Bret Bielema was named as the 26th Fighting Illini Head Football Coach in the history of the program in December 2020. A native of Prophetstown, Illinois, Bielema has 26 years of collegiate coaching experience and compiled a 15-year record of 115-77 (.599) as head coach at Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Illinois.
Bielema, who signed a six-year agreement in 2022 that will keep him at Illinois through 2028, has elevated Illinois to new expectations in his first three seasons. He has 18 wins and 12 Big Ten wins over his first three seasons in Champaign, both high marks for the first three years of an Illini head coach since Lou Tepper nearly 30 years ago (1992-94). He has brought Illinois back into the national spotlight, coaching three national award finalists at Illinois over the past two seasons: Jer’Zhan Newton (2023, Nagurski), Chase Brown (2022, Doak), and Devon Witherspoon (2022, Thorpe). It is the first time three Illini have earned finalists status in National College Football Awards Association awards over a two-year span since 1994-95.
In just his second season in Champaign, Bielema guided the Fighting Illini to an 8-5 record in 2022 and led Illinois to a January bowl game for the first time in 15 years. The Illini were ranked in the AP Top 25 for five straight weeks, reaching as high as No. 14, and were ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time in school history. Illinois led the nation in scoring defense (12.8) for the first time in program history, led the nation and set a school record in interceptions (24), and ranked third in total defense (273.5). Under first-year offensive coordinator Barry Lunney, the Illinois offense made a leap forward behind All-American running back Chase Brown, who finished fourth in the nation in rushing, and quarterback Tommy DeVito, who ranked third in the nation in completion percentage. Illinois’ passing offense was the most improved in the nation, as the Illini ranked third in the nation in completion percentage (69.6%), a rise of 122 spots in the national rankings.
Two Illini were national awards finalists in 2022 in RB Chase Brown (Doak Walker Award) and CB Devon Witherspoon (Paycom Jim Thorpe Award), representing the first time an Illini finished in the top three of either the Doak Walker Award or Thorpe Award. Witherspoon was also Illinois’ first winner of the Big Ten’s Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year, one of five Illini to be named an All-American, and one of 19 Illini to earn All-Big Ten honors, the most in program history. Illinois’ five All-Americans included Witherspoon, who was the first Illini defensive back in history to be named a Consensus All-American, RB Chase Brown, DB Sydney Brown, DT Jer’Zhan Newton, and OL Alex Palczewski, who was the first Illini offensive tackle in history to earn a first team All-America honor.
After the success of the 2022 season, Illinois had one of its most impressive NFL Drafts in recent history. Witherspoon was selected #5 overall to become the highest drafted defensive back in Illinois history and fellow DBs Jartavius Martin (No. 47 overall, Washington) and Sydney Brown (No. 66 overall, Philadelphia) went in the second and third rounds, respectively. The Illini were the only team in the nation to have three defensive backs off the board in the first three rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft. RB Chase Brown (No. 163 overall, Cincinnati) was also selected in the fifth round, Bielema’s 11th running back coached in college to make it to the NFL.
The Illini followed up its success in the 2023 NFL Draft with four more selections in the 2024 NFL Draft. DT Jer’Zhan Newton (No. 36 overall, Washington) was the third-highest drafted defensive tackle in Illinois history, OL Isaiah Adams (No. 71 overall, Arionza) was the highest-drafted Illini offensive lineman since 2012, TE Tip Reiman (No. 82 overall, Arizona) was the second-highest drafted tight end in Illinois history, and WR Casey Washington (No. 187 overall, Atlanta) was the first Fighting Illini wide receiver drafted since 2012. Illinois is one of five schools with three or more players drafted in the first three rounds in the 2023 and 2024 NFL Drafts, along with Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, and Penn State.
In Bielema’s first season in Champaign, Illinois went 5-7 overall with a 4-5 Big Ten record, including ranked road wins over #7 Penn State in the longest game in college football history (9 OT) and #20 Minnesota, the Illini’s first ever win over a College Football Playoff ranked opponent. Illinois’ scoring defense (31st from 97th), third down defense (31st from 89th), and total defense (52nd from 114th) all improved more than 50 spots in the national rankings from 2020. The Illini made massive gains in the Big Ten defensive rankings as well, jumping 9+ spots in scoring defense (4th from 14th), touchdowns allowed (t-3rd from 14th), yards allowed per game (5th from 14th), and passing yards allowed per game (1st from 10th).
From 2006-12 Bielema was the head coach at Wisconsin, where he led the Badgers to three straight Big Ten championships (2010-12), six consecutive bowl games and a 68-24 record (.739). Bielema then spent five seasons as head coach at Arkansas from 2013-17. After inheriting a depleted roster and enduring a difficult first season, he led the Razorbacks to three consecutive bowl games, including victories against Texas in 2014 and Kansas State in 2015.
In Bielema’s debut season at Wisconsin in 2006, the Badgers finished 12-1, including a victory in the Capital One Bowl against Arkansas. He was the first coach in Big Ten history to win 10 games in his first season, the first Wisconsin coach to win 11 games prior to a bowl game and became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his first season. Bielema won 17 of his first 18 games with the Badgers. The Badgers shared or won Big Ten championships three straight seasons from 2010-12 and he led Wisconsin to victories in the first two Big Ten championship games.
Bielema’s coaching pedigree and list of football mentors matches that of any coach in the nation. He played for and coached under Hall-of-Famer Hayden Fry, helping the Hawkeyes share the 1990 Big Ten title with Illinois. After two years as a graduate assistant and six seasons as linebackers coach at Iowa, Bielema spent two years as Co-Defensive Coordinator at Kansas State under Hall-of-Famer Bill Snyder, helping the Wildcats win the 2003 Big 12 Championship. Two seasons later, he was named Defensive Coordinator at Wisconsin under Hall-of-Famer Barry Alvarez and moved into the head coaching role of the Badgers in 2006 when Alvarez retired.
Bielema spent the previous three seasons before Illinois in the National Football League. His first two seasons in the NFL were with the New England Patriots as a consultant to six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick in 2018 and as the team’s defensive line coach in 2019, when the Patriots won the AFC East with a 12-4 record and had the NFL’s best defense. In Bielema’s first season with the Patriots, New England went 11-5 and defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. He was the outside linebackers coach and senior assistant for the New York Giants during the 2020 season.
Bielema was a defensive lineman at Iowa from 1989-92, when he was a four-time letterman under Fry. After joining the team as a walk-on, Bielema earned a scholarship after his first year, started as a junior and was named a team captain for his senior season. Bielema graduated from Iowa in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
Following his graduation, Bielema signed a free-agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks and ended his playing career in 1994 as a member of the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League.
He and his wife, Jen, have two daughters, Briella Nicole and Brexli Nichole.
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