Followed Lovie Smith. Bret Bielema raised Illinois from Regional Program II to National Program II.
Some of these guys are just getting the understanding of getting their feet underneath them
They were talking really good on the headset
Well, he’s fresh
I think him and Katin have kind of built a little bit of a relationship here the last two weeks, and I think that’s a really fun thing to see grow
To bring Katin Houser (to Big Ten Media Days) as one of our player representatives, I wanted him to be known as the quarterback at the University of Illinois going into the season
He didn’t get cleared until summer started
I think in the Big Ten play, to prepare for a unique offensive or defensive scheme in a workweek is really, really hard
One of the things that I felt as a head coach, I’m at my best when I don’t have to worry and micromanage areas that I don’t need to do or don’t want to do
To build a successful campaign to get 10 wins or more in the regular season, which will get you in the playoffs, I think we’re going to have to win on the road
I went back and looked during my window over the last five years and then specifically it’s gotten better and better each year
I do think that to say you contend is a great word, right, but I think championships are what people remember, right, and to get in those conversations, to do it more consistently, you’ve got to have a lot of great things going for you
The last three years, the quarterback I have now, we would not have gotten if the world existed five years ago
The fastest guys out of that group would be maybe Jared Cornelius and or Keon Hatcher
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
16–8 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Nick Saban.
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim
It’s night and day. We won 10 games total between 2015 and 2017. We have a shot at 10 wins again this season. Bielema is a miracle worker for turning around this program.
Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Nov 1, 2025 · via CFB
7th-best Illinois tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Lovie Smith (2016–2020).
| Season | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 5–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 10–3 | 9–4 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | — | W bowl | W bowl | — | |
| Recruiting rank | #73 | #46 | #38 | #49 | #45 | #24 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | 40.8 | 41.9 | 51.1 | 44.1 | 44.9 | 47.7 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | Tony Petersen | Barry Lunney Jr. | Barry Lunney Jr. | Barry Lunney Jr. | Barry Lunney Jr. | Barry Lunney Jr. | |
| DC | Ryan Walters | Ryan Walters | Aaron Henry / Terrance Jamison | Aaron Henry / Terrance Jamison | Aaron Henry / Terrance Jamison | Bobby Hauck | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | 19 | 40 | 58 | 72 | 64 | 79 | |
| Defense | 64 | 98 | 44 | 41 | 44 | 21 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 29.8 | 37.7 | 44.6 | 40.0 | 42.9 | 41.7 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 40.8 | 38.8 | 41.7 | 39.3 | 39.4 | 70.0 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 20.0 | 35.3 | 40.0 | 30.6 | 41.9 | — | |
A typical amount of portal roster-building.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
17 NFL Draft picks: Kendrick Green (2021), Nate Hobbs (2021), Kerby Joseph (2022), Vederian Lowe (2022), Doug Kramer (2022), Devon Witherspoon (2023), Jartavius Martin (2023), Sydney Brown (2023) + 9 more
3 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Devon Witherspoon (2022), Alex Palczewski (2022), Johnny Newton (2023)
6th-best Arkansas tenure of 22 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed John Smith (2012–2012) · succeeded by Chad Morris (2018–2019).
| Season | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||
| Record | 3–9 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 | |
| Postseason | — | W bowl | W bowl | CFP loss | — | |
| Recruiting rank | — | #29 | #22 | #23 | #27 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||
| Pass rate | — | 39.2 | 42.2 | 44.0 | 42.4 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||
| OC | — | Jim Chaney | Dan Enos | Dan Enos | Dan Enos | |
| DC | — | Robb Smith | Robb Smith | Robb Smith | Paul Rhoads | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||
| Offense | — | 64 | 100 | 67 | 73 | |
| Defense | — | 92 | 19 | 25 | 16 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | 25.6 | 32.8 | 33.8 | 33.3 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | 33.9 | 34.0 | 37.5 | 30.1 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | 30.0 | 44.4 | 27.0 | 28.6 | |
23 NFL Draft picks: Knile Davis (2013), Tyler Wilson (2013), Cobi Hamilton (2013), Chris Gragg (2013), Travis Swanson (2014), Chris Smith (2014), Kiero Small (2014), Zach Hocker (2014) + 15 more
2nd-best Wisconsin tenure of 14 by the numbers.
Succeeded by Gary Andersen (2013–2014).
30 NFL Draft picks: Brian Calhoun (2006), Brandon Williams (2006), Owen Daniels (2006), Jason Pociask (2006), Jonathan Orr (2006), Joe Thomas (2007), Jack Ikegwuonu (2008), Taylor Mehlhaff (2008) + 22 more