Tag: Bret Bielema

Everything Illinois HC Bret Bielema said about hiring former Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard

Bielema spoke on the Leonhard hire at Media Days:

It is still a strange headline to write: legendary Wisconsin All-American safety and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard took a job yesterday with former Wisconsin Head Coach Bret Bielema at Illinois.

He will serve as a senior analyst, working with the team to prepare for each game during the week.

Leonhard’s path had been meteoric since joining the coaching ranks. He moved from DBs coach under Paul Chryst in 2016, to defensive coordinator in 2017 — and quickly to one of the sport’s best coordinators at that. He obviously then became Wisconsin’s interim head coach after Chryst’s firing before the program elected to hire Luke Fickell.

Bielema spoke on the Leonhard hire at Big Ten Media Days earlier today. Here is his full podium answer, and separate time with select media:

Flashback: Arkansas Football’s Class of 2014

Bret Bielema’s 2014 recruiting class wasn’t as highly-touted as 2013, but it produced some gems on the offensive line and secondary.

While Bret Bielema’s first signing class in 2013 proved to be a massive success, his second signing class wasn’t as big of a hit.

After going 3-9 in 2013, [autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] rebounded triumphantly in 2014. They finished the regular season 6-6, and would end up in the Texas Bowl facing their old Southwest Conference foe. After a “borderline erotic” victory over the Longhorns, it seemed that Arkansas had a lot of momentum as a program.

However, the fruits of that labor wouldn’t immediately be seen as the 2014 recruiting class failed to make the Top 25 in any of the major recruiting outlets. The Razorbacks were ranked 29th overall by 247Sports.com while On3.com had them slightly higher at 27th overall in the country.

Here’s a look back at the 10 most impactful players from that recruiting class.

Former Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard takes job with Big Ten West rival

We know Jim Leonhard’s next coaching stop:

What an interesting offseason it has been in and around the Wisconsin football program. After all the changes with Luke Fickell, Phil Longo and others entering the picture, legendary Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard found his way out.

Well, we finally have news on where Leonhard will coach next year. Illinois announced today the program is hiring the legendary Wisconsin defensive coordinator as a senior football analyst.

Leonhard joins former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema and former Badgers Aaron Henry and Antonio Fenelus in Champaign.

There were many ways for the Leonhard story to unfold after his time at Wisconsin came to an end, including other head coach or defensive coordinator jobs. Speaking objectively, this is by far the funniest possible outcome. Not only does he join a group of former Badgers at Illinois, he’ll meet Wisconsin on the field as soon as October.

Flashback: Arkansas Football’s Class of 2013

The class of 2013 was Bret Bielema’s initial signing class at Arkansas and set the stage for him to have the success he did enjoy in his five seasons.

Bret Bielema’s first signing class as the Arkansas head coach ultimately proved to be one of his best.

Bielema was hired on Dec. 4, 2012, just weeks after John L. Smith was dutifully let go following a 4-8 debacle after starting in the AP Top 10.

He had quite a bit of ground to make up, and the transfer portal wasn’t a thing at the time, but he and his staff did a relatively good job of securing some talent.

We look back at the top 10 most impactful players from that class today, which was ranked 23rd nationally by 247 Sports and 26th by On3.

Arkansas Football: The All-2010s Team

Arkansas football produced a lot of talent in the 2010s despite the program’s turmoil. Here’s the best players from that decade by position.

[autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] entered the 2010s looking for more consistent success than they had enjoyed in the previous decade. Entering 2010, [autotag]Bobby Petrino[/autotag] would be in his third season as head coach and had built an extremely solid foundation.

That foundation would take Arkansas football to heights they had never experienced before, but it would only last two short years. After a fateful motorcycle accident in early April of 2012, Petrino’s tenure at Arkansas came to a highly publicized and controversial end.

After John L. Smith’s infamous season as interim head coach, [autotag]Bret Bielema[/autotag] was tabbed as the man to right the ship and get Arkansas football back to prominence in 2013. Under Bielema, Arkansas was able to get back into the postseason and win two bowl games, but were never able to take the next step into championship contention.

Bielema’s reign ended in 2017 and coincided with Jeff Long’s end as athletic director. That led to the controversial hire of first-time head coach Chad Morris in December of 2017. Morris would fail to win a single conference game in either of his first two seasons and was fired by Hunter Yurachek with two games left in the 2019 season.

We end the decade with Sam Pittman being hired in December 2019 to bring the program back to its’ winning ways.

Despite the turmoil and chaos that encapsulated this decade of Arkansas football, the program was able to produce a lot of talented players. Here’s a look at the best players from this decade across each position.

Badger Countdown: Tolzien unleashes 80-yard TD in Week 1 of 2009

The return of Badger football is just 80 days away as Wisconsin opens the 2023 campaign Sept. 2 versus Buffalo at Camp Randall Stadium.

The return of Badger football is just 80 days away as Wisconsin opens the 2023 campaign Sept. 2 versus Buffalo at Camp Randall Stadium. Not many players have worn the number 80, but a former Badger quarterback unleashed an 80-yard touchdown pass to open the 2009 campaign.

