Illinois LS Preston Engel shows strength in return to field
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (BVM) – Sports have always been a huge part of Preston Engel’s life. He grew up in a family that had sports directly connected to them, as his father, Greg Engel, played in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions. This passion for athletics has driven Preston towards his goals, and he’s having a blast being part of the Illinois Fighting Illini football program.
A multi-talented athlete, Preston did it all while attending Normal Community High School where he played both football and basketball.
“I played football and basketball pretty much my whole life,” Preston said. “After my freshman year of high school, I decided I enjoyed playing football more, and that’s when I put more time into the weight room my sophomore year.”
The time Preston had been putting into his passion for sports had been paying off for him as well when it came to the skills he had developed.
“I knew it was better to come from a background of playing a lot of sports, so I played as much as I could of all different things when I grew up,” Preston said. “I know that helps with the development of being good at sports, you have to be good at multiple things, not just one thing, so that definitely helped.”
Preston not only played and loved the sport of football, he watched it all the time as well.
“I was a Charger fan growing up,” Preston said. “I always got hate from all my friends because they were Bears fans being from central Illinois.”
While playing football for the Normal Community Ironmen, Preston led the front lines as the team’s starting center. This was a role he took very seriously, as he commanded the entire offensive line.
“You have a responsibility for everybody around you and you just have to make sure that everyone is on the same page,” Preston said. “That’s something that taught me a lot of different life skills, not just football skills. Being able to conduct people around you, being able to help them out when they need you, you just have to be focused on your assignment and what you have to do in order to be successful and then execute that. That was my mindset every play.”
This mindset, combined with his family’s involvement with Illinois, made Preston’s commitment there seem like a no-brainer. While his dad played college football for Illinois, he has other family members involved there as well. His mother, Melissa, is the Director of Internal Operations for Institutional Advancement at Illinois. His older brother, Mclain, also attended Illinois. While Mclain was in Champaign, he was a student manager for the Fighting Illini men’s basketball team.
While Preston had other schools interested in him such as Ball State, Purdue and Indiana State — who all had extended him walk-on opportunities — Illinois was too good to pass up.
I am excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and football career at the University of Illinois this fall🏈🔶🔷 #WeWillWin pic.twitter.com/Km98Rymz3z
— Preston Engel (@PrestonEngel53) April 4, 2018
For Preston, having such a strong family background that was successful in the sport of football inspired him to strive for greatness. While his family doesn’t pressure him to play football, they will always support him and his time in the game. Instances like his father’s career inspire him. Greg was also a center at Illinois prior to a four-season NFL career in the 1990s where he was primarily in a reserve role for the Chargers and Lions.
Happy 50th Birthday to @IlliniFootball graduate Greg Engel. He played four seasons in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions. @BHSraiderFB @PrestonEngel53 pic.twitter.com/Cf9gwn9KmI
— Mike Pearson (@illinilegends) January 18, 2021
“It definitely did, but my dad never put any pressure on football,” Preston said about his father’s career inspiring him and how his dad supports him. “He always tells me of how he lived his football life, he’s not gonna live his football life through me. Obviously he’s gonna support me and he always does that, which is awesome. It’s nice not having that pressure, and it really made me feel like if I wanted to pursue it, I could. But if not, I could find something else. I did find a true passion for it and it inspired me and brought me to the U of I, which is where I wanted to be.”
Preston’s debut for Illinois in 2018 as a redshirt freshman had many emotions involved with it. It’s an experience he’ll never forget.
“It was definitely an emotional experience,” Preston said. “I grew up being an Illinois fan, and I went to the games and always followed football at the U of I. Being on the other side of it, being a player and knowing all of the stuff that went into it, and then ultimately seeing it on game day, it was surreal. It’s something that I’ll never forget.”
Preston’s experience at Illinois is also coupled with a newer face for the program, coach Bret Bielema, whom Preston has a tremendous amount of respect for.
“He’s been awesome,” Preston said. “Something that he does is he’s super transparent, he lets you know what he wants. That’s something I really respect out of him, and I think that’s how he gets the most out of us. The process of a coaching transition is tough, but he made it really smooth. He gave everybody a chance to come back onto the team no matter what. I think that’s something that a lot of people don’t do when they’re making a coaching change in college football.”
Not only has Bielema been forthcoming with the team, his players such as Preston are learning a lot from the seasoned coach.
“Coach Bielema is an elite coach,” Preston said. “Some of the things that we’re learning are some things that I’ve never been exposed to, and overall the transition has just been awesome.”
For Preston though, the 2021 season would be one that tested every skill he had grown over the years as he was sidelined with an injury.
“I had a small fracture in my leg that I got during camp,” Preston said. “I’d prided myself on being somebody who doesn’t miss practice and who’s always there and trying to be durable.”
This time being sidelined would be an unfortunate new experience for Preston, but his drive to help his team and get back into uniform helped him through that difficult time.
“It was definitely something I hadn’t been accustomed to, I had never been used to being on the sidelines,” Preston said. “I just tried to stay as positive as I could throughout the process. The time is gonna pass through and I’ll be better from it, but it was tough. Just seeing everybody out there competing and putting so much into it, and then you’re off on the sidelines kind of hanging out, that definitely was not enjoyable.”
