“I can’t express how awesome it is to have this job, to be in this opportunity.”

Bret Bielema on being the Fighting Illini head football coach...

*’Feel like this year has more 2008 feels on the football side. Such excitement for that team, loss in St Louis to open the season and down the shitter from there. Praying we can flip that script in the Fall!’-PapaR

-Fighting Illini football 2025 ranked in most of the early pre-season rankings top 10-15....1985, 1990, 2002 and 2008 previous seasons where going into the season....football as highly touted....since saw first hand what went wrong 02-08...take a look back and explain why this season should be different than those....haven't gotten over the 1985 season....still devastated HA HA HA.

-2002 Ron Turner's Illini pre-season ranked 24th by Sports Illustrated (when SI mattered) ended up 5-6....Lloyd, Young, Lewis, Moorehead, Harris, Wilson, Pashos, Diehl, Bubin....team filled with future NFL players....what went wrong?

Team chemistry....too many players had their own agenda....leading to issues in the locker room (leaders like Kurt Kittner, Luke Butkus, Brandon Moore kept locker room in check 2001 Big Ten championship team all gone in 2002)....add to it….shitty scheduling by AD Ron Guenther....team got off to a 1-3 start....opening loss to Mizzou...that game put on the schedule when Larry Smith head coach in Columbia...Tigers sucked....Gary Pinkel took over in 2000 and proceeded to kick the Illini's ass for years....2nd game of the year loss at Southern Miss days when the Eagles were good....reportedly Turner wanted Guenther to pay his way out of the contest (200K)...Old German said, 'nope we will play anyone any place'.....cheap and a dumb ass.

Quarterback....big issue...Turner's offense based on the QB making the others around him better....when Turner’s QB good…his team was good…..head coach fucked up his QB in waiting when he took Matt Dlugolecki as heir to Kittner recruiting class of 2001....year later 'Dlugs' transferred to San Diego State.….Left with Iowa transfer Jon Beutjer, recruited to be a backup Dustin Ward, and not much else at the position.

Never sure of the Iowa transfer……Turner had taken Beutjer cause he felt he would be a good backup to the QB head coach developed.....ooops....ended up having to start him in 2002 and it was....not good.

Beutjer shotgun spread QB trying to play in Turner's pro-style offense...square peg into a round hole....last four games of season he came around played well...never came close to that kind of production in 2003-2004 leading Illinois…..off-topic one thing Beutjer did ‘lead’ the Illini in…number of times Turner (reportedly) called the QB a ‘big pussy’…..wasn’t a term of endearment remembering the Sopranos character…didn’t think the QB was ‘tough’ enough.

-2008....Ron Zook's program coming off a Rose Bowl berth....ranked in the top 20 majority of pre-season polls....so much attention now on the Fighting Illini program...remember media day at Camp Rantoul...never had it there before....all the Chicago TV/radio/newspapers there...couple of national writers....BTN doing a 'Hard Knocks' type of show following football program around all fall....huge expectations program had finally turned the corner and....not so much.

Off to a rough start....open getting whupped' again in St. Louis by Mizzou....Joe Paterno pissed getting beat in CU 2007/Illini getting recruits out of the DC/Baltimore area Nittany Lions wanted...made Zook’s team the 'white out' game in State College.....ILL. 2-2 start after the loss....Guenther’s idea….Illinois vs. Western Michigan November in Detroit...Bill Cubit's Broncos beat Zook’s team 23-17 in front of 12,000 fans....never got a good why game was scheduled then?….oh they had an explanation nothing that made much sense….loss infamous for cornerback Vontae Davis quitting 3rd quarter….walked off Ford Field told Zook, ‘not going back in’ and sat on the bench rest of contest…..summed up the season really.

2007 Illini had snuck up on teams....2nd half of the schedule wasn't as hard....Ohio State's Tressel felt he could beat RM5 and the Illini playing vanilla on both sides of the ball...thanks Tressel....2008 couldn't sneak up on anyone....RM5 gone...leaders like O'Donnell/Leman/Mitchell/Harrison gone seniors who in 2007 took care of locker room issues....defensive coordinators figured out Juice Williams wasn't much of a passer so kept him in the pocket 'beat us playing the quarterback position'....few too many coaches/players with their own agendas that led to a toxic mix head coach couldn’t control....all contributed to a disappointing 5-6 season.

-Why 2025 should be different.....third year in the system quarterback Luke Altmyer...if he gets hurt good backup in Ethan Hampton......one 'tough' game on schedule (Ohio State at home) rest? play to their potential all 'winnable' ....Bielema's done a good job of team/staff chemistry....has gotten rid of the shit heads quickly...better coached/managed operation than either 2002-2008 squads……looking back Guenther, Turner and Zook shitty at managing a football program especially when expectation team would be good....much better 'vibe' leadership around the program now vs. 02-08.

*Illini football pick up 2026 commitment..

-6-foot-3, 235-pound Lima (Ohio) Elida defensive end Parker Crim committed to Bielema's program last week....his lower body build potential put on weight move inside to tackle if needed…..best offers were Illinois, Iowa State and Kentucky...highlight tape made him look like the 2nd coming of Whitney Mercilus....asked an assistant whose program had offered Crim 'why didn't he have the rest of the Big Ten offering? 3.8 GPA great on the field'....assistant, 'not great competition...not as many programs get to Lima (eastern Ohio) anymore'....assistant agreed Crim an excellent Illini pickup....'we would have taken him (Crim) early'.

*“I can’t express how awesome it is to have this job, to be in this opportunity.”...

-’Illinois has locked in its football and men's basketball coaches for the long term, agreeing to six-year contracts with Bret Bielema and Brad Underwood....Illinois rewarded Bielema for turning around its struggling football program, and Underwood for an eight-year run that includes five NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Elite Eight. Both deals were announced Tuesday......Bielema's deal runs through 2030, while Underwood is locked in through the 2030-31 season. The contracts are pending approval by the university's board of trustees on May 22.’ (Courtesy ESPN)

Cynic in me wonders?……seem like lifetime deals….was either really needed now?....get it....both head coaches rewarded for job(s) well done...Whitman likes them personally/his hires....get all that...reality....who was hiring Bielema away from Illinois?....after Arkansas firing....he isn't going back to that level to be a head coach....NFL isn't hiring him.....alma mater Iowa was never going to hire him to replace Ferentz....if Illinois hadn’t hired him….Bielema likely headed to Southern Miss….good to be loyal to your head coach this contract seems a little….too much.

Underwood?…If he was leaving Illinois likely would have been gone by now to Texas or K-State or insert the school ‘on-line’ media want you to think after him.......doubt would have the autonomy he has at Illinois at another program…..as one booster said about the contract, 'fine with it....unless it means they name Tyler (Underwood Illini assistant) as head coach in waiting two years from now'....I laughed then thought...ah never mind.