New year, new team: Wheaton native Barna dealing with Illini’s heavy turnover

When Illinois defensive end Joe Barna threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field earlier this week, Clark the Cub had a skit planned.

After catching the ball behind the plate, Clark rushed out to greet Barna. The mascot bounced off him like he'd been run over by a truck and fell backward onto the grass.

If Barna, a Wheaton North graduate, can do that to opposing quarterbacks this fall, it will be a very good sign for the Fighting Illini.

Head coach Bret Bielema said he offered Barna the chance to throw out the first pitch at a White Sox game. The response was, “Love to, but I'm actually a Cubs fan.” So Bielema lined up Oak Lawn native Pat Farrell to do the honors at Rate Field, while Barna followed his heart to the North Side.

Before the game, Bielema, Barna and defensive back Matthew Bailey held court and greeted orange-clad fans at a nearby restaurant.

Barna talked about the new reality of college football, where every player is a free agent after each season, while the expectation is a rapid rise to the College Football Playoff and beyond. Indiana did it, why can't the Illini?

“I told (athletic director) Josh (Whitman) when I took this job, because of the portal, because of revenue share, NIL, there's never been a better time to take over a program,” Bielema said. “Because you can literally flip your roster so fast. I think Indiana proved it.”

The Illini lost 27 players to the transfer portal, brought in 19, have a large freshman class of 37, and also nine new assistant coaches. Consider Bielema among the leaders in roster-flipping.

“We just got back last weekend, got to meet a bunch of new guys,” Barna said. “Fifty percent of our team are new guys, so I can't wait to bond and grow over the summer and become tighter as a team.”

Barna would have dealt with new faces in the position room, anyway, because he's switching from linebacker to defensive end for his junior season. He collected 2 sacks last fall.

The new world of college football means your best friend could leave the program at any moment, or someone could slide in from another school and take your starting job. Just about anything is possible.

“I mean, everyone has good reasons (for hitting the transfer portal),” Barna said. “It's not always chasing a (cash) bag. People leave because it's a better opportunity and you can't blame someone for that. We've got 50 new guys, and they came for a reason, too.

“I think we just need to uphold the standard of how we operate as Illini and as football players at this university, and show them what we do and why we have success.”

Now they have just under three months to pull it all together before opening night against UAB on Thursday, Sept. 3 in Champaign. How exactly does that process happen?

“I just say buying in as a team,” Barna said, “I feel like maybe there's some lack of that in college football. Some guys are for themselves. I feel like we do a good job at this university to buy in and realize the end goal and the bigger picture of a team.”

That might be easier said than done on a team with just seven returning starters. The most important transfer is probably quarterback Katin Houser, who has started 26 games between Michigan State and East Carolina. The consensus highest-rated transfer is former NIU safety James Finley.

As Barna confirms, summer in Champaign-Urbana is a good time to focus on team-building.

“I kind of like it in summer,” Barna said. “It's like a ghost town. There's nobody there. You're left with some golf courses and whatever you can do for fun.

“But there's kind of a buzz going around. Having a basketball team that's successful and having a football team winning games, I feel like that helps a lot for universities. It's been really fun being there.”