Lovie out and bielema in at illinois football

Bret Bielema & Josh Whitman

The winds of change have swept through the University of Illinois football program. Lovie Smith was relieved of his duties as head coach on December 13, and Bret Bielema introduced on Saturday (12/19). 

I have intended to write about both since then, but there seems so much going on... you know... yada-yada...

I was not overly excited when Lovie was hired in March of 2016 - just days after new AD Josh Whitman took the reigns. I liked the Whitman hire, and I was hopeful Lovie could be a good coach. While I admire the heck out of him as a person, I just never thought he had the personality to be successful at the college level. I know he'd won a Super Bowl with the Bears, but pro football and college are completely different animals. It turns out I was right. While he did a lot to get Illinois football out of the dumpster fire they were in, I think relationships around the program (with high school coaches, recruits, and staff) had soured to a point of no return. It seemed there was no alternative to letting him go. When no one from his staff participated in an Illinois High School Football Coaches meeting a couple weeks ago, that seemed the nail in the coffin to me - covid year or not.

The search for a successor was swift and a lot of names were tossed about. Luke Fickell, Gus Malzahn, and any other already-successful head coach were nothing but a dream for the U of I. People like Lance Leipold, Sean Lewis, Jeff or Todd Monken, Marcus Freeman, Jim Leonhard all sounded like good possibilities. I had a feeling from the beginning it would be Bret Bielema though. He had success as a head coach at Wisconsin, and even Arkansas before the wheels fell off. The past few years as an assistant (Patriots and Giants) seem to have been good for him too.

Still, when I first heard it was BB, I was not excited. He'd had a history of being known as a jerk and there were rumors of not just a few frat parties and possible compromising situations with coeds in his past. Plus, you know, he doesn't really seem like the young up-and-comer everybody hoped for to rev up the fan base (though he is ONLY 50).

I have to admit, though, after learning more, and seeing a few press conferences/interviews, I am on board! He is from Prophetstown, Illinois, which is a mere 35 miles from where I grew up. He's the son of a pig farmer, and he bleeds down home, homegrown, good-ol'-boy charm (if there is such a thing). I expect he will stick his foot in his mouth every now and then, but he'll also bring a level of passion, enthusiasm, and toughness to the program like they may have never seen. It also sounds like he's been humbled a bit and has a lot he wants to prove. He seems all in with the Illini and now I'm excited.

There are many similarities here to the Brad Underwood hire. Whitman has chosen two grizzled, hard-nose, go-hard-or-go-home guys who in my mind epitomize the quintessential college coach. I'm guessing this comes from his background as a football player himself.

So, we will see how it goes. First he needs to assemble a staff (most believe he was best suited of all to do this at U of I), then decide which players to keep and who to pursue. It's a lot better situation than Lovie came into when he was hired, and Bielema seems genuinely excited to be back in the college game. I hope it works out. 2021 should be a wild year on so many levels!

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Proverbs 16:33

"We toss the coin, but it is the Lord who controls its decision."