Coaching Carousel (Football)

[HensonHall71]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to be underwhelmed by this hire - an FCS coach who's never been a DC and is over 60 is one of the least exciting hires

On the flip side - Brett knew this opening was in the works for a long time and had "over 50 candidates" he reviewed - so there would be a large amount of interest in the job based on our recent success and what we pay our top assistants, so I can't imagine this was a "let's take what we can get" scenario like it may have been in years past. So, if this is who Brett wants, I'm excited for that. Brett also may want to put his own stamp on the defense next year and wanted someone who's philosophy/scheme fits what he wants to do - and he found what he thought would be the right fit.

The fact that it's not a logical hire makes me even more excited by it - it makes almost no sense on paper, which means Brett heard something in the interview process that got him excited and that is good enough for me

 

[Captain 14]

Bobby is hated in half of Montana (the MSU half ... think the Bruce Pearl type of hate), and beloved in the other half. So he must have done something right.
A controversial choice in some circles when the Griz rehired him a few years back. I read somewhere in his first stint with the Griz in 2003 he was selected over Brian Kelly.

 

[TheDrinkinLincoln]

I actually would anticipate our NT's being a little smaller and quicker, they'll be required to slant and stunt a lot more

Yup, I would anticipate smaller and faster, 3-3-5 is a single gap shoot and disrupt style defense in the front. Our secondary I think is especially suited for this with Scott and Baily coming back as they are going to be essential for shutting down runs to the outside.

 

[OskieWowWow]

I have no idea what some of the people on this Board are talking about. I think this is an excellent hire by Bret. We saw Chip Kelly step down from being the head coach at UCLA to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State and now he’s the offensive coordinator at Northwestern. Chip said he just wants to coach and doesn’t want the responsibilities of being the head coach .Hauck Elliot and now retired Iowa State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock are experts in the 3-3-5 defensive. No team in the Big Ten is running the 3-3-5 defense. Bret was right Illinois had to make a change on defense. Everyone in the Big Ten is running some version of the Ryan Walters defense. Purdue and Washington are running the exact same defense we were.

Gary Patterson was a successful HC and is now the USC DC (way different style of defense though). Probably won't be an HC again. Not too unlike our hire

 

[therealmiket86]

I actually would anticipate our NT's being a little smaller and quicker, they'll be required to slant and stunt a lot more

100% I think all 11 guys will have speed. We won’t have a big NT that clogs up space

 

[Chiieeff]

Y'all better keep your hands off of our players. Go poach from another team

 

[the juiceman cometh]

Gary Patterson was a successful HC and is now the USC DC (way different style of defense though). Probably won't be an HC again. Not too unlike our hire

He also had 4 different DC jobs before taking over as TCU HC. Doesn't that make it at least a little different?

 

[floorburn]

Y'all better keep your hands off of our players. Go poach from another team

I’d rather poach Montana State…give me Taco Dowler and Adam Jones…that would really help the Griz! FTG! (j/k)

 

[jamarvelous31]

Decades of Illini HC hires were examples of fighting the last war:

Moeller (Boring, ineffective ‘70s Michigan offense) to Pass-happy innovator White

White (NCAA/academic/conduct issues) to Mr. clean and corporate Mackovic

Mackovic (Only saw us as a stepping stone) to Wants to be here forever Tepper

Tepper (Never could get the offense figured out) to NFL offensive coordinator Turner

Turner (Pro guy not really suited to recruiting) to Master recruiter Zook

Zook (Game management/ player control issues) to Supposed accountability and team builder Beckman

Beckman (Total disaster) to Experience, respect and stability of Lovie



I don’t think Bret’s hire was any specific reaction to Lovie, which might be why it has worked.

Lovie not a college guy to Burt the consumate college guy.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Gary Patterson was a successful HC and is now the USC DC (way different style of defense though). Probably won't be an HC again. Not too unlike our hire

Saw that, super interested to see how that goes, Lincoln Riley rent-a-DC's have a very spotty track record.

But to keep banging on this point, what Chip Kelly and Gary Patterson have in common was that they were, both before they were head coaches and even as head coaches, schemer-coordinator X's and O's legends. Masters of the chalkboard.

Bobby Hauck is the kind of coach that when he became available the last time got the AHC/ST title. Everyone knows that stereotype. "Leader of men".

Is grinding tape for that fraction of an edge at the tactical pinnacle of the college game his skillset?

If we HAD hired Hauck as AHC/ST, a position we also have open, and he HADN'T just said publicly "I hate working with Gen Z", then that's a wonderful fit and I'd be thrilled.

