Tomiwa Durojaiye Has Found a Home – and Perhaps an NFL Future

You could say Tomiwa Durojaiye is settling down, but it's more like he's settling in.

Even by the standards of modern college athletics, Durojaiye has been quite the journeyman. A 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior defensive end, Durojaiye is a former three-star recruit who had to make his way around the block before seemingly finding what he needed in Champaign.

Born in Philadelphia, Durojaiye played his high school ball at Middletown (Delaware) before choosing a new home, committing to Kentucky. But he didn't stay long. After his freshman season, Durojaiye transferred to West Virginia. And then, a year later, to Florida State. He hopped into the portal – for the last time? – to make the move to Illinois this past offseason. The results, at least so far, speak for themselves.

Just finished the film rewatch and Tomiwa Durojaiye was outstanding.

He plays with incredible strength, athleticism, and extension. Look at this play. This is freakish stuff from a 6’5” 300 lbs DL. pic.twitter.com/rNsMzGCWqO
— The Field Pass (@TheFieldPass) September 2, 2025

Against Western Illinois in Saturday's opener, in his first game in an Illinois uniform, Durojaiye had four tackles and a sack, and consistently wrecked blocking patterns and created penetration – sometimes while facing more than one blocker. His combination of size and explosiveness as a two-gap edge player are rare, but he was never able to quite put it all together at any of his previous stops – the closest being his redshirt freshman year in Morgantown, where he logged 3.5 sacks and six tackles for loss over 13 games for the Mountaineers.

So what finally clicked? If you ask Illini defensive coordinator Aaron Henry – who knows a thing or two about what he speaks – the answer is stability.

"I can remember as a child, when I was living with my mom, one school year I went to seven different schools," Henry told the media in a Tuesday press conference. "One school year, OK? I know that sounds probably crazy to you guys, but as you can imagine, I was a problematic child. My environment changed. I missed a bunch of days of school, and it was a lot of chaos, because there wasn't any stability that allowed me to grow, even when adversity came up."

FAMILLY💙🧡 https://t.co/j3ei9yi9MV
— Tomiwa Durojaiye (@TomiwaDurojaiye) September 2, 2025

Henry likened Durojaiye's journey to his own, and said the Illinois program and coaching staff – specifically, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Terrance Jamison – have since provided Durojaiye with the nurturing environment he needed to unleash his potential.

"I think you guys just saw a small fraction of that from Tomiwa on Friday night," Henry said. "I'm really, really excited about that young man's future. He's put in the work. I think he has an environment now, he has a group of coaches now – not to say that any of them didn't believe in him before – but I think he has nowhere to run now, right? And typically, when you stop running, you start to man up and grow in areas that you know you need growth in. And from there, I think you can become the best player you're capable of being."

To be fair, Durojaiye didn't just stumble into a good thing. After going where he has gone and seeing what he has seen, he made the necessary computations and calculations based on his preferred long-term destination: the NFL. He asked around. Did his homework. Durojaiye spoke to former Illini and Seminoles defensive lineman Dennis Briggs Jr. He reached out to Gabe Jacas, now a teammate. And it helped that Illinois and head coach Bret Bielema had come calling at all the right times. Champaign quickly emerged as the place to be.

"I transferred multiple times, so before I went to Florida State, [Illinois] reached out to me to come take a visit," Durojaiye said last spring. "Coach B, he was the lead recruiter, so he would send me videos on the technique and how they develop the line here. Coach [Jamison], the way that he teaches D-line, I think that it fit me well, fit my playing style. I felt like if I really wanted to give myself a shot at the NFL, to play there and get drafted and be a perennial NFL player, I felt like Coach B and coach J-Mo and being in Coach Henry's defense was the perfect recipe for me to have success."

Durojaiye, who calls himself "a football junkie," was serious about his study ahead of his most recent transfer decision. Part of the reason he knew the right folks to check in with about Illinois was because he had been paying close attention to the program's progress – particularly the 2023 defense, which sent cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safeties Quan Martin and Sydney Brown to the NFL, and, a year later, defensive linemen Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph Jr. Whether he's next in line, Durojaiye says he's in the right place to develop and be seen as a future pro.

"I think at Illinois, our coaches have respect," he said. "Coach B coached in the NFL and obviously won a Super Bowl with the Patriots. But ... it's also, when you play in the Big 10 – like, the SEC and the Big 10 are 1A and 1B, however you want to look at it – but I think now, with Illinois winning. it's coming. I know our coaches already have that reputation, but now it's coming with the Block I – like, the Illinois logo is having that respect."