Illini Football 2026

#126      
lstewart53x3
TheChief4Life said:
Here are the reactions to the actual hire, not the search.

Bret Bielema Takes Reins of Illinois Football

www.illinoisloyalty.com www.illinoisloyalty.com

When there are people in the search thread thinking we're pulling in Nick Saban-ish, obviously the reaction to prospects like BB will be negative. Once the hire was made, the reactions were much less extremist.

I just find it funny the revisionist history over the last couple of successful seasons of "I was the first to love this hire!" and "BB was always my guy!". Honestly, I think 75% were more of the "eh... this is Illinois" then "we hate this hire".
Click to expand...
Skimmed through the whole thread. Hate might be a strong word, but I’d say 75% of posts in the thread were expressing disappointment in the hire.
 
#127      
illini0440
Point-Illinois said:
I was 100% skeptical and was afraid we were getting Arkansas BB and not this new BB.

1. Happy to be wrong.

2. Goes to show that people don’t always stagnate and can change for the better when they learn and grow from past experiences.
Click to expand...
Go look at Arkansas’s schedules during Bret’s time there….insane stuff especially when Bret wouldn’t cheat like the other schools were. A big part of the reason Bret is so pro NIL and Rev sharing.
 
#128      
lstewart53x3
illini0440 said:
Go look at Arkansas’s schedules during Bret’s time there….insane stuff especially when Bret wouldn’t cheat like the other schools were. A big part of the reason Bret is so pro NIL and Rev sharing.
Click to expand...
Yeah, his strength of schedule at Arkansas according to FPI was:

2013: 12 (3-9)
2014: 3 (7-6)
2015: 7 (8-5)
2016: 6 (7-6)
2017: 31 (4-8)

So his last year was bad. The others were decent to good based on schedule.

For context, his strength of schedule here so far:

2021: 53
2022: 46
2023: 65 (5-7 oof)
2024: 30 (still won 10 games!)
2025: 23 (still won 9 games!)

If Bret had our schedule at Arkansas, he would’ve won 9-10 games a year.
 
Last edited:
#129      
BretMyBeachHouse
50 years into this fandom business, my default setting on just about every coach and recruit is skepticism. Some call that negativity. Perhaps others say it's a defense mechanism, like a nut cup.

I definitely had skepticism with BB. In fairness, even the Wisconsin version of Bret probably doesn't survive here. I don't know if it was the kids, or just age, but he seems to be a different person and it's set him up for success.
 
#130      
TheChief4Life
lstewart53x3 said:
Skimmed through the whole thread. Hate might be a strong word, but I’d say 75% of posts in the thread were expressing disappointment in the hire.
Click to expand...
OKay, sorry, I couldn't let this die....

I actually read through the entire thread. If you actually look at the hire thread and look at individual posters vs. the same poster posting the same sentiment 30 times in 30 different ways, the break down is roughly 3 to 1 (slightly less) in favor with about 25% of the posters indifferent or "waiting to see". Which is exactly how I remember it being.

Illinoisloyalty is notorious for letting small groups of negative nancies dictate the feeling or direction of an entire thread or fan base.
 
#131      
illini80
lstewart53x3 said:
Skimmed through the whole thread. Hate might be a strong word, but I’d say 75% of posts in the thread were expressing disappointment in the hire.
Click to expand...
I wasn’t skeptical of his abilities, but I questioned how long he would stick around. With JW at the helm and the changes in the game, it was perfect timing where he could really excel here. Very thankful for how things have worked out.
 
#132      
Point-Illinois
illini0440 said:
Go look at Arkansas’s schedules during Bret’s time there….insane stuff especially when Bret wouldn’t cheat like the other schools were. A big part of the reason Bret is so pro NIL and Rev sharing.
Click to expand...

I was more referencing what seemed like behavior/personality stuff at Arkansas as opposed to schedule.

But yeah, dude had a crazy tough road to succeed there.

He definitely got an insightful look under the hood of the SEC machine, which means he truly was the perfect hire right as NIL was coming around.
 
#134      
pvaughn8
TheChief4Life said:
OKay, sorry, I couldn't let this die....

I actually read through the entire thread. If you actually look at the hire thread and look at individual posters vs. the same poster posting the same sentiment 30 times in 30 different ways, the break down is roughly 3 to 1 (slightly less) in favor with about 25% of the posters indifferent or "waiting to see". Which is exactly how I remember it being.

Illinoisloyalty is notorious for letting small groups of negative nancies dictate the feeling or direction of an entire thread or fan base.
Click to expand...
No need to count posts, there was a poll!
2395.png

90% rated the hire an A or B. Can't remember exactly but I rated him an A if not B. Simpletons like me saw a former big ten champion coach and figured that was a good thing
 
#138      
Fly Illini Fly!
mhuml32 said:
Evidence continues to pile up that the staff isn’t thrilled about the WRs

(1) Bielema makes the statement at B1G media days
(2) Eberhart being moved from secondary to WR
(3) Bringing in a very late transfer WR
Click to expand...
This is so weird to me.

The IlliniInquirer podcast guys have continued to state Platt has been a marquee addition. And Dixon and Clement are already proven products.
 
#140      
mhuml32
Fly Illini Fly! said:
This is so weird to me.

The IlliniInquirer podcast guys have continued to state Platt has been a marquee addition. And Dixon and Clement are already proven products.
Click to expand...

Plus the WR room has to be the best recruited unit on the team. Maybe it's the viewpoint that Dixon-Clement-Platt are very good, Trimble has potential, but the rest is not good.

genevaillini39w said:
I think things are pretty sparse past the top 4 or 5.

I think rankin might be a bust.
Click to expand...

I do not want to make that strong of a statement, but has there been any noise about him? There was a lot of public noise about Trimble last year but haven't heard the same about Rankin.
 
#142      
genevaillini39w
Mr. Tibbs said:
they can tell this already ?
curious if it’s off field stuff causing this
Click to expand...
He was out in the spring.

Haven’t heard Lunney, stepp, or bielema mention him. I have a feeling he was projected to be an end of the rotation guy his first year on campus and was paid accordingly.

I think that’s part of the reason they are making these changes now.

Just my two cents, lots of recruiting noise and nothing once he’s been on campus.

Usually the farther away you are from the ball the easier it is to play right away. I’m a pretty big believer that a true freshman should have some flashes in practice at a minimum that are discussed if he’s going to be a player for you in the future.
 
#143      
lstewart53x3
#144      
IlliniWu
mhuml32 said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2086565441615307007

Evidence continues to pile up that the staff isn’t thrilled about the WRs

(1) Bielema makes the statement at B1G media days
(2) Eberhart being moved from secondary to WR
(3) Bringing in a very late transfer WR
Click to expand...


You have to have playmakers at WR. Didn't know Eberhart was at WR now. That's a big addition in itself. He's already ready physically. He looked like one of the top WR/ATH in the country on his highlights.
 
Back