Bret Bielema – Syndication Server

Wisconsin legend appears ready for his next coaching move

Longtime Wisconsin defensive coordinator and program legend Jim Leonhard has flown under the radar since leaving the program after the 2022 season.

Leonhard spent the 2023 season as an analyst on Bret Beilema’s staff at Illinois. An immediate jump back into the head coach or defensive coordinator ranks wasn’t in the cards; his name was seldom mentioned among hot candidates during the latest coaching carousel.

A recent comment by Bielema gives clarity to Leonhard’s status entering the 2024 season. 247Sports’ Jeremy Werner posted to X that Leonhard is still on the Fighting Illini staff, and he could stay there entering the season if he doesn’t get a job elsewhere. The disclaimer: Leonhard is looking for a job not in college.

#illini Bret Bielema said Jim Leonhard is still on his staff. Leonhard has an opportunity to come back to Illinois if he doesn't get a job he wants elsewhere. Bielema said he wants a job "not in college," so likely the NFL.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 7, 2024

Connecting the dots, Leonhard is looking to jump to an NFL coaching staff and work his way up the ranks at that level. The league doesn’t require year-round recruiting or name, image and likeness licensing related headaches so it’s easy to see why it’s an attractive next step for his coaching career.

Here’s Bielema’s full quote on Leonhard’s future:

“In theory, he is (on our staff), but we signed him with the idea that if he wants to do this then it would be open to come back to him,” Bielema said. “If he doesn’t have the things that he wants … not in college, I think we would be back at it. He literally sent a report a couple weeks ago that was unbelievably detailed and great ideas and thoughts. I reached out to him Tuesday night. I know he’s got some irons in the fire. That’s his business. Jimmy has been awesome. A very gifted coach in a lot of ways.”

The NFL is getting to the later stages of its coaching carousel. Most coaching staffs are in the process of being filled out after the head coaching carousel stopped.

Bielema said Leonhard has “some irons on the fire,” though. So maybe we should expect some news on the matter.

Ranking the 10 worst Arkansas seasons since 2000

The 2023 Arkansas season doesn’t even crack the top-five, which is a statement on the Razorbacks football program.

Boy, that sure is a fun headline isn’t it?

Arkansas’ 2023 season came to an end Friday with a 48-14 loss against Missouri, which got us thinking.

The truth is, ranking the 10 worst Arkansas football seasons since 2000 is harder than ranking the 10 best. So few of the latter exist that putting them in order is a pretty simple task. But with the latter?

Like a kid in a candy store, except the candy is secretly poisoned.

Arkansas has been a sub-par program since they arrived in the SEC. Some occasional years of success, lots of seasons that could be called “fine,” and several years of embarrassment. The worst of those have come in the last decade.

Arkansas’ win total for the last 12 seasons: Four, seven, nine, three, two, two, four, seven, eight, seven, three, four.

Yikes.

But where does 2023 fall on the scale of sadness? Turns out, not as high as social media would want you to believe. Let’s take a look.

PHOTOS: Badgers versus Illinois All-time series

Will Badgers get back into the win column against Fighting Illini?

The Badgers football team (4-2) will take on Illinois (3-4) on the road Saturday at 2:30PM. The two programs have faced each other 89 times throughout their football history with Wisconsin owning a 44-38-7 overall advantage over their Big Ten foe.

Over the last 10 matchups, the Badgers have gone 8-2, though when they last faced one another, Illinois came out on top 34-10 on Oct. 2, 2022 at Camp Randall. Lastly, on the road in Champaign, Wisconsin has produced a 19-21-3 record against the Fighting Illini.

The most notable storyline for the contest is the fact that Illinois coached by former Badgers head coach Bret Bielema. Bielema spent seven seasons as Wisconsin’s coach from 2006-2012, producing a 68-24 record.

The two teams currently sit at opposite ends of the Big Ten West standings with the Badgers sitting in second place while the Fighting Illini are in last place.

Luke Fickell and his Badgers will look to get revenge against Illinois after Wisconsin’s home loss to them in 2022.

Here’s a couple pics from their last 10 matchups:

Wisconsin versus Illinois football series history

Can Badgers get back in win column versus Big 10 opponent?

The two teams currently sit at opposite ends of the Big Ten West standings with the Badgers sitting in second place while the Fighting Illini are in last place.

Luke Fickell and his Badgers will look to get revenge against Illinois after Wisconsin’s home loss to them in 2022.

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WATCH: Illinois HC Bret Bielema discusses playing the new-look Wisconsin program

WATCH: Illinois HC Bret Bielema discusses playing the new-look Wisconsin program:

Saturday’s contest between the Wisconsin Badgers and Illinois Fighting Illini will not be short of storylines.

