Illinois Football: Multiple Illini opponents on coaching hot seat

Illinois football emerged victorious again this past weekend in what was the second straight comeback victory.

It has been a wild two weeks for the Illini. After being down in the waning moments against Minnesota, backup quarterback John Paddock entered the game and had three incredible passes that led to a game-winning touchdown.

This game led to the crazy roller coaster of a contest against Indiana on Saturday. Illinois was down 27-12 at one time but then proceeded to rattle off 27 unanswered points. Indiana came back and sent the game to overtime, and Paddock once again saved the day with a game-winning touchdown pass.

Illinois is now 5-5 on the season and 3-4 in the Big Ten. We are one win away from getting to another bowl game in the Bret Bielema era. This type of stability is fantastic for the program, and there are a lot of other teams who don’t have the luxury of knowing their program is in the right place.

Vegas oddsmakers have listed the top odds of the next coach to get fired. Leading the way is Baylor’s Dave Aranda at 5-1. You will also see some familiar faces on this list that are in the Big Ten or will be in the Big Ten in 2024.

Bret Bielema has brought Illinois football stability that not many programs have right now

Indiana head coach Tom Allen has the next best odds at 6-1. You will find another Big Ten name on this list in Matt Rhule. The Nebraska head coach checks in at 10-1 to be the next head coach to get let go. This is a shocker to me because Rhule has the Cornhuskers on track to be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2016.

Continuing on the list, Vegas has USC’s Lincoln Riley at 20-1 and UCLA’s Chip Kelly at 25-1. Both of these coaches are safe in my eyes, but they will both join the Big Ten after the season concludes. That means four Big Ten head coaches in 2024 are on the list of coaches most likely to get fired next.

Bielema is not on this list and shouldn’t be. He has done a great job coaching Illinois football, and his stability is something no Illini fan should take for granted.

For a solid decade, you would have likely seen an Illinois coach on this list. But since Bielema took over the program, there hasn’t been any question about his job security and what he has done for the Orange and Blue.

A head coach winning five games in three straight seasons hasn’t been accomplished in Champaign since Ron Turner, who did it four straight years from 1999 through 2002. That was over 20 years ago.

What is even crazier is the coaching environment Bielema has to deal with. We are in a win-now type of coaching world, and yet, our athletic director remains solid with Bielema and the direction of the program. Bielema inherited a team that went 2-6 in 2020. In three years, he has made us a respectable program once again. This stability has been huge for recruiting, the team, the coaching staff, and the fanbase at large.