Here is the second part of our Q&A with new Illinois head coach Tim Beckman. Check out the first part here.

Your background is on defense. What are you looking for in a defensive coordinator and a scheme on that side of the ball?

Tim Beckman: I think very aggressive. We've got to be able to set a tempo to these offenses, because the offenses are very dynamic. So I think you've got to be flexible on defense and be very aggressive. So those are the things we look for in a defensive coordinator.

Despite your defensive credentials, your Toledo team was known for its offense. Is that just because of what you saw in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State?

TB: That's exactly right. That gave me a lot of gray hair. Being in the Big 12 with the type of talent there was on the offensive side of the football, I think it was a great opportunity to be able to see some things I hadn't seen in the Big Ten when I was at Ohio State, or even in the MAC. Those were things we knew could make us successful at Toledo, and to be able to install those things made us successful.

Does all that scoring hurt your defense? The Rockets gave up 63 points in back-to-back games this season.

TB: The situation we had in those two football games on defense is not anything you want to have. But if you look at the way we played against Ohio State and really against Boise State for much of that football game, it really proved we could play pretty good defense against the great ones. We had a couple of situations that happened during those two weeks when we gave up all those points, with injuries and suspensions and things of that nature that probably weren't as favorable defensively as you'd want.

There's a theory that it's easier to build a great offense than a great defense in the MAC because of the talent that's available. Do you buy into that?

TB: I think we did have a pretty good defense. We got hit with some big injury bugs early in the season. We didn't even play with our starting safety the whole year, and we lost our all-conference defensive end after he only played one game in the conference. Then we had a suspension to a player who was a great secondary player for us. We ended up playing a lot of freshmen during those two weeks. You can definitely see that was not beneficial to us in those two games.

Do you think an exciting style of offense will help build a buzz for your program early on among the fan base?

TB: I hope so. We might have a great offensive scheme, a great defensive scheme and a great special-teams scheme, but it still comes down to fitting that into the players that you have and being able to be successful with that. That first year at Toledo, we were good on offense and good on defense but it wasn't anything outstanding. But we were able to do some things with the talent we had. That's the same thing we're going to do here. You know, whatever we do best at quarterback is the thing we're going to do to be successful at quarterback. Same thing defensively. If have guys that can blitz, we're going to blitz more. If we don't, then we have to do some moving and those types of things. So, yeah, it's going to be an exciting brand of ball, but we're going to have to do some things to fit the type of personnel we have here.

How much does coaching at the MAC force you to learn how to maximize your talent?

TB: I think at any place you have to do that. We were able to play some freshmen at Toledo who happened to be juniors this year. When you have a player like Eric Page and are able to get him the football, that was huge for us. We recruited him our first year and knew he could be a special player.

Illinois has had trouble finding any kind of consistent high-level success. As you looked into this program, did you find any reasons why that is?

TB: When I researched this program, it was also about researching the area and the location. I commend Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa and some of those people who've done a great job of getting their programs rolling. And I believe the same things can be done here at Illinois.

Is Illinois a sleeping giant, so to speak? Can you win big here?

TB: Sure. With the amount of people located around here and the type of football played in this area and some great facilities ... the bottom line for me is and always has been is the people. I'm blessed for our leader to be [athletic director] Mike Thomas -- he's done a great job and has been successful everywhere he's been. I knew that was very, very important, as well as the support of the administration. It's about people to me, and there are great people here.

As you watch practice, are you already evaluating for next year, or will you give everybody a blank slate until you get your hands on them?

TB: No, I told them today, all these juniors, what a great résumé builder . Because that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm watching film, I'm seeing how hard you practice, seeing what type of guy you are, what type of tempo you are. I think it's very important to see them be successful.

You talked about meeting the juniors earlier this week. What did you say to Whitney Mercilus about his future?

TB: I talked to all of them. I realize that we've got some very, very good juniors here on this football team. As I told them, I'd love and cherish the opportunity to coach them for one more season. We'll make those decisions when they need to be made and see what some of the expectations from the NFL are.

Finally, you've talked about this being a dream come true. What did getting a Big Ten head-coaching job mean to you?

TB: As a young man, I used to go to every practice. My mother would take us to every practice so we could see our father. From small Adrian College to the pros with the Cleveland Browns. When somebody asks you why you become a football coach, well, it's because it's what my father taught me. It's a great profession. It's not always about X's and O's but about kids and their lives. It's a great opportunity, and I'm humbled to be the 23rd head football coach here at Illinois.