Illinois Football: Bret Bielema has brought stability to the Illini

With the 2021 campaign finished up, there is one term that comes to mind when thinking about where the Illinois football program is today.

It has been a while since I have had positive vibes from the Illini at season’s end. Even in the bowl appearance just a couple of years ago, Illinois was trounced by California, which left a bad taste in my mouth.

But we are in a new era of Illinois football. The Bret Bielema era has a different feel to it. This coaching staff managed to give the Illini and the fanbase something I didn’t think we would have for years.

Stability.

Illinois football finally has stability within the program.

I know there are some people who might scoff at the notion that 5-7 is stable. But you have to look at the entire picture and what is going on with the Illinois football program.

Bielema took over a program that went 2-6 the prior year. This was a team that had zero identity on both sides of the ball. You couldn’t tell if the Illini had a running or passing offense. You couldn’t tell if Illinois’ defense was stout at stopping the run or good at pass coverage. It just seemed like a group of guys out there with no purpose.

The current coaching staff took those same players, and essentially the same team, and molded them into a dangerous running team with a defense that shut down opposing offenses. We know that the Illini defense is going to give us a chance to win games. We also know that the combination of Chase Brown and Josh McCray will be able to have success on the ground.

Illinois built an identity this season on both sides of the ball. The 5-7 record that we were able to achieve was also one of the best records in recent memory. Only the 2019 and 2014 seasons had better records since 2012.

Bielema has brought stability on the field, but he has also brought stability when it comes to recruiting.

The two recruiting classes prior to Bielema entering the Illinois program were ranked No. 88 in 2020 and No. 73 in 2021. Illinois is currently ranked No. 45 in the nation for the 2022 class.

If the Illini can finish ranked No. 45 or better for the class of 2022, it would be the highest the program has finished nationally in the last 10 recruiting classes. The second best would be in 2017 when the program finished No. 46.

Illinois is also targeting more in-state recruits. Among the 17 commitments for 2022, nine of those pledges are from the state of Illinois. If recruiting ended today, the nine commitments for 2022 would be the second-most in the past 10 recruiting classes. Again, only 2017 would beat out this class with 10 in-state recruits.

Bielema isn’t anywhere near being done with the class of 2022. There are still some solid recruits left on the board. I have no doubt we will see more in-state kids signed up for 2022 than we have in the past decade. I also believe this class can finish in the top 50 nationally.

So, while the season is over and we aren’t going bowling in 2021, Bielema and his coaching staff have brought something to the Illinois program that we haven’t seen in a long time. Stability. It is exciting to know that this team is heading in the right direction.