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Like Father, Like Son: Josh Kreutz, Son Of Six-Time NFL Pro Bowler, Commits To Lovie Smith’s Illini

By becoming the 13th commitment in Illinois’ 2021 recruiting class, Josh Kreutz has agreed to play for the same head coach that his father Olin had in the NFL for seven seasons.

Matthew Stevens

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Not many fathers and sons can say they played for the same head coach but that’s exactly what Josh Kreutz has agreed to do.

The three-star offensive lineman from Loyola Academy in the suburbs of Chicago has become the 13th verbal commitment of Illinois’ 2021 recruiting class and the first in-state 2021 product to verbally pledge his services to the Illini program.

Kreutz selected Illinois after receiving early scholarship offers from Memphis, Northern Illinois, Ball State, Central Michigan, Western Kentucky and Wyoming. He is the third verbal commitment this week for an Illini program that has gone from one verbal commitment on May 1 to a baker’s dozen before the end of the first week of July, all of which have committed without taking their official visit to the University of Illinois campus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kreutz was instantly familiar with the Illini program as his father, six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz, played seven seasons for the Chicago Bears under head coach Lovie Smith. Kreutz said to multiple news outlets that he’s conducted several Zoom video conferences this spring with members of the Illini coaching staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now Smith, who is entering his fifth season as the Illini head coach, was able to secure a commitment from the son of the keystone of his very successful offensive lines during his tenure with the Bears.

“(My dad) says he’s a great coach, and I’m definitely lucky to have him in college,” Kreutz told 247Sports.com after announcing his commitment.

Before being drafted by Chicago in the third round, 64th overall, of the 1998 NFL Draft, Olin Kreutz was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American selection and earned All-Pac-10 Conference first-team honors. Olin Kreutz was a six-time Pro Bowl selection at center from 2001-06 and a first-team All-Pro selection in 2006. Olin Kruetz played in his only Super Bowl in 2006 when Smith guided the Bears to Super Bowl XLI where they lost to the Indianapolis Colts.

“If you asked me what Lovie’s gift was as a coach...no matter how bad things got, he walked in the room and he was the same guy,” Kreutz said last October on NBC Sports Chicago. “And he preached the exact same message no matter where you were in the season. Oddly, you would just slowly believe in what he was saying.”

Olin Kruetz is now a football analyst for NBC Sports Chicago and 670 WSCR The Score radio and was one of several pundits who commented on the Illini program following the 24-23 upset win last season over then-No. 6 Wisconsin.

“It was a huge win for Lovie and the one thing Lovie does well is he always believes no matter how bad things are,” Olin Kreutz said. “He believes in his system and what he’s trying to install with the kids there (at Illinois). When everybody stopped believing in them, they showed that they believed in each other.”

Lovie Smith speaking to the Chicago Bears players, with Olin Kreutz (57) in the background, during halftime of the Monday Night Football comeback win at Arizona in 2006.
Lovie Smith speaking to the Chicago Bears players, with Olin Kreutz (57) in the background, during halftime of the Monday Night Football comeback win at Arizona in 2006 / Courtesy of the Chicago Bears

Josh Kreutz also had Illini ties in his high school program as Loyola Academy, which won the Illinois Class 8A state football championship in 2018 and advanced to the Class 8A quarterfinals last season, has former Illinois All-American linebacker John Holecek as its head coach.

Josh Kreutz, a center at Loyola Academy, excels with his athleticism, fundamentals and physical nastiness. While it may seem like a long-shot for a true freshman to earn a two-deep spot at a Big Ten Conference school, don’t be surprised if Kreutz is a quick riser in the positional group of Illinois offensive line coach Bob McClain.

Offensive line rebuilding has been critical for Illinois in this 2021 class due to the Illini likely having starting four seniors and a rising junior (Kendrick Green) already drawing interest from National Football League scouts for this upcoming season. Therefore, Illinois has already secured the verbal pledges of Kreutz and three-star offensive tackle Brody Wisecarver of the St. Louis area. Illinois offensive coordinator Rod Smith and McClain, have begun to reach out to two-star offensive guard prospect Toby Wilson from Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio. Wilson is the son of former Indiana head coach and current Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.

When Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman hired Smith in 2016, the front door of the Kreutz home was exactly the kind of door they envisioned coming open to in-state and Chicagoland prospects. Kreutz’s commitment puts an end to the drought of in-state talent to Illinois after Lovie Smith famously said the program went 0 for 19 on scholarship offers to Illinois products in the 2020 recruiting class. The last Illinois product to sign with Illini football was in 2019 when three-star defensive lineman Keith Randolph from Belleville signed his National Letter-of-Intent. Randolph may find himself in the Illini defensive line rotation this season if the 2020 campaign ever gets underway.

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Matthew Stevens
MATTHEW STEVENS

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