Bielema willing to make changes
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Mar. 6—CHAMPAIGN — Early in Bret Bielema's time at Illinois, the team played a unique brand of defense.
Today, as Bielema enters his sixth season in charge, he has seen a transformation in the rest of the Big Ten. And it looks too familiar.
"After five years, I think the (defense) we've been running had become very worn in this league," Bielema said on Thursday at the Smith Center.
So, Illinois is about to try something different. Bobby Hauck replaced Aaron Henry (now at Notre Dame) as defensive coordinator. Hauck, the former Montana coach, will have lots of help.
"The main goal there was to add a person at every layer of our defense that had either worked under Bobby or worked with him or in that system," Bielema said.
New hires include secondary coach Ronnie Bradford, who was Hauck's former defensive coordinator at Montana. More connections to the FCS power Grizzlies are now prevalent with the Illini.
New Illinois inside linebackers coach Roger Cooper spent the past four seasons as Montana's defensive coordinator.
"To have the last two coordinators under this system with Bobby here is just a huge, huge asset," Bielema said.
Bielema and the new staff members will put their plan into action during spring ball, which starts on March 23. The Illini will work on Monday nights, Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons/nights during the five-week spring session.
Been there, done that
Changing defenses is nothing new for Bielema.
When he first took over as the Wisconsin coach in 2006, after serving on Barry Alvarez's staff, he had Mike Hankwitz and Dave Doeren as his co-defensive coordinators.
Hankwitz, now retired, was considered among the top defensive minds during his time. Doeren has been the North Carolina State coach for more than a decade.
"I hired those guys to implement a defense I had never run," Bielema said.
It worked. Their first team with the Badgers went 12-1.
"I learned from Barry Alvarez to be a CEO head coach, don't try to be a defensive coordinator," Bielema said. "I really kind of operated that way during my entire tenure at Wisconsin."
When he went from Wisconsin to Arkansas, Bielema retained defensive coordinator Chris Ash and they brought the system with them … for a minute.
"(We) realized the things that we did there (at Wisconsin) probably couldn't be done at Arkansas," Bielema said. "Just a different type of kid. Different type of environment. Different type of league. So, we adjusted a little bit a year later."
With success. One of the worst defenses in the SEC turned into one of the best. The 2014 Razorbacks scored consecutive shutout victories against ranked LSU and Mississippi late in the season on the way to the Texas Bowl.
"I kind of drew to that experience," Bielema said. "I've been at my best when we've kind of gone opposite of things I was familiar with."
Worth the risk
The old Illinois defense helped produce a combined 19 wins the past two seasons. And a pair of bowl wins against the SEC.
So, why do something different? Bielema's answer: the numbers.
"Every year, I do a self-evaluation of where we've been," Bielema said. "Over the last three years, we've never been in the top half of any statistical category that matters."
Some statistics carry more weight for Bielema. Like scoring defense (the Illini were 57th in the country last season) and passing defense (Illinois was 63rd last season).
"Teams that win usually can run the ball, defend the run and cover kicks," he said. "But the ability to defend the pass is a huge, huge, huge deal in today's college football world. Statistically, we haven't been great in that arena."
And there is a bonus that comes with the defensive change.
"To give something new to this league," Bielema said. "After five years, to change a little direction, to change not only what we're doing but how we're aligning and what we're asking out opponent to prepare for is a really big deal."
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