Illinois Football: What to expect in Bret Bielema’s debut season?

Illinois football has a new head coach and a familiar face returning at quarterback. So what does that mean for the 2021 season? 

One of the best head-coaching hires this offseason in college football was when Illinois football went out and got Bret Bielema.

Bielema had a ton of success as the head coach at Wisconsin and even did some good things at Arkansas before the bottom fell out.

But Bielema knows what it takes to win in the Big Ten. He’s also a skilled recruiter and he’s as good a bet as anyone to get Illinois football back to winning consistently again.

Illinois isn’t really a name-brand program and that’s why the Fighting Illini have had to take shots on head coaches such as Lovie Smith and Ron Zook over the years with a varying amount of success.

Zook led Illinois to three winning seasons in four years, as well as a berth in the Rose Bowl. But since then, the Fighting Illini haven’t had consecutive winning seasons.

Smith seemed to be on the verge after getting Illinois back to a bowl game in 2019, but that was followed by a 2-6 campaign, which was enough for Smith to get a pink slip.

The difference is that Bielema has proven he can win in the Big Ten and while it might take 2-3 years, I expect the Illini to start winning again.

Illinois added a number of players in the transfer portal and lost some too. But looking ahead to 2021, it’s hard to know what to expect. Here’s our best guess, plus a look at the offense and defense.