CHAMPAIGN - Ron Zook rattled off a laundry list of check points he'd like to address during 15 Illini spring football practice sessions, the first of which was held on a cold, rainy Tuesday. But he kept coming back to two of them.

"The two biggest things we have to come out of spring with is, No. 1, ball security. We cannot turn the ball over," Illinois' head coach said Tuesday. "The other is that we can't give up big plays. If we can get markedly better in those two areas, we'll be a better football team."

Zook is looking for improvement after Illinois finished 5-7 in 2008, one year after posting nine victories and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl.

"I think we all learned a lot last year," Zook said. "I learned an awful lot last year. Our coaches learned a lot and, more important, our players learned a lot.

"If we can take that from last year and learn, we have a chance to make a lot of progress."

Zook said he begins spring trying to remember some of those lessons from last season.

"There are things I would have changed. We got away from what's important. We started worrying about winning instead of letting wins and losses take care of themselves.

"I said last year that good football programs do it every year. I also said last year that we still had a long way to go, that we weren't there yet. It's part of the growing process.

"It's learning how to win and handling it and understanding that everyone is out for you. It's the little things you have to do to not turn the ball over and not give up big plays."

Illinois turned the ball over 26 times last season while taking it away just 20.

"(I want us) to play with the passion we had with J Leman and Justin Harrison and Martin O'Donnell," Zook said, naming stars from the 2007 Rose Bowl team. "That's what I feel coming back and that's what I am excited about."

Zook said missing out on a bowl trip should serve as a motivator for the entire team. Watching on TV, he said, is a poor substitute for being there.

"They understand," he said. "They got that taste in their mouth of what it's like, and that taste of what it's not like."

Zook said the presence of three new coaches had added a spark to the team. Mike Schultz is the new offensive coordinator. Keith Gilmore is the new defensive line coach. And Joe Gilbert takes over on the offensive line.

Returning assistant Kurt Beathard becomes the quarterbacks coach and is working closely with senior Juice Williams and backups Eddie McGee and Jacob Charest.

One reason Beathard was named quarterbacks coach is his familiarity with Williams and the ability to continue with terminology that Williams has used during his first three years as Illinois' starter.

"Kurt was a quarterback as a player and he's been a quarterbacks coach all of his career," Zook said. "I just felt the less new things that Juice has to learn, the better he will be. I felt it was the best way to go."

Zook also said three players will sit out spring drills with recovering from injury.

Daryle Ballew, a sophomore defensive tackle, and cornerback Miami Thomas, will sit out with shoulder injuries. Thomas, Zook said, is nearly ready to go.

And safety Donsay Hardeman is out recuperating from a neck injury.

Defensive tackle Sirod Williams (knee) will practice although Zook said he won't push the senior. And linebacker Martez Wilson, who was stabbed in an off-campus incident in December, is "100 percent" and has been for about six weeks.

In a bit of a surprise, Wilson opened up the first practice Tuesday as the starter at middle linebacker and will get a long look as the possible replacement for Decatur's Brit Miller.

Zook confirmed that defensive tackle Josh Brent of Bloomington is suspended until he clears up legal issues from a DUI charge and a charge of driving on a suspended license.

The team will scrimmage at Oak Park River Forest High School at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 11. That scrimmage is open to the public.

The annual spring game is at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 25 at Memorial Stadium.

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983