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CHAMPAIGN – You might think Eddie McGee is biding his time, waiting for 2010. You'd be wrong.

In 2010, McGee will be a senior quarterback at Illinois and Juice Williams will be working on his pro career. But McGee isn't going to forget about the 2009 season.

"To me, that's a little selfish, thinking, 'When he leaves, it's going to be my turn,' " McGee said. "That's not the way I think. It's whatever is better for the team."

Illinois coach Ron Zook likes to hear McGee talking about the team. And it doesn't surprise him.

"If you watch him during the game, whether it's on the sidelines or in the game, he is a passionate, emotional leader," Zook said. "He's what you want. It would be crazy to say you don't want to be the starting quarterback, because he does. But he wants this team to win. He's there to help Juice. He's there to step in if he has to. He wants to help this football team any way he can. He's going to play a lot of football."

McGee and redshirt freshman Jacob Charest are serving as Williams' backups during the spring. At Camp Rantoul, they will be joined by incoming freshman Nathan Scheelhaase.

It will be the strongest group of quarterbacks since he joined the Illini in 2006, McGee said.

"Jacob has got a great arm, great touch, great accuracy, great everything," McGee said. "Juice is the man. Nathan coming in, he's a good talent. I think the four of us, it's great."

"We're blessed at that position," Zook said.

The quarterbacks are at different stages. McGee is entering his fourth year in the program. He knows the offense well, but has areas that need to get better.

"My main goal is to work on my decision-making and take care of the ball," McGee said. "It's coming along."

McGee and Charest have a new position coach (Kurt Beathard) and a new offensive coordinator (Mike Schultz). The transition from Mike Locksley has gone well, McGee said.

"The process with the playbook has gone how it always has," McGee said. "We're keeping the same stuff with a little tweaks here and there, but nothing major."

Charest redshirted in 2008, but traveled with the team to away games and learned the life of a college quarterback.

His quarterback buddies warned him about spring practice. Maybe a bit too much.

"They made it sound way worse than it really is," Charest said. "It's actually kind of fun. It's definitely not 6 a.m's. This is 10 times better than 6 a.m.'s. You're not just running. You're doing what you came in here to do."

Charest has added weight and knowledge since his first season. He's 30 pounds heavier than when he arrived.

"Most of it's good weight," Charest said.

Knowing that Williams is in front of him for the 2009 season, Charest has a specific goal.

"To get in here and learn the offense so that when it is my time, I'll be able to go out and take over from where he left off," Charest said.

Each day, Charest's understanding of the offense improves.

"When I came in, I had no idea what I was doing," Charest said. "When I come in here every day (during the spring), it's like, 'Hey, I know what's going on.' It's a great feeling."

At Camp Rantoul, Scheelhaase will be the new guy. The Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst star plans to come to campus in early June and absorb as much as he can during the summer.

"The coaches can't be out there on the field with you," Scheelhaase said. "But when you've got guys like Juice and Eddie and Jacob, they're going to show you the ropes and show you what you need to know. It's really amazing with how much they look after each other and how much they root for each other. The quarterbacks are each other's biggest fans and that's something really drew me to it and something I'm going to be glad to be a part of."

Scheelhaase understands he won't be jumping into the starting lineup. For the first time in years, he will be sitting on the sidelines while the game is going on.

Like McGee and Charest, Scheelhaase will compete for playing time. Williams got on the field as a freshman, so it is possible to play early.

"There's a lot to learn with the offense," Scheelhaase said. "The quicker I can learn things, the quicker I can get back to just doing what I do on the field. It's going to be exciting to get out there and see how I am compared to those guys.

"You want to go as high as you can, try to do as best as you can and see where that gets you."

Scheelhaase knows he won't be wearing his high school number as a freshman. No. 7 belongs to Williams. So, Scheelhaase will take No. 2.

"We'll see how 2 goes," Scheelhaase said. "If it works for me, if I feel good with it, I'll roll with it."