Scott Tolzien set off his second season as the starting quarterback with a bang, hitting wide receiver Isaac Anderson for an 80-yard touchdown on the Badgers’ first offensive play of the 2009 season.

Wisconsin went on to win the contest 28-20 over Northern Illinois and finished the year with a 10-3 overall record. Head coach Bret Bielema led his Badger squad to a 20-14 win over Miami (FL) in the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl.

Former Hogs linebacker Grant Morgan joins Bret Bielema’s staff at Illinois

Former Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan will join his old coach at Illinois as a graduate assistant.

Bret Bielema and the Morgan family have quite the connection.

The current Illinois coach got to know both Grant and Drew Morgan when the two played their high school football at Greenwood before joining Bielema when he coached Arkansas. Both Grant and Drew started as walk-ons and eventually became All-SEC players.

Now, for Grant, he’s hooking back up with his old coach. Illinois announced Friday that the younger Morgan would be joining Bielema’s Fighting Illini staff as a graduate assistant.

Morgan, 25, won the Burlsworth Trophy 2021 as the nation’s best former walk-on. A linebacker, he had 312 tackles in his career with the Razorbacks to rank 14th on the all-time list.

Bielema just completed his second season in Champaign. Illinois finished 8-5, their best record since 2007.

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LSU analyst to join Bret Bielema’s staff at Illinois

Antonio Fenelus will be reuniting with his former coach.

An LSU analyst is off to the Big Ten.

[autotag]Antonio Fenelus[/autotag] will be joining Bret Bielema’s staff at Illinois as the defensive backs coach. Fenelus played at Wisconsin under Bielema, where he was an All-Big Ten First Team selection.

Fenelus has been at LSU for two years and was one of the few holdovers from the [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] regime. Fenelus worked with LSU’s defensive backs along with [autotag]Robert Steeples[/autotag] and [autotag]Kerry Cooks[/autotag].

In a statement released by Illinois, Bret Bielema said, “I have been waiting for the opportunity to hire Antonio here to Illinois since coming here.”

Fenelus will coach defensive backs at Illinois, a job that is only open because the previous coach in that role, Aaron Henry, was promoted to defensive coordinator after Ryan Walters left for Purdue — who happens to be LSU’s bowl opponent.

LSU’s on-field staff has yet to see any changes, but Fenelus joins a few support staffers who have left for promotions at other schools.

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ESPN analyst: Arkansas vs Bielema, Illinois very likely

Arkansas vs Bret Bielema and Illinois would be a wild bowl game. It’s possible, too.

Doomsaying fans of the Arkansas football program are proclaiming the Hogs have lost. Arkansas won’t make a bowl game.

The most realistic fans, however, see that the Razorbacks’ most likely record at the end of the regular season is 6-6. Such a record would put Arkansas right in position for a second consecutive bowl game for the first time since Bret Bielema was coach.

Oh, and speaking of Bielema…

ESPN college football analyst Kyle Bonagura thinks the two old flames might rekindle. Bonagura has Arkansas and Illinois projected to meet in the Music City Bowl on December 31.

It would be the first meeting between the two since Bielema was let go as coach following a season-ending loss to Missouri in 2017. He has since become head coach at Illinois and has the Fighting Illini at 7-3 with two games remaining.

Arkansas needs a win against either Ole Miss on Saturday or at Missouri the day after Thanksgiving to clinch bowl eligibility. Kickoff from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium against the Rebels is at 6:30 p.m.

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What you need to know about the Illinois Fighting Illini

The resurgent Illini are on top of the Big Ten West

Nebraska (3-4, 2-2 Big Ten West) takes on a resurgent Illinois Fighting Illini team at home on Saturday at 2:30 PM as they vie to stay in the hunt near the top of the Big Ten West.

The Fighting Illini are having a better season than anyone could have expected in 2022 with a record of 6-1 (3-1 Big Ten West) and come into the game ranked No. 17 in the AP Top 25 and No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Illinois leads Purdue by half a game and Nebraska by one game for the lead in the West division.

Bret Bielema’s group started the season 1-1 after a heartbreaking 23-20 defeat to Indiana, in which the Hoosiers were beneficiaries of a controversial no-touchdown call on a catch by Brian Hightower. Convincing wins over Virginia, Chattanooga and Wisconsin followed, with Badgers head coach Paul Chryst getting fired after the loss.

Illinois grinded out a 9-6 win over Iowa in Week 6 and continued their win streak with a 26-14 victory against Minnesota before their bye week last Saturday. The Fighting Illini are bowl eligible for just the second time since 2014 and have their best record since 2011, where they started the season 6-0 before losing their last six games of the regular season.

Senior running back Chase Brown and the defensive unit have been the catalysts for Illinois this season. Brown’s name is being discussed for Heisman contention and the Fighting Illini have the country’s leading scoring defense by allowing more than 14 points on just one occasion.