Illinois names 2024 team captains

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois officially announced its six team captains for the 2024 season Thursday after they were revealed to the team following Wednesday night's training camp scrimmage at Memorial Stadium.

The captains were split equally between offense and defense. Representing the offense are tight end Tanner Arkin, wide receiver Pat Bryant and offensive lineman Josh Kreutz. The defense is represented by outside linebacker Seth Coleman, linebacker Dylan Rosiek and safety Miles Scott.

Coleman is the longest-tenured of the bunch. The Melbourne, Fla., native is in his sixth season and is a two-time All-Big Ten honorable mention selection. He has 130 tackles, 20 1/2 tackles for loss and 12 1/2 sacks in his career.

Bryant, Kreutz, Rosiek and Scott are all in their fourth season in Champaign. Bryant was a preseason All-Big Ten pick by Phil Steele and Athlon and is back after catching seven touchdowns in 2023. That was the ninth-best single-season mark in program history and was fourth in the Big Ten last year.

Kreutz started all 12 games at center in 2023 after playing a backup role in 2022 as a redshirt freshman. The Bannockburn native was an All-Big Ten honorable mention pick last fall and has played in 28 games in his career.

Rosiek was named to the Butkus Award preseason watch list earlier this week after being an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection in 2023. He played in all 12 games last year, making eight starts, and led Illinois with 82 tackles and four forced fumbles to rank 14th in the Big Ten and third in the country, respectively.

Scott, a former walk-on, moved from wide receiver to defensive back ahead of the 2023 season and wound up starting all 12 games at safety last fall. He ranked second on the team in tackles last year with 64 and returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns.

Arkin arrived in Champaign last year after starting his career at Colorado State. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound tight end played in all 12 games in 2023 and made three starts. His lone catch against Wisconsin doubled as his first career touchdown.