The last time Greg Colby roamed the sidelines for the Illinois football team, he helped lead the Illini to six bowl appearances in seven seasons. Back then, he was an assistant coach for outside linebackers and special teams back in 1988-95 and was a part of Illinois’ Big Ten Championship team in 1989.

Colby is returning to his alma mater, where he was a three-year starter. He was named Illinois’ new defensive line coach Tuesday.

“Greg Colby brings a wealth of coaching experience and Fighting Illini historical football knowledge to our staff,” Illinois head coach Tim Beckman said in a news release. “(He) was a great student-athlete at Illinois, was on the coaching staff here for eight years and has worked at several different successful programs since. He has built some outstanding relationships with his extensive recruiting experience in the Chicagoland area. Greg understands what it means to be a Fighting Illini football player and what it takes to be successful here. I have no doubt our players will respond very positively to him as a coach and as a person.”

Colby joins new offensive line coach Jim Bridge and offensive coordinator Bill Cubit as new members to the Illinois coaching staff. The team now only has a wide receiver coach vacancy to fill its 2013 staff. Illinois is now confirming that former wide receiver coach Billy Gonzalez left the program. Gonzalez served as a co-offensive coordinator last season but was demoted when Cubit was hired.

Colby resigned as the head coach at Millersville University, where he was 11-44 in five seasons. 

He brings previous Big Ten experience along with his time at Illinois, having been the defensive coordinator at Northwestern from 2002-07 and an assistant at Michigan State — where he worked under Nick Saban — in charge of the defensive line and outside linebackers and was a co-special teams coordinator from 1995-97.

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to come back,” Colby said. “When I left and went to Michigan State in 1995, it was the intention to improve my coaching skills and come back here at some point in time, possibly finish my career here, and it has worked out. I’m going to do everything I can to help Coach Beckman take this program back to where it belongs, and in the short time I’ve been back on campus, I’m very confident that’s going to happen.”

Colby is also a native of central Illinois. He grew up in Danville and graduated from Danville Schlarman High School in 1970.

During his four years as a player, Illinois football went 19-24-1.

Colby is given the task of replacing former defensive line coach Keith Gilmore, which won’t be easy. During Gilmore’s four seasons with the Illini, he helped coach and nurture NFL talent on the defensive line, including first-round picks Whitney Mercilus and Corey Liuget, and prospective draftees like Akeem Spence and Michael Buchanan.

Gilmore left last month for a job with North Carolina.

Jamal can be reached at [email protected] and @jamalcollier.