Bielema Take Illini Program To Rare Place: Stable Footing

Oct. 31—COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In its first 136 years playing college football, Illinois had exactly two coaches who lasted more than 10 seasons. Two?!?!

Bob Zuppke remains the program's leader in seasons (29) and wins (131). Ray Eliot is still second at 18 years and 83 victories.

Nobody else has made it a decade. With the two exceptions, the Illinois program had become the epitome of instability. The place where head coaching careers go to die.

Unless ... Perhaps .... Maybe ... The current guy changes it. Bret Bielema is more than halfway home to 10 seasons, coaching in his sixth.

With a long contract and the support of his youngish athletic director, seems that Bielema is in it for the long haul.

When Maryland parted ways earlier this month with coach Mike Locksley, Bielema moved to fifth on the Big Ten coaching seniority list. Crazy.

The godfather and all-time Big Ten wins leader is former Bielema boss Kirk Ferentz. Iowa's ageless wonder is in his 28th season in Iowa City with no announced plans to walk away.

Always-annoying-but-oddly-successful P.J. Fleck comes next. He is in his 10th year at Minnesota.

Fleck is followed by Ohio State's Ryan Day (eight), Rutgers' Greg Schiano (seven in his second stint) and Bielema.

A note on Schiano: he worked 11 seasons the first time in Piscataway, but his tenure is not continuous. Plus, I'm not sure his current run will extend to 2027. This year's team is 2-5 with games remaining against Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Penn State. Unclear if Schiano survives without a bowl bid. But his monstrous buyout might keep him on the job.

Tough sledding

After piling up 19 wins the previous two seasons, 2026 has not been easy for the Illini.

Illinois dropped close home games against Duke and Purdue, then did the expected and lost at Ohio State to fall to 2-3.

Hopes for a third consecutive bowl game — for the first time at Illinois in more than 30 years — seemed to be fading.

But a win at Michigan State, in overtime of course, and a home upset against Oregon has put Illinois back on the bowl radar.

Win at Maryland on Saturday afternoon, which is far from a certainty, and Team Bielema will be one victory from bowl eligibility.

The closing schedule that seemed so imposing when ranked Oregon was on it has loosened just bit. Sure, games against ranked UCLA and Northwestern will be challenging, but next Friday's home game against Nebraska looks winnable. The Cornhuskers are doing their usual late-season fade under coach Matt Rhule.

Illinois has survived a few bumps this season, including the needed departure of defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck and a season-ending injury for quarterback Katin Houser.

Bielema has been mostly solid in hiring assistant coaches at Illinois. The two misses were Hauck and former offensive coordinator Tony Petersen. Bielema more than made up for that hire by bringing in Barry Lunney Jr., one of the best offensive coordinators in my 38 years covering the team.

Brighter future

Illinois football from 2011 to 2020 was a wreck. The team had four head coaches, including five wasted seasons with Lovie Smith in charge.

Illinois can't get those years back. But it can support the guy who fixed it. Bielema has a chance for a fourth winning season and fourth bowl bid in his first six seasons. Only John Mackovic had a better start to his Illinois career.

Bielema has nothing but full support from his players and assistant coaches.

I caught up with a few of them this week, and they were effusive with their praise.

Archie McDaniel is in his third season working with the Illinois linebackers.

He said Bielema's status helps the program in many ways.

"Stability in our profession really represents belief in what you're doing." McDaniel said. "When you go into a situation where they've committed to your head coach in a way we have here with Coach B., it just lets you know they believe in what we're doing, believe in the direction. Any time you've got a lot of people believing in you, additional support comes and it has a chance to be something beautiful long term. I really love it."

McDaniel knew about Bielema before he joined the Illinois staff. They have mutual friends who were willing to share.

"It was a consensus answer that it would be a great opportunity," McDaniel said.

Defensive backs coach Corey Parker points to Bielema's consistency as a major strength. Bielema talks to his staff about learning from both success and failure.

"You're around a head coach that is ultimately a library, Parker said. "You can go and get any book that you want from that library and you can pull from it."

Parker said Bielema's stable status is a huge plus when talking to recruits and their parents.

"No question," Parker said. "With as fluid as college football is nowadays, parents want to know who the head coach is and what type of man he is. Then they find out, 'That man is from the state of Illinois too.' Having all that information really helps out parents in recruiting. They've got a clear vision of what Coach B. is about."

Illinois defensive lineman Pat Farrell was sold on Bielema early in the recruiting process.

"As soon as I met Coach B., I was like, 'Yeah, I want to go there,'" Farrell said. "There was no doubt in my mind."

Farrell got the Illinois offer during a Zoom meeting and was an immediate yes.

"He's awesome," Farrell said. "It's awesome to have a guy you can lean on. He's been in this business a long time. It's easy to come to him with questions and get them answered."