Aug. 28—CHAMPAIGN — When Bret Bielema leads his Illinois football team onto the Memorial Stadium turf Thursday night, it will be the 16th time as a head coach.
If, as Bill Shakespeare wrote, what’s past is prologue, then Bielema and Illinois will walk off the field with a win against Eastern Illinois.
In Bielema’s previous openers, his teams at Wisconsin, Arkansas and Illinois are a combined 14-1. The lone loss came in 2014, when the SEC sent Arkansas to Auburn for its debut. The Tigers rolled 45-14.
Bielema’s first opener as head coach in 2006 was neither home nor away. Wisconsin played Bowling Green at Cleveland Browns Stadium and won 35-14.
Bielema’s most lopsided opening win came in his final season at Arkansas. The Razorbacks rattled Florida A&M by 42, 49-7. Five of the games were decided by eight or fewer points, including 30-28 victory against Toledo to kick off the 2023 season.
Bielema’s teams have opened away from home three times, none at Illinois. The Illini are set to open at home in 2025 against Western Illinois on Aug. 30. The team could be sent on the road by the Big Ten in followings seasons. While opponents are known through 2028, dates and sites are still undetermined.
Almost half of Bielema’s openers have been in August, with the matchup against the Panthers the seventh. The earliest was the 2022 date against Wyoming, Aug. 27.
Counting it down
On a steamy Tuesday, Bielema met the media at the Smith Center for a 10-minute session. The team had just finished practice.
How is he feeling going into another season? “Because it’s been so many, there’s been an evolution,” Bielema said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt every year presents its own set of challenges and unique scenarios. You open up with a certain type of opponent, offense, defense. But coaching is coaching, you’ve got to adapt to the times.”
And they are a changing.
“That’s the biggest challenge, just dealing with the things that college football brings now, the roster attrition, the NIL world, the portal world,” the fourth-year Illini coach said. “We’re having conversations just as much with our third-string right tackle as we are our first-string right tackle, because someday, he’s going to be the starter.”
Coaching now is so much more than designing plays and recruiting prospects. Bielema had Zoom calls last week and sits on committees that impact the 2025 class.
“It’s fun. It’s enjoyable,” he said. “I’ve said it all along, ‘I’ve got the greatest job in the world.’ I’m excited to get to Thursday for a variety of reasons. It’s finally a chance to watch our guys play football against somebody else and see what happens.”
Bielema watched games during the opening weekend, which gave him more to think about.
“I took the Nevada-SMU game, which probably wasn’t on everybody’s BINGO card,” he said. “I was sitting there late Saturday night watching it and there was probably eight to 10 game-day scenario things that are hard to emulate in practice that happened in that game.”
SMU trailed by double digits in the fourth quarter before rallying to win 29-24.
“All kinds of good stuff,” Bielema said.
Lessons learned
Openers and games early in the season take unexpected turns. Just ask the 2007 Michigan team that lost at home to Appalachian State.
“You can take records, levels, divisions, everything out,” Bielema said.
When he was coaching at Kansas State in 2002, the Wildcats played Eastern Illinois early in the season. Panthers quarterback Tony Romo hit 13 of 14 passes in the first quarter for 120 yards and a touchdown.
“He went and chucked it all around the field,” Bielema said.
Kansas State figured him out, intercepting three passes in a 63-13 victory.
In 2001, early in Bielema’s coaching career, he was working with linebackers at Iowa. The Hawkeyes hosted Miami (Ohio) and freshman quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He threw for 173 yards and ran for another 93, producing three touchdowns. But Iowa picked up the win.
“You always have those unknowns, which I think is part of the cool thing about college football,” Bielema said.
