Celebrating his 37th birthday Sunday is former University of Illinois player and current Illini football assistant coach Luke Butkus.
Named to head coach Lovie Smith’s staff on March 10, Butkus returned to the Champaign-Urbana campus as offensive line coach. He also served in that capacity during the 2012 season for coach Tim Beckman.
An Illini player from 1997-2001, Butkus served as a co-captain his senior year with Kurt Kittner, Brandon Moore and Bobby Jackson. That team went 10-2, winning the Big Ten title and playing LSU in the Sugar Bowl. The native of Steger, Ill., earned third-team All-America honors as a senior.