Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Center TJ McMillen

McMillen, a special teams standout last season, will reprise his role in 2025 and be ready to step in if and when needed

Illinois center TJ McMillen (55) is a redshirt sophomore reserve heading into the Illini's 2025 football season. | University of Illinois

Illinois on SI is delivering scouting reports for each of the key players on the Illini football team's 2025 roster. Below, we present our breakdown of Illini sophomore center TJ McMillen. We will add more as other on-field contributors emerge during the season. Find our scouting reports of other Illinois players by searching in your favorite browser or clicking in our projected depth chart.

TJ McMillen | Center | Sophomore | No. 55

Hometown: Naperville, Illinois

High School: St. Francis

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 295 pounds

Scouting report

McMillen is a powerful, athletic and intelligent offensive lineman who comes from a football family. (His father, Bob, is a coach and Arena Football League Hall of Famer, and his brother, Bobby, is a former Iowa State linebacker and current assistant at Southeast Missouri State.) McMillen has very good feet, hips and explosiveness – he was roughly as dominant a defender and pass rusher as he was a blocker in high school.

What has set McMillen apart early in his career is his aptitude on special teams and the trust he has gained from the coaching staff, specifically head coach Bret Bielema, in key roles on those units. But his smarts and communication skills are ideal for the center position, and he has packed on at least 25 pounds since arriving in Champaign in 2023. He is now physically ready to regularly take on Big Ten defensive linemen.

Experience

After redshirting his freshman season, McMillen played in all 13 games last season, mostly on special teams. He did earn some reps from scrimmage, but he clocked in most of his work on game days on special teams and arguably pushed return man Hank Beatty for the team's mantle of special teams ace. McMillen's play call and block at the point of attack to spring tight end Tanner Arkin on Illinois' critical fake punt in a win over Michigan last year has already become the stuff of local lore. (See McMillen's media highlights below.)

Media highlights

What they're saying

"TJ McMillen, great example: So TJ's our backup center, wearing No. 96 because we want to involve him in heavy formations, he's my PP – he's my quarterback of punt. So we go through all these looks, and we actually put an in-helmet communication on him, so he thinks he's pretty cool, because only the quarterbacks and safeties [have that]. So that's, like, his moment. But he just owned that responsibility," Bret Bielema said of McMillen and his contributions after the Michigan win.

2025 outlook

As long as third-year Illini starter Josh Kreutz remains healthy in 2025, McMillen figures to earn most of his reps with the kicking teams. But he will be an important asset in that role, and will see some time in special packages and likely in occasional relief of Kreutz. He will be the favorite to take over the starting role from Kreutz in 2026.

TJ McMillen knows what this country was founded on https://t.co/RTugsnTBsH

— RPO The Jewels (@WhityRemarks) August 8, 2023

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