Once the Illinois football regular season ended and coach Ron Zook was fired, the atmosphere for change was created.
Some was born of the situation, as offensive coordinator Paul Petrino left for Arkansas and interim coach Vic Koenning rejected an offer to remain at the school next year, accepting another job. There were numerous unrelated and unfortunate player developments.
Through it all, Koenning has persevered, intent on putting his imprint on the final chapter of the 2011 season, when Illinois (6-6) faces UCLA (6-7) today in the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco at 2:30 p.m.
That imprint has meant more changes. Throughout practices, Koenning has emphasized the need to regain a nastiness, so he turned the defense loose to do more hitting. He encouraged players to go full speed and said the Illini were allowed to be more physical in practices than during the regular season.
"It's just about getting that swagger that's mean, rough and tough," defensive end Whitney Mercilus said. "That's what he's trying to breed in us. You have to be one mean son of a gun to go into this bowl with everything that's happened to us.
"It probably was fading through the repeated losses, and by the time it came to the Minnesota game it was diminished. We lost that."
Offensively, the Illini have been tinkering with new ideas. With Petrino gone, quarterback coach Jeff Brohm is running the offense, and Koenning said the Illini will try some different things to highlight their best players. He mentioned trick plays.
Some offensive changes will be affected by personnel. Illinois lost starting running back Jason Ford to academic ineligibility, and fullback Jay Prosch is recovering from a staph infection and unable to play.
The Illini also lost starting linebacker Trulon Henry for most of December after he suffered a gunshot wound to his right hand. He has been cleared to play. Additionally, little-used receiver Jake Kumerow is ineligible, and redshirt freshman Anthony Williams was sent home for poor attitude.
But Koenning believes the team is in a much better place than it was a month ago, when some players expressed uncertainty about the desire to play in a bowl.
"We've been working extremely hard at healing … getting our emotion back and getting our confidence back," Koenning said. "We couldn't have practiced better in Champaign. Their attitude has been fantastic. I've been around these guys two years and haven't seen happier young men in a long time."
UCLA has dealt with similar issues. Coach Rick Neuheisel was fired, and the Bruins are being led by interim coach Mike Johnson. The game marks the third bowl in the past 10 years that UCLA has played with an interim coach.
UCLA is without four defensive starters, three because of injuries and one academics. Adding to the uncertainty, cornerback Andrew Abbott left practice with a foot injury Wednesday.
In terms of unusual circumstances, the teams are on equal footing. But adding to the mix for Illinois will be the presence of new coach Tim Beckman, who will be on hand only as a spectator. Koenning said Zook's presence will be strong as well.
"I'm always thinking, 'What would he have said, what would he have done?'" Koenning said. "It's still the team he built and had a lot of sleepless nights over."
For the past month, those nights have fallen on Koenning, whose No. 1 goal has been to regroup a team that crumbled down the stretch.
"They're excited for the opportunity to prove they're a better team than what people have told them," he said.