 

[TentakilRex]

Guess the thing with Hauck is that it is a shocker. Probably a good shocker but a major shocker nonetheless the less. We have to use search engines right now lol.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

I’d rather poach Montana State…give me Taco Dowler and Adam Jones…that would really help the Griz! FTG! (j/k)

yes
gimme that guy and another just like him . one as a slot & one as a safety / a$$ kicker

 

[floorburn]

Personally, this is a surreal hire…I’m sure many of you have seen the Fansville Dr Pepper commercials, especially the one where one of the fans has a “side team”. Well, Montana State is my “side team “. I have been to several Brawl of the Wild games (Montana vs Montana State), which BTW is an awesome experience. Anyway, in Bozeman, Coach Hauck was the mortal enemy. To give you an idea on the cognitive dissonance I’m experiencing, imagine if Lou Henson had hired Bobby Knight as an assistant. Or Mike White hiring Bo Schembechler as the DC…

That being said, I’m cautiously optimistic. Welcome to Illinois Coach Hauck! In Bert we trust!

 

[IlliniNash]

The two things that excited me the most when I heard about it and figured out who he was is that he was the head coach at Montana and Montana has been known for excellent football for a long time and the other thing is he’s 61 which means he probably is not gonna leave after two years like some of these other guys that we’ve had targeted. You can always fire a guy if he’s not successful, but you can never keep somebody from leaving if they are successful.

 

[Joel Goodson]

I'm guessing its easier to land a half dozen guys who fit this defense than landing the half dozen of our last defense. Finding athletic kids to run around and fill holes seems easier than finding the athletic big men for the defense we ran. 6.3/280 seems easier to find than 6.5 310. Especially those who are athletic. Same might be true of the LB play.

If that's true, and I think it is, I'm guessing BB is simply thinking this extends his purchase power. Instead of competing for the same dozen or so guys that all the Big10 and SEC are fighting for, we change the economy on what we are looking for. Longer take to simply say BB is in the "value buy" business. Extending our NIL money to field a stronger team or to put it into different places of priority, Like a marque QB/WR/LT.

Can one of the math gurus come up with how much each of our defensive stops cost us? Or maybe how much our DL was worth for NIL money and how many yards per run attempt they gave up to see how expensive each yard was?

Still not sure I am crazy about lining up 3 DL against 12 personal or even 13, especially with the quality that we will see in the Big 10. I know we will "always" be flexing someone down somewhere but my goodness ....

agree. economics and probability had a big part in this call. FWLIW, I think it's a good one

just want to make clear that my reference to economics has zero to do with getting a DC "on the cheap"

 

[Sheldon Ram]

Had you ever heard of Hauck before yesterday?

Had you heard about all the championships Montana has won when he was the HC?

Had you ever heard anything about the amazing defense at Montana and their defensive mastermind HC who crafted it?

If so, you are way more plugged in than the average college football fan. I don’t think the two things are remotely mutually exclusive.

I consider myself an average fan and I have watched Montana several times in the FCS playoffs. This guy we just hired has a great reputation as a ball coach

 

[Kendall Gill’s Uncle]

If you only follow the U of I, or P4 football, then you wouldn't know anything about Hauck. However, following FCS football, then you know that Hauck is a winner. His time at Nevada didn't produce many wins, but he definitely was a winner at the FCS level.

I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say the majority of CFB fans only follow FBS.

I was aware of Montana’s success at the FCS level but I didn’t know him.

I transparently don’t know how to feel about this hire. His track record at FCS is encouraging, but the lack of success at UNLV is concerning.

I’ll wait and see. Hope it goes well.

 

[LFOD]

Made its way to my Youtube algorithm, figured I'd share.

I like him so far; good speaker, sounds sincere, seems like a leader that players will respect.

 

[aaeismacgychel]

I'll say the thing that will get everybody mad, what the heck, glad to be of service:

If it would have meant keeping our guys in the front seven for the most part, gun to my head, I would have continued with Henry over doing this.

Bret has forgotten more about football than I'll ever know, I hope I'm wrong, and I find the plan here clear and legible at least, which makes me feel better, but all in all this just doesn't particularly fill me with confidence as a stronger footing to move forward with.

Happy to be dunked on in a year.


I had absolutely known of Hauck's success at Montana before, but true confession, when I saw the name I knew I had heard of the guy but had to look it up, and I had no idea about his association with Rocky Long and the 3-3-5.

I was better at this when I was younger and less busy and Illinois was in need of firing its coach every five minutes.

I don't know if we would have been able to keep our DL if Henry stayed. Seemed more of an asking price issue for the production they had issue than a moving on from Henry issue. And while I'm sure the thought of instability can be part of the reason they left, it doesn't have the feel that that's what happened. More that we might have misidentified the scarcity and cost for the DL position available in the portal this year.

