Illinois’ defensive staff took a sudden turn on Sunday, and Bret Bielema made it clear on Monday that the move did not start with him.
Bobby Hauck’s exit after only four games in Champaign stunned plenty of people around the program. The former Montana head coach arrived in February, but his run with the Illini ended quickly after the school announced the split as a “mutually agreed” decision.
Bielema tried to sort through how it happened in a press conference, and his account pointed to Hauck bringing the issue to him first.
“There’s been times, probably at least two times, since I’ve been here at Illinois where I’ve transitioned people out of their roles,” Bielema said. “It was decisions I made, and we did it during the season and it never got released.
The year we won 10 games, I had a transition the second bye week - and knew it was better to do what I needed to do. And then obviously the results were what it was.
Went on to win more games than we ever won.
“So yesterday I had no intentions of doing anything along those lines. Bobby reached out to me early Sunday morning, said he wanted to have a talk.
When I got that message, I had an idea in my head what might be happening. So I came in and had a conversation with him that obviously had to do with football, but didn’t really have to do with football.
He just felt it wasn’t working for him, which then affected the staff and affected our results.
“But more than anything, what I loved about him was his final comment to me when I knew we were going to have to do something. He just felt that the players deserve to be their best, right?
And have their best opportunity to win. And he didn’t think that could be attainable the way things were going.”
Bielema later put it even more plainly: “I had no intentions of doing anything along those lines.”
He said Hauck told him, “Coach, it’s not working for me,” and added, “Obviously, I’m a big part of this equation.” From there, Bielema said the two talked about possible next steps, and he realized it had reached a point where keeping Hauck in that role no longer made sense.
The timing matters because Illinois’ defense had already drawn sharp criticism. One day before Hauck left, after Ohio State’s 42-19 win over the Illini, Bielema called the unit “unacceptable."
Even if the change was necessary, it still leaves Illinois dealing with a major midseason shakeup at a key spot on the staff. The first chance to see what comes next arrives Saturday, when Illinois (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) faces Purdue (1-3, 0-1) at 3:15 p.m.
CT on BTN. Purdue has scored 36 or more points in three of its first four games.
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Cambric already has two Division I offers, and the Illini are part of a recruiting path that is only beginning to take shape. He plans to see several other schools as he works through his options, so there is a long way to go before anything is decided. Still, Illinois getting involved this early, and doing so with an in-state defender, is exactly the kind of groundwork the staff wants to lay as it keeps building around the next few classes. [Read more 🡒]
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For Illinois, the timing matters most up front, where the offensive line has been inching back toward full strength and giving the staff a better chance to settle things down. Brown is also being eased back into game action, which adds another layer to a unit that has been waiting for bodies to come back at the right time. The question now is how quickly those returning pieces can translate practice reps into something the Illini can actually lean on Saturday. [Read more 🡒]