Illinois Football: Bret Bielema keeps winning with Shawn Miller commitment

Illinois football continued to build over the weekend, adding top 500 talent Shawn Miller to the mix.

The class of 2022 superstar gave his commitment to the Illini and was thrust to the top of the list of committed players for the program. Miller, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound wide receiver, is the No. 498 player in the class of 2022 and the No. 67 wide receiver in the nation. He is also the No. 69 player coming out of the state of Florida.

A commitment from Miller isn’t just another body added to the roster. He is one of the best players in the country and someone who elevates the Illinois recruiting class. The Illini now sit with the No. 36 class for 2022 and the No. 8 class in the Big Ten. The last time Illinois had a class ranked that high was back in 2009 when we finished with the No. 28 ranked class.

Bret Bielema has won the offseason for the Illinois football team.

Bielema came into the Illini program with a lot of name notoriety. The guy coached some of the best players in the country with Wisconsin and then ended up on the staff of the New England Patriots. There is a lot of coaching clout there.

From the start, Bielema was saying everything right in the press conferences. He preached words that Illini Nation was wanting to hear. But words can only take you so far. You have to have substance to back those words up.

So far, through an offseason, Bielema has delivered on those words. Without coaching a game, Bielema has landed five top 1000 recruits and has the Orange and Blue on a path for a top 40 recruiting class, which hasn’t happened in over a decade.

On the macro level, Bielema has Illinois recruiting well across the board. On a micro level, he was preaching winning the state of Illinois and keeping kids home. So far, he has done a great job with that as well.

Illinois is nowhere near finished with the 2022 class, but Bielema has already been able to land eight in-state recruits. In the past 11 recruiting classes – dating back to 2012 – that is only second to the class of 2017 which had 10 in-state recruits. Bielema is fulfilling his promise to recruit in the state of Illinois.

I know, it is early on in the Bielema era, but he has won the offseason and is holding true to his words so far. What it all comes down to is winning on the football field. I believe he can do that as well. The 2021 season can’t come soon enough.