Illinois head coach Bret Bielema recognizes he lives the type of life that few people get to. In his fourth season in Champaign, Bielema has guided the No. 19 Illini to a 4-0 record, two ranked wins, and national notoriety across the college football landscape.
Illinois has been a historically lousy college football program. After decent spurts of success in the mid-20th century, the last decade-plus has been anything but fruitful. The program’s lowest point culminated when ex-NFL coach Lovie Smith was hired ahead of the 2016 season.
In his four years in Champaign, Smith was nothing short of abysmal. Outside of a 2019 season in which the team went 6-7 and upset a then-ranked Wisconsin team, winning was hard to stomach for one of the Big Ten’s oldest teams.
Illinois’s Bret Bielema chronicles his ‘unprecedented’ love for college football
Ahead of Saturday night’s Big Ten tilt against fellow unbeaten powerhouse Penn State in Happy Valley, Bielema told CBS Sports he is enjoying every moment at his current career stage thus far.
“College football is literally, as you guys know, you’ve been doing this as a professional for a long time, it’s at a level that is unprecedented. The fans, the passion, the integrity, it’s just an awesome environment. I truly say this all the time – you know, the teacher says, ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ I’m 54-years-old. I’ve never worked a day in my life since I’ve been coaching and it’s an enjoyable experience every day.”
Illinois is 3-0-1 against the spread but is faced with the tall task of entering Happy Valley as 17.5-point underdogs. The Illini were trounced 30-13 in Champaign last season. In Bielema’s first year, he led Illinois to a 20-18 overtime win, ruining Penn State’s then-homecoming with a two-point conversion strike from Brandon Peters to now-NFL rookie Casey Washington.
After the Penn State game, Illinois enters a bye week before welcoming Purdue and No. 12 Michigan to Champaign next month.