SOURCES: Bielema & Leipold Interviewed With Illini AD This Week

Multiple sources have confirmed former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema and current Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold have spoken to Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman regarding the opening.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Two head coaches with Wisconsin ties have spoken to Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman this week about the Illini’s current head coach vacancy.

Multiple sources close to the search and both candidates have confirmed to Illini Now/Sports Illustrated that former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema and current Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold have spoken to Whitman regarding the opening created by the termination of Lovie Smith.

Multiple sources have confirmed to Illini Now/Sports Illustrated that former Wisconsin/Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema and current Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold have had face-to-face meetings with Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman / Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports

Illini Now/SI has learned via multiple sources inside the athletics department that it is Whitman’s preference to conclude the search and name the Illini’s next head coach by the end of this weekend. However, the quick turnaround of conference championship games being played starting Friday night and the Illini slated to conclude its 2020 season with a road game at Penn State Saturday (4:30 p.m., FS1) make Whitman's wish a tight turnaround.

Whitman gave evidence he was back in Champaign Thursday morning after he tweeted a photo of Illinois players practicing inside the team’s indoor facility.

Last practice for the team that has fought through the most adversity in the history of Illinois Football. Think about all that has happened, on the field and off, since Jan 1. Tremendous respect and appreciation for this group of men. Tough. Loyal. Strong. Quite a legacy. 😤🤜 pic.twitter.com/MxQqZHvD5c

— Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) December 17, 2020

Sources close to the candidates confirm Bielema, who currently serves as the outside linebackers coach and senior assistant coach with the New York Giants under first-year head coach Joe Judge, met with Whitman earlier this week before the Giants began heavy preparations to play at Baltimore at noon Sunday.

Bielema reportedly interviewed with Colorado athletics director Rick George, who graduated from Illinois in 1982 and was a four-year letterman at cornerback for the Illini while playing in 44 straight games and starting in 27 games under head coaches Gary Moeller and Mike White, this past February after Mel Tucker left the Buffaloes program to take the Michigan State job last offseason.

Bielema, 50, was born in Prophetstown, Illinois and played football at Iowa under Hayden Fry and can boast recent successful periods as a head coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas. Bielema was 68–24 in seven seasons after taking over the Badgers program from Barry Alvarez after he assumed the athletics director position. Bielema left Wisconsin to take the job at Arkansas where he went to bowl games in three straight seasons 2014-16 but was fired after five season following a 4-8 record in 2017. Since being fired from Arkansas, Bielema was hired by the NFL’s New England Patriots as a defensive consultant to head coach Bill Belichick and was promoted ahead of the 2019 season to defensive line coach.

Multiple sources close to Illini Now/SI have confirmed Leipold met with Whitman in his home in Buffalo, New York earlier this week to discuss the Illini opening. Leipold deflected any talk of possibly other coaching opportunities during his CBS Sports Radio appearance on “The Jim Rome Show” saying his message to his players and staff this week is “be where your feet are at”.

“It’s flattering. It helps our program,” Leipold said. “You never say never. But, again, we want to worry about where we’re at, and we have more work to do here and look forward to doing it.”

Leipold will lead Buffalo (5-0) into Detroit this week for the Mid-American Conference Championship Game against Ball State (5-1) on Friday night (6:30 p.m., ESPN).

Leipold, 56, is finishing his sixth season at Buffalo and the Bulls are currently 5-0 in this 2020 campaign. Leipold, who was born in Jefferson, Wis., accumulated a 109-6 record at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater and won the NCAA Division III Football Championship in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 while also being the national runner-up in 2008. Leipold was a graduate assistant at Wisconsin under Alvarez from 1991–1993. The Bulls are 36-32 in six seasons with Leipold as head coach, and they will play in their second MAC championship game in three years. UB is also bowl-eligible for the fourth consecutive season.

"We were 2-10, other schools told recruits, ‘Why would you go to Buffalo? They're not going to be there much longer,’ " Leipold said in a Zoom video media conference Wednesday. "We won 10 games and they said, ‘Why would you go to Buffalo? They're not going to be there much longer.'

Leipold was named earlier this week as the 2020 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year selection.