Illinois Football: Impact of Bret Bielema already shaping Illini roster

On December 19, 2020, the Illinois football program culture was changed when they hired Bret Bielema to replace the former coaching regime.

This was a hiring that pumped most Illinois fans up, and we all knew the long-term impact would be felt eventually. But the short-term is what I was wondering about. With the early National Signing Day already in the books, could Coach Bielema pull in talent before next season?

I believe that question has already been answered.

The first domino to fall after the hiring of Coach Bielema was the return of players from the team last season. Illinois was swift with their hiring and was able to land someone who was able to convince talented players to stick around for one more season.

Some of the notable players Coach Bielema convinced to return include center Doug Kramer, tackle Vederian Lowe, tackle Alex Palczewski and tight end Daniel Barker, among others. All of the returning players have a chance in 2021 to do what they had the potential to do in 2020.

Having a lot of the Illinois players returning from last season is exciting. But the new additions to the program have me intrigued as well.

The first addition by the new Illini coaching staff was Josh McCray. He committed to the Orange and Blue on January 5.

McCray is a 6-foot-1, 207-pound running back from Enterprise High School and resides in Enterprise, Alabama. The kid is a three-star recruit who is ranked as the No. 1576 player in the class of 2021 and the No. 100 running back in the nation. He is also the No. 71 player in the state of Alabama.

A commitment from McCray doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but if you look at who has offered him, this is a great snag by the Illini. In addition to the offer from Illinois, McCray was also wanted by Arkansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington State. So, that shows me that this kid is underrated by the recruiting sites.

The next domino to fall was Calvin Hart on January 5, the same day as the Illini got a commitment from McCray. Hart is coming from the transfer route, though.

Hart was originally a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 1394 player in the class of 2018. He committed and played a couple of seasons for North Carolina State but decided to transfer out of their program. His best season with the Wolfpack was 35 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack. The talented linebacker now joins the Illinois program.

Coach Bielema and the Illini kept the hot hand going on January 6. This is when they received the commitment from transfer, Chase Hayden.

Hayden came out of high school as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 188 player in the class of 2017. He committed to Coach Bielema when he was with Arkansas. Hayden’s best season was 61 carries for 326 yards and 4 touchdowns, but after three seasons with the Razorbacks and one with East Carolina, he is now looking to finish up with his old coach at Illinois. The Illini’s running back depth improved with Hayden coming to town.

So, while it has been less than a month, Coach Bielema’s impact has already been felt on the Illinois roster. We have added two running backs and a linebacker thanks to him coming to Champaign. This is a positive start to what will hopefully be even more commitments in the future.