Ep. 1106 - Xavier Scott returns to Illini, latest on transfer portal efforts
Illini Inquirer Podcast: An Illinois Fighting Illini athletics podcast
247Sports, Illinois, Illinois Football, Illinois Basketball, Illinois Athletics, College Football, C
4.9 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner and Joey Wagner discuss Illini star DB Xavier Scott's return to Illinois and the latest on the Illini's transfer portal efforts. The guys discuss what Scott's return means for Bret Bielema and the defense, how the secondary shakes out and what must be done on the defensive front. Wagner then gives his thoughts on the Illini's offensive additions at quarterback, wide receiver and offensive line.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Premier League is exciting. |
| 0:04.0 | It's exhilarating. |
| 0:07.0 | And sometimes it's... |
| 0:11.0 | So when you need something to help you ride the highest and loads of all that action, |
| 0:17.0 | grab a Coke to keep you in the game. |
| 0:20.0 | Time to refresh. Time for a Coke. Coca-Cola, official partner of the Premier League. Music. Welcome in to the Alain Inquirer podcast. |
| 0:45.1 | It's Jeremy Warner and Joey Wagner. |
| 0:47.2 | Joey, when was the last time you were on the podcast? |
| 0:49.1 | It's been a while. |
| 0:50.3 | I was just about to say it's been almost a month. |
| 0:54.6 | I'm like, dang, the new kid, Kyle's in here just taking all the reps on the podcast. I didn't remember how to find my mic, figure out how to do this. It's been a little bit, man. Yeah, good to see you. We got a lot of things to chat about. I've given some thoughts on the transfers as they've come through here. you've been so busy on the road, like taking over for me these last couple of weeks, which I totally appreciate. You really stepped |
| 1:15.5 | up with me going through everything I've gone through. But we got to chat some ball, man, because |
| 1:20.3 | Illinois has added a lot of transfers. They've lost a lot of transfers. You have a huge senior |
| 1:25.7 | class leaving out the door. |
| 1:29.3 | And we'll hit on what they still need to add. |
| 1:31.1 | I see the mentions. |
| 1:32.2 | I know why you guys are fretting about the defensive line and we will get into it. |
| 1:36.3 | But huge news, Joey, as Bielma's strong run of retention with his stars continues. |
| 1:43.4 | Two weeks ago, is Matthew Bailey announcing his return, |
| 1:46.5 | and now Xavier Scott announces he's back on Thursday evening. We're kind of waiting on this |
| 1:53.0 | NFL draft news. You get this list of players, and Xavier Scott's not on either of them. I can, |
| 1:58.9 | I really don't know the difference between the guys who have graduated, guys who are underclassmen who are approved by the NFL. I don't know, but Xavier Scott was not honest. So you and I were trying to dig throughout the day of what it means. And then we get the graphic from Xavier that he is back. What was your reaction, Joe? As they got closer to that deadline, you're like, you know, the win horse, right? |
... |
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