Does Bret Bielema deserve a lifetime contract at Illinois?

As the Illini X account, Bob Zuppke, so eloquently put it: remember 63-0? remember Lasagna? For many of us Illini fans, that was what we grew up with. Despite childhood memories of being in the Rose Bowl and hearing the “War Chant” as the Block “I” clapped in unison, Illinois football was not something we students were necessarily proud of. In fact, it was one of those topics that we would avoid so that we would not have to admit that we lost again in front of maybe 13,000 uninterested fans.

Those days are gone. Bret Bielema has saved Illinois football and he deserves to be the Illini head coach for the rest of his coaching career.

Flashback to 2020

As Josh Whitman announced the firing of former NFL coach, Lovie Smith, one thought ran through all of Illini fans’ heads. If a former successful NFL head coach with as much cache as Lovie Smith could not fix it, who could? For many, we hoped that maybe a young up-and-comer could take the reigns and inject a jolt of energy into the program. Something that matched the antithesis of what Lovie Smith was. Names like Nathan Scheelhaase seemed like a good idea, but it was a desperate attempt to get some kind of life back into the program. Another thought was, who in their right mind would take as difficult a task as Illinois football?

When Bret Bielema was announced, many were surprised and even underwhelmed. He inherited an incredible program at Wisconsin and kept that going, however, he fell out of favor during his time at Arkansas. Bielema was relegated to position coaching in the NFL and the task still seemed so impossible to anyone.

Bret Bielema did the impossible

Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Through just four seasons, Bielema has amassed a 28-22 record and an 18-18 record in conference play. Not to mention, how many times has Illinois been non-competitive in a game? How many times has Illinois been taken to the woodshed like how Lovie Smith teams made it a bi-weekly tradition? For just the 1st time since 2001, Bret Bielema helped Illinois reach 10 wins in just year number 4.

Under Bret Bielema’s tenure, there have been 11 NFL draft picks from the University of Illinois. From 2012 to 2020, the University of Illinois produced 13 draft picks.

In an era where NIL and the transfer portal can ravage a smaller market program like Illinois, Bret Bielema has successfully kept his roster together and retained his best players. He recruits better than any Illini head coach has ever done and he is always on the forefront of adaptation.

Lifetime contract?

The Illini have a special opportunity to make even more history. So far, Illinois will return their star QB, Luke Altmyer, and could also return a few other key pieces to make an either deeper run into the world of College Football. Suppose Bret Bielema is able to replicate the success that they had this season with another 10-win season. In that case, he will fully warrant a lifetime contract as the head coach of the University of Illinois.

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