Illinois State uses rare FCS development resources to recruit QB Cole Stephens

Illinois State is betting that support staff can be a recruiting weapon. The Redbirds are selling Cole Stephens on a setup that includes a football-only strength coach in Matt Nicholson and a full-time sports nutrition director in Sarah Wright, a package designed to look more like an FBS operation than a typical FCS stop.

That pitch matters because Illinois State is not chasing a one-off commitment. Brock Spack said the Redbirds finished their 2026 signing class on Feb. 4, adding four high school prospects and bringing six transfers already on campus for spring drills. The class included two quarterbacks and players from 10 states, a sign that Illinois State is using both volume and infrastructure to keep the roster stocked as the MVFC grind intensifies.

The staffing behind that message is unusually specific. Nicholson is in his first season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for Illinois State athletics and works directly with Redbird football after five seasons as Montana’s strength coach. Wright has been in place since July 2023 as the program’s Director of Sports Nutrition and oversees fueling, nutrition education and counseling for all 17 Illinois State sports. For a recruit like Stephens, that means daily development is not an afterthought; it is part of the sales pitch.

Illinois State also upgraded the quarterback room itself. Dunn was hired as quarterbacks coach on March 11 after three seasons at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Under Dunn, the Eau Claire offense improved each season and averaged 26 points and nearly 340 total yards per game in 2025. That gives Illinois State another talking point when it tells a quarterback that the program can develop him on and off the field.

Stephens brings the kind of production that makes that pitch worth making. The 2027 quarterback from Greencastle Senior School in Indiana is listed by Prep Redzone at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds. Last season he produced 3,747 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns and a 70 percent completion rate, while the outlet also noted a quick release, good deep-ball touch and the mobility to escape pressure. Prep Redzone said he had 5,400 career passing yards by Jan. 14, 2025.

For Illinois State, the recruiting battle is about more than landing a talented quarterback. It is about proving that an FCS program in Normal can offer development resources, coaching continuity and performance support that shrink the gap between subdivision football and the sport’s bigger-spending tiers.