Posted by: Miriam Cresswell on March 5, 2012

Illinois begins spring practice on Wednesday under new head coach Tim Beckman, who is preaching the importance of starting anew and keeping motivation strong.

"As I told the players when I met individually with each one of them, this is the future, this is a new era and we're building this thing forward, not building from the back," Beckman told ESPN.

So what's the offensive emphasis under new co-coordinators Chris Beatty and Billy Gonazales?

Beckman promised, "Your vision for the offense is scoring points and securing the football. I'm not going to bang my fist on the table, saying, 'We've got to do it this way.' We've got personnel that's already involved here."

Well aware of the pressure riding on his decisions, Beckman said, "Everybody gets evaluated. Heck, they're going to be evaluating me. This is a new coaching staff, so that's the life of a coach, that's the life of a Division I college football player."

The good news is that Beckman has done this before and he believes the challenge at Illinois is no different his previous challenge at Toledo.

To bring about leadership, the new staff has stressed competition through winter conditioning.

Beckman knows the difference that quality leadership can make: "[Leadership] can push this football team past a 7-win season. That's the challenge for the senior group and the challenge all the way down to the freshman group...So if we do have a young man that's late for maybe a 6 o'clock weight workout, I don't blame just that man. I blame his roommate, I blame the position group and I blame the whole unit itself. That's how leaders are built."

In case you missed part 2 of Beckman's interview with the Big Ten Network, check it out:

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