I will say this though, I do think a 3-3-5 fits our personnel a lot better than Henry's defense this past year. Bringing back X and Clarke gives me a lot of confidence in our coverage when shortening up the field via pressure. Bailey also has been very effective in screaming down the box in run support. DT if it's a problem would be a problem regardless. I think LB would be the bigger question for us in the 3-3-5. Generally you want your MLB to have speed, athleticism, and range, which is a lot to ask. And then OLBs need to take the right angles and be sure tackles mopping up whatever gets filtered to them. I really need to see to believe our new MLB. If he’s good, I see the 3-3-5 really suiting us very well. Plays to the strengths (experienced players) on this team. If the MLB struggles though, we'll have issues.

All said, I like the change. And if we're changing over to a new system, having a coach who's an expert on teaching and implementing the system is likely far more important than recruiting or playcalling. And those Montana teams were pretty good. I think this is a good stop gap hire at worst

 

[ptgrd23]

yup this board was at best 50/50 for BB when hired
maybe 40/60 or less

I remember alternatives
-- Lance Leipold - Kansas 2-10, 6-7, 9-4, 5-7, 5-7
-- Jeff Monken -Army (never moved) 9-4, 6-6, 6-6, 12-2, 7-6
-- Marcus Freeman - ND 9-4, 10-3, 14-2, 10-2

Josh did a good search. I suspect if Marcus had this success at Illinois somebody would have stolen him from us.

 

[hooraybeer]

I remember alternatives
-- Lance Leipold - Kansas 2-10, 6-7, 9-4, 5-7, 5-7
-- Jeff Monken -Army (never moved) 9-4, 6-6, 6-6, 12-2, 7-6
-- Marcus Freeman - ND 9-4, 10-3, 14-2, 10-2

Josh did a good search. I suspect if Marcus had this success at Illinois somebody would have stolen him from us.

leopoldo probably missed the boat on jumping ship, it seems

 

[ptgrd23]

leopoldo probably missed the boat on jumping ship, it seems

Kansas is a tough job.
Going back to 1979 (roughly when Mike White came to Illinois) only had 3 seasons with 9 wins ormore
1995 10-2 Glenn Mason
2007 12-1 Mark Mangino
2023 9-4 Lance Leipold
------------
Illini
1983 10-2 Mike White
1989 10-2 John Mackovic
2001 10-2 Ron turner
2007 9-4 Ron Zook
2024 10-3 Bret Bielema
2025 9-4 Bret Bielema

 

[altgeld88]

Personally, this is a surreal hire…I’m sure many of you have seen the Fansville Dr Pepper commercials, especially the one where one of the fans has a “side team”. Well, Montana State is my “side team “. I have been to several Brawl of the Wild games (Montana vs Montana State), which BTW is an awesome experience. Anyway, in Bozeman, Coach Hauck was the mortal enemy. To give you an idea on the cognitive dissonance I’m experiencing, imagine if Lou Henson had hired Bobby Knight as an assistant. Or Mike White hiring Bo Schembechler as the DC…

That being said, I’m cautiously optimistic. Welcome to Illinois Coach Hauck! In Bert we trust!

Brawl of the Wild is on my bucket list. My understanding is that rivalry is off the hook. Spent a lot of time in Montana in the late '90s and early '00s and heard the lore. Plus the Griz stadium in Missoula is one of the most beautiful settings in all of college ball, and seats a mere cozy 25k.

 

[Hingle McCringleberry]

I listened to the Bobby Hauck retirement press conference, and agree that seems super genuine and a "good ball coach".

Here is a list of current B1G DC's and their salaries. We hired a guy whose comp ($265K as a HC) was 8.5% - 25% of our competition.

Look I love an underdog story, but we are in arms race not a Disney movie.

Penn State

Jim Knowles

~$3.1 M

Michigan

Wink Martindale

~$2.3 M

Ohio State

(formerly, before Knowles moved) Jim Knowles

~$2.2 M

Iowa

Phil Parker

~$1.9 M

Nebraska

Tony White

~$1.6 M

Michigan State

Joe Rossi

~$1.5 M

Rutgers

Joe Harasymiak

~$1.5 M

Maryland

Brian Williams (defense)

~$1.3 M

Wisconsin

(DC salary estimate)

~$1.25 M

Indiana

Bryant Haines

~$1.175 M

Minnesota

Corey Hetherman

~$1.0 M (potentially higher with bonuses)

Purdue

Mike Scherer

~$1.0 M (2025)

 

[floorburn]

yes
gimme that guy and another just like him . one as a slot & one as a safety / a$$ kicker

Taco Dowler’s brother Caden is an awesome db…