Bielema Hired By Illinois

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Bwahahaha!!!
Bart Bulemia...
Bwahahaha!!!

Scott Frost has been replaced as the west’s bottom feeder, awesome!
 
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MplsGopher said:
Why is it a terrible hire? He did quite well at Wisconsin, and I explained the reason he left above. He wasn't fired, by any means.

We will see how well he recruits there. It won't be easy winning over Iowa, Wisc, and hopefully the Gophers, but it certainly will be much easier than having to bootstrap against Ohio St, Penn St, Michigan, and Mich State ... and now even Indiana and Rutgers. Don't ya think??
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I view his success at Wisconsin an offshoot of the Alvarez success - which UW coach hasn't done well there since Alvarez took over? They're plug-and-play. His terrible tenure at Arkansas is more along the lines of what I'd expect from such a chump and is more predictive of what his tenure will be like at Illinois, which is very similar to Arkansas - the dump of their division.
 
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gopherjay said:
He will bring them to a respectable and dangerous level in two years. The guy knows football and how to coach. The SEC was not for him but the BIG is. He will build huge O and D lines and get great QB's.
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Great QBs? Based on what?
 


I assume the scoring card guide changes for when we play Illinois.

Run it up.
 


Illinois going with the guy with a Hawkeye tattoo and a Wisconsin beer gut. Why not just steal their playbooks instead?
 


cncmin said:
I view his success at Wisconsin an offshoot of the Alvarez success - which UW coach hasn't done well there since Alvarez took over? They're plug-and-play. His terrible tenure at Arkansas is more along the lines of what I'd expect from such a chump and is more predictive of what his tenure will be like at Illinois, which is very similar to Arkansas - the dump of their division.
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Great deal of truth there. At UW it is follow the formula and you will have great success in the conference. At Arkansas he tried to invent the wheel .
 

He is inheriting a pretty good QB at Illinois and they have great recruiting base in Illinois. Don't like this, Bielema could make Illinois relevant again. He will put some of the band back together and hire goid Oline and D line coaches.
 



With Burt (Burp) Bielema back in the B1G we will need to dust off and adjust our CARD that dictates when we kick a PAT or go for 2.
 

builtbadgers said:
Great deal of truth there. At UW it is follow the formula and you will have great success in the conference. At Arkansas he tried to invent the wheel .
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Frost found out that he couldn't get the Florida kids to follow him to Nebraska. Brewster found out he couldn't get the kids he got to North Carolina and Texas to come up here. Brett couldn't get the kids he was getting go to Wisconsin to go to Arkansas.

Not sure many kids or parents will forget his hapless tenure at Arkansas to remember his tenure at Wisconsin. Which ended 8 years ago.
 

Bielema was an able custodian of the program that Alvarez built. Not sure that he kept it rolling by winning over recruits with personal charisma. Don't think we can assume that he is a builder as he failed in that role at Arkansas. Lots depends on assistant coaching budget and astute hiring in those capacities as Bielema will certainly need lots of expert help. Rural setting of Champaign has not been a traditional asset in building a Chicagoland pipeline.
 

Bielema is definitely an upgrade. It makes the conference more interesting.

He obviously struggled at Arkansas but that is a difficult job. They still had pretty unrealistic goals while playing in the SEC West. That's a tough job. The job also was a miss for one major factor, his system required the ability to recruit players you just don't see very often in Arkansas. In the Midwest, if you can land a large chunk of your in-state OL every year, you're kind of set. In the state of Arkansas from 2013-2016 (Bielema's years to recruit), there were a total of 3 OL that were signed to a Power 5 conference. In the state of Wisconsin during that same period, there were 15 OL that were signed by a Power 5 conference. High school football in Arkansas is a much more of a speed game.

He was always going to have a difficult time recruiting to Arkansas from the midwest. I know he landed Ragnow, but I don't think that is a common sell. He has also the distinct disadvantage of being a bloated pig. It's difficult to imagine he was impressive during in-home visits while stressing out the furniture, staring at the mom's assets, and shoveling an uncomfortable amount of food into his gullet with backwards Oakley's resting on the fat area above his ear.

TLDR - His system didn't fit the state and he is a big fat pig.
TLDR 2 - He is still better than Lovie Smith.
 
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"Not sure that he kept it rolling by winning over recruits with personal charisma.":D

Nice!

Oh and "you can't win at Arkansas" isn't backed-up by their record.

In the 12 years from 2001 to when Brett took over, the SEC Razorbacks won 11 games once. They won 8,9,10 games twice each. And won 7 games in 2001. They finished under .500 4 times.

Brett's high mark was in 2015 when he won 8 games. He was 29-34 overall.

Yes, the 3 years since they let him go have been awful. Maybe because Bielama left a bare cupboard for the next guy(s).
 
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gopherdudepart2 said:
He is inheriting a pretty good QB at Illinois and they have great recruiting base in Illinois. Don't like this, Bielema could make Illinois relevant again. He will put some of the band back together and hire goid Oline and D line coaches.
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They’ve had arguably one of the best recruiting bases in the B1G forever if you’re talking proximity to talent, it hasn’t translated, I don’t think Bielema is some kind of savant recruiter that will make it happen.
 




builtbadgers said:
Great deal of truth there. At UW it is follow the formula and you will have great success in the conference. At Arkansas he tried to invent the wheel .
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What's the formula at Illinois?
 


He won't be able to run up the score @ IL. in the beginning. Do they have enough open bars and donut shops 4 Burt the blimp ?
 


Bielema will be better than Lovie, but no way will he turn Illinois into what he did at Wisconsin.

Win-Win for the Gophers. Illinois will still probably be mediocre at best, and we get another coach to hate.

I had no hate for Lovie until he shaved off that glorious beard.
 

Well, I think many are selling Bielema short. At Wisconsin in 6 of his 7 years there he had the Badgers ranked in the Top 25 at season’s end. He led them to three straight Rose Bowls to close his stay at Wisconsin and 7 bowl games overall. System or not, that’s leadership.
At Arkansas his recruiting classes were ranked between 22 and 29 nationally every year. The problem: that was good for 10th in the SEC. He has nobody like that to compete with in the Big Ten West. Lovie recruited in the 70’s each year. Bielema will do much better.
Bob makes good points. He was not a fit at Arkansas.
Bielema left his job as New York Giants linebackers coach to begin work at Illinois immediately. They’ll add transfers, JC’s and February recruits to improve quickly.
Illinois will no longer be a gimmie.
Also, Bielema is from Illinois.
 


Illinois just leapfrogged Purdue in the West.

Wonder if this affects Northwestern much in any in-state recruiting battles.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
He is inheriting a pretty good QB at Illinois and they have great recruiting base in Illinois. Don't like this, Bielema could make Illinois relevant again. He will put some of the band back together and hire goid Oline and D line coaches.
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Huh?
 


As some have referenced his recruiting acumen. Can you imagine that massive D-bag sitting down in your living room, and having your child agree to go play for him? I'm no Frost fan, but I'd much rather send my kid to play for him than play for Burt.
 

Lovie was likable. Bielema is a jerk. Beating Illinois is now moving toward a Nebraska level. But not there yet. 😎
 

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