football
mike williams
NORMAL, Fig. – The college basketball season may be going insane, but the spring football season is right around the corner for Illinois State, which begins spring practice Tuesday, March 7th at Hancock Stadium.
This year’s spring camp coverage will include regular camp reports, video highlights and photo galleries to be published on GoRedbirds.com, Illinois State Athletics’ official website. Selected content will also be shared during camp on Redbird Football’s social media accounts on Twitter (@RedbirdFB), Instagram (@isuredbirdfb) and Facebook.
The Redbirds are led by an experienced head coach Brock Pack, beginning his 15th season at the helm of the program. In his previous 14 seasons as head coach, Spack had an overall record of 95-65 (.593) and a grade of 60-48 (.555) in Missouri Valley Football Conference games. During that time, the Redbirds have recorded 11 seasons at odds of .500 or more, including a 13-2 record in 2014 en route to the FCS National Championship game. Spack led the Redbirds to three straight playoff appearances from 2014-16 and has led the Redbirds to the playoffs a total of five times, with four quarterfinal appearances. With his win in Eastern Illinois in 2021, Spack became the program’s all-time winning leader.
The ISU went on to a 6-5 finish in 2022, with the season-ending hampered by key offensive injuries. However, the defense shone brightly all year, finishing 10th in total defense, 11th in goal defense, and 5th in the country in team sacks for the FCS season. It was led by a consensus All-American linebacker Zeke Vandenburghwho was later named FCS ADA National Defensive Player of the Year and a 2022 Buck Buchanan Award Winner.
Practice starts at around 8.30am each Tuesday and Thursday at Hancock Stadium (with a week off during spring break) and on Saturdays at 9.30am. All drills are open to the public except for the closed team scrimmages on April 1st and 8th. The annual Spring Showcase Scrimmage takes place on Saturday, April 15 at 1:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on FM 93.7 NASH Icon in the Twin Cities.
Redbird Football Spring Camp 2023 Schedule:
• Tuesday, March 7 – 8:30 am
• Thursday, March 9 – 8:30 am
• Tuesday, March 21 – 8:30 am
• Thursday, March 23 – 8:30 am
• Saturday, March 25 – 9:30 am
• Tuesday, March 28 – 8:30 am
• Thursday, March 30 – 8:30 am
• Saturday, April 1st – 9:30am (CLOSED TO PUBLIC)
• Tuesday, April 4th – 8:30 am
• Thursday, April 6 – 8:30 am
• Saturday 8 April – 9:30am (CLOSED TO PUBLIC)
• Tuesday, April 11 – 8:30 am
• Thursday, April 13 – 8:30 am
• Saturday, April 15 – 1pm (Spring Showcase Scrimmage / OPEN TO PUBLIC)
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your source for Illinois State Tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund Gifts, Multimedia, Redbird Merchandise, Photos and more.