Byron senior Caden Considine was offered a scholarship to go to school and play safety for the University of Illinois on Sunday.
He accepted it, and committed to the Fighting Illini football team, just a couple of minutes later.
Now he can sign with Illinois as early as Wednesday.
“They just crushed it,” Considine said of University of Illinois’ official visit that was unveiled for him this weekend. “And when they offered me a full scholarship, I told them I should think about it for 24 hours or so, but, kind of right away, I just knew… I knew that’s where I was going.”
So now, instead of playing for the college team that his dad played for (and the same one his aunt played some basketball for as well), he will play for the University of Iowa’s rival over at Illinois.
But he will be playing for his dad’s former defensive backs’ coach, Brett Bielema. He was an assistant at Iowa when Caden’s dad, Sean Considine played there, and he’s now the Illini’s head coach. And he and his staff went all out to get Caden to stay in-state this past weekend.
“Iowa was just going to give me a preferred walk-on, and I really wanted to pay for my school myself,” Caden said. “That was big for me. And there was a lot of other things that went in to it, and the University of Illinois checked it all off.”
Sean Considine helped Byron win its first state title in football in 1999 (along with now head coach Jeff Boyer), and then after a stellar career at the University of Iowa, he was selected in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He played eight years in the NFL, and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2012.
Now his son ― who was a major part of Byron’s third and fourth state title ― is trying to follow in his footsteps. But he will take a different college route.
“I do want to follow my dad, but I’ll go through Illinois,” Caden said. “My goal has always been to follow my dad into the NFL. But this is the next step. I still have a lot to prove.”
He proved himself at one level
If Considine hadn’t done enough over the course of his stellar career at Byron, he sure boosted his stock in the IHSA Class 3A state championship game just a couple of months back. After winning the state championship as a sophomore, with a huge interception in the semifinals, and then a big role in the blowout victory over Mt. Carmel for the 3A title, he led Byron back to the promised land again this season as a senior.
“I think this senior season, and especially that game, helped a lot in the long run,” Considine said. “That was one of the things that made them want to keep me in-state.”
Considine rushed 175 times for 2,119 yards and 40 touchdowns as a senior, and for 5,104 rushing yards and 82 total touchdowns for his career. He also had 84 tackles and three interceptions his senior year, and some of the biggest hits of the entire eight-class state championship football weekend.
He rushed for a 3A-state-championship-game record 367 yards and led Byron to an exciting 56-50 win over Tolono Unity. He also had 13 tackles, several of the crushing variety.
Now he hopes to be applying some crushing tackles for the Fighting Illini. He is already listed as a safety, and is the perfect size (5-11, 202 pounds). He also had offers to play for North Dakota State, Western Illinois and Illinois State.
But he will head to Champaign instead, where he intends to major in finance and business.
“I can’t wait; I’m so excited for my future now,” said Considine, who is a key player for Byron’s 17-4 basketball team, and who is set to play his senior year of baseball as well. “I’ve got a little more business to take care of here, though.”
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Byron’s Caden Considine commits to University of Illinois as a safety
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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