Bret Bielema Takes Reins of Illinois Football

#151      

Illini-Rule

I
Illini-Rule
I agree with whoever said the important part will be the coaches he brings in and if they can recruit first and coach them second. At first I was underwhelmed. But. I will give him and Josh a chance. I have no other choice, I'm a 57 year old, life long, die hard Illini fan. I've read enough about Bret to think there is 50/50 chance he will be more successful than our last coach. I'm excited to think we may have a good defense for a change.
 
#152      

LJ22

L
Chicago, IL
LJ22
Cairo said:
Ferentz and Saban are pretty good.
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Some did find success coaching college teams, yes, and some did not (Weis...). Its pretty safe to say very few have had successful NFL coaching careers.
 
#153      

IlliniReb

I
Dallas-Fort Worth
IlliniReb
ChicagoKid said:
Yep - I am out of here. They hired the wrong Illinois native. Burt imploded at Arkansas and St. Louis coaches loathe him. In addition, we paid him a Top 20 salary for no reason - there was zero competition to get him. We are about to be Wisconsin Jr. led by a coach with an Iowa Hawkeyes tattoo.

Enjoy this one y'all. See you on the dark side of the moon.
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Buh bye
 
#155      

NJJ871

N
NJJ871
ChicagoKid said:
Yep - I am out of here. They hired the wrong Illinois native. Burt imploded at Arkansas and St. Louis coaches loathe him. In addition, we paid him a Top 20 salary for no reason - there was zero competition to get him. We are about to be Wisconsin Jr. led by a coach with an Iowa Hawkeyes tattoo.

Enjoy this one y'all. See you on the dark side of the moon.
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This hire is already paying huge dividends! Thanks JW!
 
#159      

Deleted member 186590

D
Guest
Deleted member 186590
One thing for sure- it’s a good year to get a bunch of transfers and go get players to fit your scheme quickly

I'm cautiously optimistic we can be competitive in the big ten next year
 
#161      

Kendall Gill’s Uncle

K
Kendall Gill’s Uncle
This site cracks me up. 80% of the people on here watched the MAC championship last night because some random dudes who claim to have insider knowledge were telling them LL was going to be coach and most then proceeded to bash him. Now we hire a guy who has arguably had more head coaching success at the college level than at least our last 4 head coaches and most aren’t happy. Hilarious!
 
#162      

DocMorgan

DocMorgan
DocMorgan
ChicagoKid said:
Yep. Please give me crow. I'm a man, I'll take it. But here's a little parting shot for you, Doc, from the winningest coach in Illinois and the leader of the St. Louis coaching organization.

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When the Illini start getting top notch talent, instead of the 2/3 star athletes he “gives” us, then I will take Sunkett’s opinion into consideration. Until then, no thanks. I would rather get the 3 star linemen from Illinois and watch them become the road traders for Wisconsin Jr.
 
#163      

trtl

T
trtl
SummerofGeorge said:
There is a lot to be said about the motivation that a slice of humble pie can generate. I believe that failure can be our greatest teacher and motivator and his move from Wisconsin to Arkansas certainly had to smack him in the mouth with some humility. I love the fact he is from the state and has quality experience in the league. I know there has been a lot of innuendo thrown out there about personal transgressions which I know nothing about. I assume if there is smoke there is likely fire but I also believe people can grow and change. None of that should ever be tolerated here. Overall, I like the hire and am excited to see how things take shape over the next few weeks and months. Do any of the current coaches stay?
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I really hope Ligashewsky stays
 
#167      

CurbeloYourEnthusiasm

CurbeloYourEnthusiasm
CurbeloYourEnthusiasm
bluemountain said:
A sober and motivated BB is a very good coach.
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The fact Wisconsin is still the best team in the Big 10 West, and we have a coach that wants to PERSONALLY stick it to them because he was not given any credit for their success...man it doesn't get any better than that as far as motivation goes. We hired a brash ball busting coach that has a personal stake in succeeding. I like it. I'm hyped up.
 
#168      

gibb52

G
gibb52
He gets credit for keeping the train rolling at Wisconsin. At Illinois he will have to find a locomotive repair guy as well as a track installation specialist. Completely different skill set. Also looks like he likes lasagna, so there's that as well.

I don't love it, but don't hate it either. Looking forward to seeing what he can do here.
 
#169      

trtl

T
trtl
ChicagoKid said:
Yep - I am out of here. They hired the wrong Illinois native. Burt imploded at Arkansas and St. Louis coaches loathe him. In addition, we paid him a Top 20 salary for no reason - there was zero competition to get him. We are about to be Wisconsin Jr. led by a coach with an Iowa Hawkeyes tattoo.

Enjoy this one y'all. See you on the dark side of the moon.
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Wow, very dramatic send-off.
 
#170      

JJE

JJE
Bethalto, IL
JJE
ChicagoKid said:
Yep. Please give me crow. I'm a man, I'll take it. But here's a little parting shot for you, Doc, from the winningest coach in Illinois and the leader of the St. Louis coaching organization.

View attachment 6849
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20201219_100106.jpg

So if you keep reading he says he sends top players to Illinois, but the two players he sent to Illinois played 15+ years ago. BB is going to have to prove a lot to Illinois high school coaches, but ESL plays too many games to seriously care what they think about who we hire.
 
#171      

trtl

T
trtl
goorblue said:
Intriguing hire. Perhaps his time in the NFL allowed him to reassess and rehab his life. I trust JW. BB is part of the Hayden Fry coaching tree which is incredible. Barry Alvarez, Bob Stoops, Bill Snyder, Kirk Ferentz, Jay Norvell, Jim Leavitt and many others. Though not directly responsible for reconstruction projects at KSt, Iowa and WI he certainly was a participatory witness to all of those rebuilds. Recruiting: No other candidate on JW's short list could go into a living room a say with authority that I coached future Hall of Famers JJ Watt and Russell Wilson.
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Good point. Have we heard from any of his former players? It would be nice for recruiting purposes to hear that they love him.
 
#172      

Whitewaterr

W
Whitewaterr
ChicagoKid said:
Yep. Please give me crow. I'm a man, I'll take it. But here's a little parting shot for you, Doc, from the winningest coach in Illinois and the leader of the St. Louis coaching organization.

View attachment 6849
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Imagine having such little self-worth as a fan that you let a HS coach boss you around. We aren't beholden to anyone who hasn't delivered in the first place. Stockholm Syndrome?
 
#173      

IlliniShelt

I
IlliniShelt
JJE said:
View attachment 6851
So if you keep reading he says he sends top players to Illinois, but the two players he sent to Illinois played 15+ years ago. BB is going to have to prove a lot to Illinois high school coaches, but ESL plays too many games to seriously care what they think about who we hire.
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Hawthorne came to the beloved over a decade ago. I'm going to miss all the east side kids we haven't gotten over the last ten years