Bret Bielema is taking the anti-Bill Belichick approach

While the Illinois football team continues to see success on the field, there is another team in the south that isn’t seeing the same results.

Since Bret Bielema took over the Illini in late 2020, the program has had an arrow upward. That success didn’t come easy, though. There were definitely some growing pains, but one thing Bielema hasn’t done is get in the way of the progression of the program or his players.

The same can’t be said for one of the best coaches in the history of football. Bill Belichick took over the North Carolina program this past offseason. This was portrayed as a massive hire by the Tar Heels that would elevate the program and brand. Numerous pundits said he would steamroll the ACC.

While Belichick had great success at the NFL level, as a six-time Super Bowl champion and three-time Coach of the Year, the college game is a completely different animal. Belichick is learning that quickly.

A 48-14 thumping at the hands of TCU in week one was a wake-up call to how much of an uphill battle Belichick has to learn the college nuances. But instead of fixing his ways and the situation, the former Super Bowl champ is doubling down on what has been a pretty rough road thus far.

Last week, Belichick decided to make the interesting decision of banning the New England Patriots from the North Carolina facilities. The scouts from the Patriots aren’t allowed to scout the Tar Heels’ players. You know, the players who likely want to make it to the NFL.

Out of all of the decisions that have been made in the Belichick era of North Carolina football, that might be the most detrimental decision. Illinois, thankfully, has a head coach in Bret Bielema who knows the college game and what to do to elevate his players to get to the next level.

Bielema talked about practice on Thursday and the important people who were in-house to see his players.

“I was sitting there today, and I think we had five NFL representatives. And I don’t think we had anybody but Senior Directors of Personnel and VPs of Personnel. We are getting a lot of high-end clientele coming through.”

In the interview published by Carson Gourdie of WICS ABC 20, Bielema goes on to say that he sits down with the NFL personnel that is in the house for around 15 minutes before practice.

“I know those players give me what they can give me, and I want to give them what I can give them…Matt Bailey was a guy that everyone was telling him why he couldn’t be recruited. I want to tell them why he could be recruited.”

The list of Illinois football players in the NFL has grown rapidly under Bret Bielema

When Bielema does little interviews like this, the words that come out of his mouth have meaning. He isn’t just spitting coach-speak.

Bielema knows how to run a college program, and he lifts his players up. He does everything in his power to get his players to the NFL, and the results have been impressive at Illinois.

So far, Bielema has put 18 players from Illinois into the NFL. This includes 12 players getting drafted in the last four NFL Drafts.

At the end of the day, if you want to get to the NFL, why not Champaign? You have a program that just received an influx of money, you have a coach who elevates you, and you can win on the field. That sounds like a good package deal to me.