I've always been the one who likes to go out there and be the aggressor. He was recruited out of high school in Rockford, Ill., by the Illini, and others, as a tight end. I like to be a run-stopper. That's my little attitude, right there. Polk can expect to be a primary run-stopper next season, when he succeeds Jay Foreman as the No. 1 middle linebacker.
Nothing is certain, of course.
He'll have to earn the job this spring. But there's no reason to think he won't have a Blackshirt in the fall. The day he is handed one, or finds one in his locker, will be emotional. It's really going to mean a lot to me. Since I got here, that Blackshirt has meant a lot.