Sudden change doesn't seem to bother Bielema

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Sep. 29—CHAMPAIGN — If Bret Bielema is stressed out by his Illinois football team's transition on defense, it sure didn't show Monday afternoon at Gies Memorial Stadium.

Less than a day after the sudden departure of defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck, Bielema held his usual 15-minute session with local media members.

Obviously, Hauck's move was all anyone wanted to talk about. Bielema knew it and addressed it in his opening remarks.

As he is want to do, Bielema downplayed the significance of the change, pointing to a transition during a previous Illinois season that was never announced.

"There's been 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 and worked perfectly.

"Actually, the year we won 10 games I had transition after the second bye week and knew it was better to do what I needed to do. Obviously, the results were what it was and went on to win more games than we've ever won."

I apologize if I'm misreading what Bielema said, but it seems like he wants credit for being able to keep a change in staff duties a secret.

And apparently that is the plan for this week, with no defensive players or defensive assistant coaches available to the media ahead of Saturday's homecoming matchup against Purdue that kicks off at 3:15 p.m. That's not 100 percent accurate, either. The BTN TV announcers — Chris Vosters is handling play-by-play duties and Anthony Herron is the analyst — will have access to Bielema in the days leading up to the game, and my guess is he will share some of his plans with them.

They are, as media agents for the Big Ten, part of the team.

No matter who takes over the actual play-calling, it is a major switch for a team that proudly trotted out a new defensive leader four games ago. Those who saw Ohio State star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith score four touchdowns on Saturday realized it wasn't working and expected tweaks. According to Bielema, Hauck asked for the change.

Quiet time

Bielema has a plan. One that he will not share with the rest of the class, the media or the fan base. If you see him filling up the car with gas this week, please be friendly, but don't ask about the defense. What's going to happen is in the vault and won't be seen until mid-afternoon on Saturday.

The players and remaining coaches WILL know what the team is doing against Purdue.

"I want them to concentrate on the task at hand," Bielema said.

Question: If the defense struggles against the Boilermakers, is the media therefore blameless? That whole distraction argument would be a bit more reasonable if the players were restricted to the Smith Center and their apartments, with no outside contact. Funny that the pizza delivery person might have more information about the defense than the media and by connection, the fans.

But the coach needs to do whatever he thinks best. My experience is that the "hide them away" ploy doesn't always pay off. Especially if the results are less than expected against a team sitting toward the bottom of the Big Ten. No offense, Purdue. Basketball is coming soon.

Inflection point

The removal of a coordinator on either side of the ball four games into the season — and four games into his tenure at the school — is a big deal. But graded against the ousting of Tim Beckman a week before the season, the change is not in the same league.

Fortunately for Illinois in 2015, it had Bill Cubit on hand already running the offense. He jumped in and went 5-7 amid difficult conditions. Then got fired for his troubles. Whoever runs the Illinois defense the rest of the season is already with the team. How do we know? Because I asked if anyone new is joining the staff.

"I don't think so," Bielema said. "Never say never, but we've got two weeks here, then we've got a bye week, to restructure how we're doing it. What we're doing."

Bielema is sticking with the system he bought this season, only with a different pilot. A Hauck is still working with the defense. But it is Robby Hauck, Bobby's son, who is an assistant defensive backs coach.

Once it all broke late Sunday afternoon, Bielema talked to athletic director Josh Whitman. Based on what I saw Monday, the talks are ongoing. Bielema and Whitman chatted outside the stadium.

What does Bielema hope the change means for the defense?

"We want to win every game," Bielema said. "We've done good things on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously, the third-down execution, (Jeremiah Smith) and the success he had Saturday, I just think there was some things we've got to do better at specifically, which can make us better overall."

Next year's defense and who runs it is a conversation for a later day.

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