Preston used the rehabilitation time to pick up on some new habits that helped his recuperation process, and he credits the team’s training staff for helping him along the way.
“There’s a lot of little things you pick up in the training room,” Preston said. “We got a really good staff in there, and doing some of the stuff day in and day out, you learn little things in there that are gonna help you with your recovery process. Something as simple as diet and how to eat right to reduce inflammation in your body, that’s gonna help with your recovery as well.”
When it came to his recovery time, Preston was strictly business, as he wanted nothing more than to get back onto the field.
“I was really just focused on trying to get as healthy as I could as fast as I could,” Preston said. “I had a couple of setbacks during that process, which that’s kind of how it goes. I was really just focused on getting back on the field more than anything.”
When it comes to football, Preston has played many different positions as well, showing off a versatile skill set. In high school he played center, and at Illinois he’s been on special teams, and in a package as a fullback/tight end. This season, his primary duties will be as a long snapper. This role will be a vital position for Illinois’ special teams, and the experience of playing all the different positions has given Preston a lot of knowledge
That’s a good block by @PrestonEngel53 https://t.co/I1GBzV1rUM
— Verdisbrown©️4️⃣6️⃣ (@verdisbrown) November 21, 2020
“Just being in different position rooms just gives you a lot of perspective, and it gives you a lot of knowledge on how to make a room successful,” Preston said. “I’ve seen good rooms, and I’ve seen not as good of rooms. Just being able to take knowledge from each room that I’ve been in and try to help the room be as positive as it can be to be successful, that’s been a big takeaway for me.”
There are many things that can go wrong when a team runs a play, but Preston and his teammates all have the same mindset to get over the mental hump that can grow from these missed opportunities.
“We have a saying in our room, one of one,” Preston said. “Essentially what that means is that play is one play of one play. There is no play that will be like that again. That mentality is something that even though some plays don’t go your way, you have to clear your mind and focus on the next one. You can get caught up thinking about all different kinds of things, and that will ultimately make you play worse on the next play. So being able to be mature enough to understand and figure out what you did wrong and then correct that mistake, that’s a key to be successful, not just in sports, but in life.”
Preston has been on the team for a few seasons now, with his junior year coming up this fall. He’s accrued many positive memories over that time, with one particular standing out: the 2019 Redbox Bowl between the Fighting Illini and the California Golden Bears.
“Just being able to get to that point was good, and obviously we now have higher aspirations than that,” Preston said. “Just going to bowl games and going to places you haven’t been was the most fun, and it’s been an experience. You always want to be playing in the postseason in college football, that’s something that you always strive for.”
After everything he’s been through, there’s probably no one more excited than Engel for the Fighting Illini’s 2022 season to start, and he won’t have to wait much longer. Illinois will host the Wyoming Cowboys on Aug. 27 to kick off the year. For Preston, he can’t wait for the opportunity to step onto the field at Memorial Stadium again.
“This season I’m mostly just looking forward to seeing what we can do compared to last year,” Preston said. “You know we have a different team, we lost a lot of super seniors because of the Covid rules. I think it’s gonna be fun this year, we got a lot of guys who have been waiting to return, so I’m most excited to see how we can do as a team, just to see how all the hard work and the process will pay off.”
Throughout his career, Preston has also watched a lot of NFL, as he believes watching those in the pro leagues will help him develop his skills.
“We watch a lot of NFL film because it’s fun watching guys at the highest level do what they do,” Preston said. “Just being able to take small things from each person’s game, I’ve been watching a lot of NFL long snappers and studying the techniques they use and some of the things they do that makes them so successful. I think when you watch the best, you ultimately get better from it, because you can see things that are working at a high level all the time. Having access to that information and that film is so beneficial, so I do watch it pretty intensely.”
For Preston, he has many different opportunities in life going forward. While a potential pro career could be there for him, he’s currently just enjoying his time at Illinois with his teammates.
“I’m just taking it one step at a time, honestly,” Preston said.
Outside of the game of football, Preston enjoys connecting with the Champaign-Urbana community that’s cheered him on throughout his career. One such way Preston does this is volunteering to help the Tom Jones Challenger League, an organization dedicated to helping children with physical and mental disabilities enjoy various sports by organizing teams for the children to play on. The organization connects with the Illinois athletics department for volunteers, and many student athletes from Illinois volunteer to help the kids play and enjoy sports in a safe environment.
New friends and lots of smiles at tonight's Tom Jones Challenger League All-Star Game#Illini pic.twitter.com/FMDm4xGtHE
— Illinois Athletics (@IlliniAthletics) July 18, 2018
“I try and go out into the community, going out and helping people and trying to be a good person,” Preston said. “I try to help with the Tom Jones Challenger League, they do stuff with student athletes all the time and they’re a good foundation.”
For Preston, the world of sports has always been present in his life. From an early age he has been successful as a gifted multi-sport athlete. This environment has also been with him during one of the toughest periods of his life, but with the skills he’s gathered over the years, he was able to come back better than ever for a sport and team he’s loved since his childhood. Now, Preston will have another opportunity with greatness that’s looming right around the corner, and there’s no one more excited for the kick off of the 2022 season.
