NORMAL, Ill. – The college basketball season may be heading into madness, but the spring football season is just around the corner for Illinois State which begins its spring workouts on Tuesday, March 7, at Hancock Stadium.
This year's spring camp coverage will feature periodic camp reports, video highlights and photo galleries scheduled to be posted on GoRedbirds.com, the official home of Illinois State Athletics. Selected content will also be posted throughout camp on Redbird Football's social media accounts on Twitter (@RedbirdFB), Instagram (@isuredbirdfb) and Facebook.
The Redbirds are led by veteran head coach Brock Spack, who begins his 15th season at the helm of the program. In his 14 previous seasons as head coach, Spack has posted an overall record of 95-65 (.593) and a mark of 60-48 (.555) in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. During that time, the Redbirds have posted 11 seasons with winning percentages of .500 or better, including a 13-2 record in 2014 on way to the FCS National Championship game. Spack guided the Redbirds to three-straight playoff appearances from 2014-16 and has led the Redbirds to the playoffs five times overall, with four quarterfinal appearances. With his win at Eastern Illinois in 2021, Spack became the program's all-time wins leader.
ISU is coming off a 6-5 finish in 2022 that saw the end of the season hampered by key offensive injuries. However, the defense shined brightly all year long and season ranked No. 10 in the FCS in total defense, No. 11 in scoring defense and No. 5 in the country in team sacks. It was led by consensus All-American linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh, who went onto being named the FCS ADA National Defensive Player of the Year and the 2022 Buck Buchanan Award winner.
Practices will begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. each Tuesday and Thursday at Hancock Stadium (with an off week for spring break) and at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. All practices are open to the public, except for the April 1 and 8 closed team scrimmages. The annual Spring Showcase scrimmage is set to take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, and will be broadcast live on FM 93.7 NASH Icon in the Twin Cities.
2023 Redbird Football Spring Camp Schedule:
• Tuesday, March 7 – 8:30 a.m.
• Thursday, March 9 – 8:30 a.m.
• Tuesday March 21 – 8:30 a.m.
• Thursday, March 23 – 8:30 a.m.
• Saturday, March 25 – 9:30 a.m.
• Tuesday, March 28 – 8:30 a.m.
• Thursday, March 30 – 8:30 a.m.
• Saturday, April 1 – 9:30 a.m. (CLOSED TO PUBLIC)
• Tuesday, April 4 – 8:30 a.m.
• Thursday, April 6 – 8:30 a.m.
• Saturday, April 8 – 9:30 a.m. (CLOSED TO PUBLIC)
• Tuesday, April 11 – 8:30 a.m.
• Thursday, April 13 – 8:30 a.m.
• Saturday, April 15 – 1 p.m. (Spring Showcase Scrimmage / OPEN TO PUBLIC)
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
