It has been an interesting offseason for the Illinois football program, as a rebuild of key positions and coaches is still underway.
While the Illini have done a great job finding a replacement for star quarterback Luke Altmyer, there are still some holes to fill when it comes to the coaching staff.
Defensive coordinator is the main position to fill at this point. Aaron Henry departed the program to become Notre Dame’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. That leaves Illinois looking for a new head man to run the defense.
On Wednesday, Bret Bielema took to the podium to give a little update on the Illinois football program. One quote stuck out the most, as he talked about the defensive coordinator position.
“The defensive side of the ball, I informed my staff and told our players, I am making a transition from this current system we are currently in. I know the direction I am going as a head coach. I can’t announce until after the Super Bowl, but the intention of what I have in mind and where I am going will play out next week.”
The fact that Bielema has the coach lined up is fantastic. He mentions that he can’t announce it until after the Super Bowl, though. That piques my interest.
Is Bielema not announcing until after the Super Bowl because the next Illinois defensive coordinator is a coach in the Super Bowl?
The one coach that I am looking at right now is New England Patriots defensive assistant Kevin Richardson.
Richardson played four years of college football at Arkansas. Bielema was his head coach. He was a graduate assistant and defensive backs coach at two low-level programs before coming to Illinois in 2021 as a defensive graduate assistant under Bielema.
In 2022, Richardson took a defensive backs coach job at Long Island. He came back to Illinois in 2023 as a defensive analyst under Bielema. In 2024, Richardson moved to assistant defensive backs coach with the Illini, also under Bielema.
There are a lot of ties Richardson has with Bielema, so it only makes sense if that was the target for the defensive coordinator position.
The split between Bret Bielema and Aaron Henry is how you conduct business at Illinois
I believe Richardson is about to become the next defensive coordinator at Illinois. He is someone who has experience at Illinois, and now he has dipped his toes into the NFL waters.
It is a tough ask to hire a quality coach this late in the game, too. Henry left his post at Illinois at a bad time, but that didn’t stop Bielema from being a quality human.
“And of course, Aaron Henry. A lot of you guys know how much Aaron has meant to me in my lifetime. He’s been with me at three different Universities. He has meant the world to me.”
Bielema could have been spiteful, but he took the high road. In fact, he helped Henry in his path to get to Notre Dame.
“I talked to Josh (Whitman), and we waived a pretty significant part of his buyout to let that opportunity happen.”
I am thankful Bielema is the head coach of Illinois. He does things the right way on and off the field. Hopefully, this next hire will be one that gets the Illini defense back on track.