Employed by Illinois are former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema and program great Jim Leonhard, the Illini crushed the Badgers last season which led to Wisconsin firing Paul Chryst and Luke Fickell’s team is fresh off a demoralizing loss to Iowa.

Last year’s meeting between these two teams came with a massive media firestorm surrounding Bielema’s first return to Madison after leaving the program to take the Arkansas job in 2013. That story was quickly cast aside as the game played out, as the Badgers suffered a program-changing loss.

Well, here we are with a new-look Wisconsin program again preparing to face a Bielema Illinois team. Here is what the current Illini head coach had to say about his time at Wisconsin and facing them again on the field:

Bret Bielema and @IlliniFootball host Wisconsin on Saturday.

The third-year Illini coach talks about facing the program he led from 2006-12. ⤵️ #B1Gtoday pic.twitter.com/mVPSNv13YC

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 17, 2023

PHOTOS: Badgers defeat Buffalo 35-3 in 2006

Check out some pics from the Badgers’ first matchup with Buffalo

The Badgers football team is set to square off with Buffalo on Saturday at 2:30 in their season opener at Camp Randall, meeting the Bulls for the second time in program history.

The first and only time that the two teams have met came in November 2006 at Camp Randall as well. The Badgers won the contest handily by a score of 35-3, finishing off an 11-1 regular season.

In the contest, quarterback Tyler Donovan produced 308 passing yards and two scores through the air while running back P.J. Hill churned out 86 rushing yards and a score on the ground.

Here’s what the action looked like:

Flashback: Arkansas Football’s Class of 2017

Looking back on the 2017 recruiting class is tough. It’s easy to see why this would be Bret Bielema’s final one at Arkansas.

The worst stretch in [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag]’s history began in 2017.

[autotag]Bret Bielema[/autotag] was let go following an extremely disappointing 2017 season where he went 4-8 overall. Before the season, everyone knew it was a make-or-break year and the pressure was on.

Looking back at the recruiting class from that time, and it’s very easy to see where things went wrong. Across the board, Arkansas was struggling to recruit quality depth to replace production from the previous year. They also didn’t have enough depth to account for injuries at key positions – a recipe for disaster.

The 2017 recruiting class is a prime example, as only three of the 24 enrollees from this cycle would go on to have success while in Fayetteville. Let’s take a look back at the top contributors from Bielema’s final recruiting haul as Arkansas head coach.

Bret Bielema has a strong take on Wisconsin’s new air raid offense

Media Days have been eventful thus far…

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema stole the headlines entering Big Ten media days this week when he hired former Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard as a senior analyst.

The hire led to a reaction from fans online, comments by Bielema and even a statement from legendary Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez.

There is much more to take away from the event in Indianapolis. But before the page is turned to what Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, Braelon Allen, Tanner Mordecai and Maema Njongmeta had to say, there is one more comment from Bielema to highlight.

Given he is a former head coach at Wisconsin and knows the fabric of the program quite well, he was asked for thoughts on the shift to an air raid offense under Phil Longo:

Bielema was asked if it would be weird to watch Wisconsin in Phil Longo’s version of the Air Raid. Said no but it will be for fans that have watched the #Badgers offense the last 30 years.

“If it goes well, it goes well. But if it doesn’t go well, that’s potential land mines.”

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) July 26, 2023

There’s a weird dynamic going on with older Wisconsin coaches and fans. It feels like if the Badgers’ new system falls on its face and fails, many will take joy in the downfall and point back to what the program’s approach used to be.

I’m sure any Wisconsin fan would agree with Bielema’s words on the surface. If the new offense doesn’t work, the situation could get rough on the field. But pair the Leonhard hire with all of this, and it feels like the Illinois head coach wants to say karma at the end of the day.

Flashback: Arkansas Football’s Class of 2015

The 2015 recruiting class was Bret Bielema’s highest ranked class at Arkansas. Take a look back at the top contributors from that class.

[autotag]Bret Bielema[/autotag]’s third recruiting class was the highest-rated of his entire five-year tenure in Fayetteville.

[autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] was riding high off the momentum of back-to-back bowl win. While recruiting appeared to have been trending in the right direction, the gains were marginal at best. Bielema’s recruiting classes still ranked in the bottom half of the SEC, and quality depth would start to rear it’s ugly head toward the end of the following season.

For instance, this 2015 class was Bielema’s highest rated, but it was 22nd in the country. His previous two classes were only slightly lower in rank. 2013 was 23rd nationally and 2014 was 29th nationally.

Don’t be fooled, though, there were some gems in this 2015 recruiting class. Let’s take a look at the ten best contributors from Bret Bielema’s highest rated class at Arkansas.