Rhea turning D-II success into D-I opportunity
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 30—CHAMPAIGN — Ean Rhea's performance in his Illinois football debut was impressive.
The former Division II All-American made five tackles — four solo — and notched the first sack of the season for the Illini defense by taking down UAB quarterback Ryder Burton.
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Worth noting not just among his teammates and coaches. It was, in fact, a performance that resonated more than 500 miles away.
An email arrived the following week from one of Rhea's former professors at Emory & Henry University in southwest Virginia congratulating him on his Illinois debut and standout effort against the Blazers. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker, who spent the first four years of his college career at the small Division II school, wasn't forgotten.
Because Emory & Henry wasn't just Rhea's first collegiate home. It was his actual home having grown up just 3 1/2 miles from campus in nearby Glade Spring, Va.
"Everybody told me they would tune in," Rhea said.
"I guess that really put the proof that was the truth," the fifth-year linebacker continued. "It's sweet to know I've got a lot of support considering that's my hometown, too. I've got a lot of support from that community. Everybody just rooting for me feels amazing. It's more motivation to keep doing what I'm loving to do."
Rhea committed to Illinois in late May after receiving other offers from Vanderbilt and LSU. He arrived in Champaign in June and started training — gaining 15 pounds of muscle in roughly a month-and-a-half — and learning the playbook. He had to hit the reset button on the latter when the Illini coaches moved him from defensive line to linebacker.
"I kind of saw right away I think he can play on his feet and do things a little bit better," Illinois coach Bret Bielema said about moving Rhea to linebacker. "He's not only bought into the culture of what we do in this building, but also everything else. I wish we had him for a couple more years, but we're going to ride it as long as we can and enjoy the ride because I think he's playing really good football."
Rhea has 13 tackles in seven games, but leads Illinois with two sacks while splitting snaps with Daniel Brown and Mason Muragin. Rhea's second sack came last Saturday with a strip sack of Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola during the Illini's 21-10 victory.
He's electric — especially on third down," Illinois defensive lineman Pat Farrell said. "Every move I see from him is ridiculous. It's just a lot of fun to watch him play. He's a really calm person. But on the field, he's an animal. He gets after it. He gets fired up. It really just brings a lot of juice to the rest of the team, too."
While it's not the same level of production that earned him South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors and Division II First Team All-American recognition, Rhea has provided some of that same disruption for the Illini. Rhea posted 50 tackles, 17 1/2 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and three forced fumbles last season at Emory & Henry. Across four seasons with the Wasps and three on the field following a 2022 redshirt, he had 136 tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 24 1/2 sacks and eight forced fumbles.
That was a résumé that popped for the Illinois staff this past offseason.
"When you look at it systematically and start thinking about all the different places he could fit, I think that's what made him the most appealing," Illinois linebackers coach Archie McDaniel said, while noting Rhea's production, athleticism and versatility was the draw.
"He's extremely fast," McDaniel continued. "He's a smooth operator, which I really, really like. The other thing is, no matter what the moment is, he just always stays even keel, which I love even more. When you look at all those things and look at how you plan on using him, I think that's where you project if a guy can come in and have success."
The challenge for Rhea after arriving in Champaign was learning a new defense. He was in a similar situation as his defensive teammates, as now former defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck's 3-3-5 scheme was still being implemented, but Rhea had four years' worth of Emory & Henry defense to replace.
"I knew I could play," Rhea said. "I knew the strength coach and resources would get me to where I needed to be physically. It really just came down to learning the plays. It's different. You learn a playbook for four years at your last school, and then you come here and in two months, you've got to figure it out. At that, I'm learning it from a new position after switching to a new position in fall camp."
Rhea's on-field transition once he got a handle on the Illinois defense had fewer roadblocks. Four seasons at Emory & Henry taught him a few things.
"You've got a lower (level) school there, and it's just like, 'OK, I'm going to get on the field more, and I'm going to learn how to make plays,'" Rhea said. "Then I come here, and it's something where some of that just became instinct where I see certain things and I can pull my trigger. Some of the guys who might get here, they've got to learn how to develop that. That's something I was fortunate to take with me from D-II."
Playing at the D-I level, though, was always Rhea's goal. With just a single season available to him at Illinois, he's soaking in the experience.
"When I said I wanted to play college football, this is what I had in mind," Rhea said. "To get here and to prove not only myself, but my family, right and prove everything I said I could do and knew I could feels great. Now, I know I can do more, so I'm trying to keep stacking and keep doing more."