Ever since Bret Bielema took over the program in December of 2020, Illinois football has seen a steady incline in terms of success. While it took a few seasons, for the first time in program history, the Illini won nine games in back-to-back seasons in 2024 and 2025.
Now, even with quite a bit of change to his roster this past offseason, Bielema is hoping not just for another season of nine wins, but potentially even a College Football Playoff appearance. If there is one thing Bielema has proved at Illinois in the past few seasons, it is consistency, and the numbers don't lie.
"In the last two years in the Big Ten conference, we're No. 4 behind Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State in four really cool categories: win percentages, Power Four wins, home wins, and ranked wins," Bielema said in his Big Ten Media Days press conference.
To be behind schools like Ohio State, Indiana, and Oregon, who have all been in the Big Ten Championships the last two seasons and two have won the National Championship, is impressive. Illinois is 19-7 in the last two years with bowl wins to cap both campaigns. On top of that, Bielema and Co. have gone 11-7 in conference play.
Is Bret Bielema's success at Illinois sustainable for the long haul?
Before Bielema showed up in Champaign, fans typically were more excited for the basketball season to begin and could care less about football contests being on the calendar. Sure, the Illini would maybe put together a solid season every now and then, but there was more success on the court than on the football field. There's simply no denying that fact.
However, Bielema has since made fans believe in Illinois football again, and even though it wasn't his best offseason of recruiting, the Illini are still poised to have a solid fall. There are questions around transfer quarterback Katin Houser and how well the new offensive line will perform, but that will have to be answered during the season.
The bigger question is whether this type of success can become expected from Illinois instead of it being a pleasant surprise. Bielema has become more aggressive on the recruiting trail, but for now he has 16 players on board for the class of 2027. Keep in mind, though, that he reeled in 19 transfers from the portal for the 2026 season, while signing a Top 25 '26 class as a whole per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Building strong rosters is going to be the key to Illinois' success going forward, but that luckily has been a strength of Bielema's. However, only having 16 commits (for now) for the '27 haul isn't going to be enough each offseason, and it won't be sustainable in a conference like the Big Ten, which is only getting stronger.
The wins over the last two seasons have been great, but can Bielema continue the trend? The Big Ten is a tough conference to play in now, and winning on the road and against ranked opponents is key. Illinois has accomplished the latter; now it's time to figure out how to win on the road.
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