Illinois turns to former Wisconsin coach Bielema
Illinois is turning to a coach who has proved he can win Big Ten championships to try to turn around its struggling football program.
Former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach Bret Bielema agreed to a six-year contract worth $4.2 million a year on Saturday, first reported by Bruce Feldman. Bielema replaces Lovie Smith, fired last Sunday after going 17-39 in his five years in Champaign.
Bielema was 29-34 in five seasons at his last head coaching stop in Arkansas before getting fired after a 4-8 season in 2017. Since then he has coached as an assistant in the NFL in New England and currently with the New York Giants.
Bielema, who grew up in Prophetstown, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Iowa, had a 68-24 record while coaching at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2012. His teams won the Big Ten three times.
His success at Wisconsin came after taking over for Barry Alvarez. At Arkansas, he inherited a program a year removed from a Bobby Petrino scandal and was able to go 7-6, 8-5 and 7-6 in the middle three years against the an SEC West schedule that included some of Mississippi and Mississippi State's best teams in addition to Alabama, Auburn and LSU.
He'll definitely have another chance to rebuild a program at Illinois. The Illini have just 5 winning seasons since 1994 and none since 2011.
Among other candidates, Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman also reportedly interviewed Buffalo coach Lance Leipold, whose team lost Friday night to Ball State in the MAC championship game. Whitman chose to go with a more proven power five coach.
"Illinois and the Big Ten is home for me, and I can't be any more excited about the opportunity in front of me with the Fighting Illini," Bielema said in a statement. "We want to build a program that makes Illini Nation proud and regain the passion that I've seen when Illinois wins. We want the young men playing football in the state of Illinois from Freeport to Cairo and from Quincy to Danville dreaming of wearing the Orange and Blue and playing at Memorial Stadium. I look forward to re-connecting with the high school coaches around the state making it clear we intend to keep our players home."
Bielema is the 26th Illini coach in the 132-year history of the program.
"We will build an outstanding staff for both player development and recruiting," Bielema said. "The University of Illinois has incredible facilities and is known as one of the world's outstanding academic institutions. We will hold the young men on our team responsible both on and off the field while coaching them to be champions in life. Jen and I, along with our girls, are excited to get to Champaign-Urbana and get started on the journey."
At Wisconsin, Bielema led the Badgers to six consecutive bowl games. At Arkansas, Bielema led the Razorbacks to three consecutive bowl games, including victories against Texas in 2014 and Kansas State in 2015.
"Bret Bielema is a proven winner. With three Big Ten championships to his credit, few coaches can match his familiarity with, and success within, the Big Ten Conference," said Whitman. "In our conversations, it became clear to me that he is a lifelong learner who is continually looking to grow and improve, and he has enjoyed unrivaled mentorship from some of the game's most distinguished coaches, including Hayden Fry, Kirk Ferentz, Bill Snyder, Barry Alvarez, and Bill Belichick - all of them current or future Hall of Famers.
"Importantly to me, Bret, a native of our great state, grew up an Illini fan and is committed to seeing the football program at our state's flagship grow and prosper," continued Whitman. "Bret's blue collar work ethic and genuine, authentic manner will allow him to form strong connections to his players and staff and positive relationships in our community and our state. These qualities, combined with his commitment to education and his track record of success, give me great confidence in his leadership of our football program."
Bielema played for and coached under Hall-of-Famer Fry, helping the Hawkeyes share the 1990 Big Ten title with Illinois. After two years as a graduate assistant and six seasons as linebacker coach at Iowa, Bielema spent two years as co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State under Snyder, helping the Wildcats win the 2003 Big 12 Championship. Two seasons later, he was named defensive coordinator at Wisconsin under Alvarez and moved into the head coaching role of the Badgers in 2006 when Alvarez retired.
Bielema has spent the last three seasons in the NFL. His first two seasons were with the New England Patriots as a consultant to Belichick in 2018 and as the team's defensive line coach in 2019, when the Patriots won the AFC East with a 12-4 record and had the NFL's best defense. In Bielema's first season with the Patriots, New England was 11-5 and defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. He has been the outside linebackers coach and senior assistant for the New York Giants during the 2020 season.
Bielema was a defensive lineman at Iowa from 1989-92, when he was a four-time letterman under Fry. After joining the team as a walk-on, Bielema earned a scholarship after his first year, started as a junior and was named a team captain for his senior season. Bielema graduated from Iowa in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in marketing.
Following his graduation, Bielema signed a free-agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks and ended his playing career in 1994 as a member of the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League.
Bielema begins his duties at Illinois immediately and will attend the game Saturday as a guest of Whitman's when Illinois plays at Penn State.