thought, 'Here's a big back.' I'm telling you, he's an athletic guy."

Illinois also needs to identify two starting linemen and some new receivers for its rotation. Cornerback Chris Duvalt has shifted to receiver to ease the shortage there.

Illinois' defense has just as many holes as the offense but will miss the experience as much as the production.

Five guys who totaled 184 career starts are gone, which leaves openings at both outside linebackers and both safeties.

Sophomore Martez Wilson, redshirt freshman Ian Thomas and senior Rodney Pittman are the top linebacker candidates, while sophomores Nate Bussey, Bo Flowers and Garrett Edwards are vying for the safety jobs.

The loquacious Miller, who has more career starts (24) than everyone on the squad except center Ryan McDonald and receiver Kyle Hudson, will be charged with leading the revamped defense and the squad as a whole.

"It's important for us as Illinois football players to know our history," Miller said, "to know that we have come up with some big seasons in the past but we need to back them up.

"We need to continue this and become a perennial power in the Big Ten."

Illinois' spring in a box

When: Starts at 4 p.m. today at Memorial Stadium

Theme: Ron Zook summed it up nicely Tuesday: "As I told our football team, I thought it was very, very important that our football team understands this. Everybody's predicting that the University of Illinois will come back down to earth this year." Not just because the Illini won seven more games than it did in 2006, but because they must replace five starters on each side of the ball. In addition to the talent drain, they must replace the senior leadership provided by J Leman, Kevin Mitchell, Justin Harrison, Martin O'Donnell and many others.

Position battles: While the coaches probably are more concerned about replacing both outside linebackers (Brit Miller is moving to the middle) and both safeties, the public's focus will be on Rashard Mendenhall's replacement. Senior Daniel Dufrene and true freshman Mikel LeShoure are the only healthy contenders during spring ball, so they'll get as many reps as they can handle.

Number to know: Five Illini will miss spring ball while they tend to business -- academic and otherwise: sophomore DE Jerry Brown, sophomore WR Brian Gamble, redshirt freshman OT Mark Jackson, sophomore OG Brandon Jordan and sophomore CB Marcus Thomas.

Local spring game: Illini will play April 12 at Lemont High School.

Official spring game: April 19 in Champaign

-- Lindsey Willhite