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Romeoville's Caleb Bailey, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior linebacker/running back, is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. A leader on defense, Bailey has 92 tackles and will start taking official visits next month.

Do you have a dream school?
I have at least seven offers, but my dream school is USC.

Is that one of the offers?
No. Mainly it’s been Mid-American Conference schools.

What attracts you to USC and have you had any contact with them?
I haven’t, but I used to live out there when I was younger and we moved to Illinois when I was 7. The talent that goes there and (a lot of) the talent that comes into the NFL comes from there. And I like Southern California in general.

In college, do you think you’re going to do offense or defense?
Primarily defense, because my first position is linebacker. But as long as I get on the field, it really doesn’t matter.

How old were you when you started playing football?
My freshman year, when I was about 14. It was the first time I ever played. I moved from southern Illinois and they didn’t have any youth football down there. My mom was a single mother, and youth football was a few towns away and she could never drive me there. It was the thing I wanted to do, but just couldn’t.

Do you remember that first football practice?
It came naturally to me. I tried to go as hard and as fast as I could because I had just moved here. I was never nervous about getting hit.

What’s the best part about being a linebacker?
You get to hit people and you get to make plays. It’s one of the main positions on defense and you’re a leader.