CHAMPAIGN – Shortly after Ron Turner took over as Illinois coach, his staff started to go through tapes of the returning players.

No coach had as much fun as defensive coordinator Tim Kish. His list included future starters Danny Clark, Eric Guenther and Michael Young. And he found a fourth he liked about as much as the other three, Robert Franklin.

"He's got unlimited potential," Kish said. "He's slowly learning how to unwrap that."

The Illinois coaches want Franklin on the field as much as possible. Kish said he briefly thought about using a four-linebacker defense.

As a starter or as a reserve, Franklin will see plenty of action. He backs up Guenther at middle linebacker and Clark at outside linebacker. He is a starter when the team goes to its nickel (five defensive backs) package. He is on every special team except punt return. He is the team's goalline fullback.

"Every time he goes on the field, it's going to plus us," Kish said. "He's your utility infielder. It's going to be hard to keep him off the field."

Swinging between outside and middle linebacker is no problem for Franklin. At Mehlville (Mo.) High School, he played all three linebacker spots.

He doesn't have a position preference. Whichever gets him in the game is fine with Franklin.

"I'm a man who loves contact," Franklin said. "Because of my speed and my size, I can play both of them."

There are differences between the positions. The middle linebacker doesn't have a defensive lineman in front of him to fend off blockers. Middle linebackers have to deal with linemen, fullbacks and tight ends, all trying to take them out of the play.

The outside linebacker has defensive linemen serving as protection, giving him room to roam.

"Danny's the free floater," Franklin said. "He's the guy with the suit on. Eric's the guy with the hard hat. I have to be both of them."

The jobs are mentally taxing. Other players can worry about one position. Franklin needs to know two.

He struggled with mental errors at times during the '97 season. In the summer, Franklin dutifully studied the two positions. The coaches have noticed his improvement.

"He has good awareness at both those positions," Kish said. "There's a little bit of difference between the two, but not that much that it's significant enough for him to be uncomfortable with it."

In '99, Franklin's responsibilities might be cut. Guenther is a senior and Franklin is the likely successor.

"I'm excited about it," Franklin said.

And Franklin is excited about Kish's defense. When he signed with Lou Tepper's team, the Illini played a read and react style. Now, they're more aggressive.

"They told us we were going to bump and run, blitz," Franklin said. "We don't want to give the quarterback all day to throw. We want to play on their side of the ball. To us, that's real attractive. I love blitzing."

He'll be blitzing from two positions in '98. Or more.