Confidence surging, Aidan Laughery looks to build on breakout finish to 2024 season
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois running back Aidan Laughery enters the 2025 season with a quiet but unmistakable swagger—earned through patience, perseverance, and a spectacular regular-season finale that turned potential into production.
The redshirt junior and hometown product from Gibson City–Melvin-Sibley High School heads into fall camp as a key figure in a deep Illinois backfield. He carries the confidence of a breakout performance against Northwestern that proved everything the Illini coaching staff had long believed he could become.
“Finally being able to have a breakout performance and put on display what I’ve always known I’m capable of doing—it was a sense of relief for me personally,” Laughery said of his 172-yard, three-touchdown effort on just 12 carries. “Gratitude for my teammates for making it possible. Gratitude for my coaches so that moment could become a reality. I always knew the opportunity was there. You just have to go seize it, and it came to fruition.”
Laughery’s performance capped his most productive season to date. He rushed for 589 yards and four touchdowns on 97 carries and led the team with 6.1 yards per attempt. More importantly, he stayed healthy after injuries slowed him in 2023.
His strong finish validated the Illini staff’s long-term belief in the 5-foot-11, 205-pound back, whose speed, vision, and balance made him a prized in-state recruit.
Running backs coach Thad Ward saw it coming.
“We knew that was coming, that it was headed in that direction—he just needed to be healthy,” Ward said. “We knew what we were seeing in spring practice and in fall practice. Sometimes it takes 10,000 reps to master a skill. I think he started coming into his own, and you saw the benefits of those reps—those game reps, Big Ten reps.”
Laughery’s rise carries even more meaning because of his roots in central Illinois. For the local kid who dreamed of playing at Memorial Stadium, each carry in orange and blue means more.
“Being in the area still and being around my community, when I got home and saw people coming up and talking to me—it’s special,” Laughery said. “I’m so thankful for such a supportive community. It’s definitely special and it’s a rewarding feeling.”
Illinois opens training camp Friday evening at Memorial Stadium. Expectations remain high after a 10–3 campaign in 2024, capped by a Cheez-It Citrus Bowl win over South Carolina.
As the Illini prepare for 2025 under head coach Bret Bielema, they’ll lean on a talented trio of backs—Laughery, a healthy Kaden Feagin, and sophomore Ca’Lil Valentine. But Laughery’s confidence and late-season momentum could serve as both an emotional spark and a tactical anchor for the group.
“Confidence is contagious,” Ward said. “We had been building and instilling that in him the whole time. For him to go out and have a great performance like that—like we knew he could—on a big platform, it just works.”
If that late-season burst was any indication, Aidan Laughery might just be getting started.
