Illinois hires Bret Bielema, former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach, to lead the football program, the school announced on Saturday.
Bielema, 50, has worked as an NFL assistant for the past three seasons and this year worked for the New York Giants after two years with the New England Patriots. He had expressed an interest in returning to the college level and was running for openings in both the state of Michigan and Colorado last year, and earlier in this cycle at Southern Miss, according to sources.
Bielema gets a six-year deal with Illinois with a starting salary of $ 4.2 million.
Illinois, which fired coach Lovie Smith last Sunday, also considered Buffalo coach Lance Leipold, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard to replace Smith, who went 17-39 in five seasons at the school.
“Illinois and the Big Ten is my home, and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity ahead of me with the Fighting Illini,” Bielema said in a prepared statement. “We want to create a program that makes Illini Nation proud and regain the passion I saw when Illinois wins.”
Bielema won three consecutive Big Ten championships in Wisconsin from 2010 to 2012, going 68-24 in seven seasons with the Badgers with five Top 25 finishes. He left after the 2012 Big Ten championship game for Arkansas, where he went 29-34 before being fired in 2017.
Growing up in Prophetstown, Illinois, he played defensive line in Iowa and helped the Hawkeyes to part of the Big Ten title in 1990 (Illinois also shared the championship). Bielema began his coaching career with Iowa before moving to Kansas State and then to Wisconsin, where he was named to succeed Barry Alvarez after the 2005 season.
Bret Bielema is a proven winner, athletic director Josh Whitman said in a prepared statement. With three Big Ten championships to his credit, few coaches can match his fame and success within the Big Ten Conference. It became clear to me in our conversations that he is a lifelong learner who is constantly looking for growth. And improve. “