Illinois Coach Bret Bielema Shares Final Thoughts Ahead of Citrus Bowl

The Illini coach discussed 2024's inflection point and his take on a new era in college sports

Jul 23, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

With only hours left before his No. 20 Illinois football team was set to take on No. 15 South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, coach Bret Bielema on Monday addressed the media a final time before the Illini would hit the field at Camping World Stadium (Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT, on ABC).

On the health and availability of his players, including linebacker Seth Coleman, who was injured in the Northwestern game:

" I think Seth is going to be out there. If he's not, I know he's been invited to a Senior Bowl opportunity, will be able to do that. But really, he's the only one – we've had a couple guys with the flu bug. A couple of our players brought that with them from the holidays.

"The guys that have been injured throughout the course of the year won't be with us, but other than that, we should be full go."

On what he considers to be the inflection point for Illinois' season:

"I would say halftime of Nebraska. We were, at that point, a football team that had done some good things. We beat a ranked Kansas team at home, but to go on the road and play a ranked Nebraska team, at the time, I thought we just answered ourselves a lot of questions that we had just about where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do.

"When we beat Kansas, I just thought our guys were going to be into that game. It was a home game. It was all that and a ranked opponent. To go on the road and play a Nebraska team at the time that was undefeated, I think they lost five more after us in a row, so I think we ... I always talk about when we play a team. It's not what we do to them that week, but what they do after us, because of the physicality that we embrace and try to play [with]. I would say that game, in particular."

On the modern significance of bowl games that are not part of a season's College Football Playoff:

"Bowl games have evolved so much. Commonly during my recruiting pitches when we have kids on campus, I show them the [ring from the] 1990 Rose Bowl that I was a part of as a player. That Rose Bowl ring, when I bring kids on campus, sits right next to a Super Bowl ring.

"I think that Rose Bowl ring was $150 by NCAA rules back then, and it sits next to a Super Bowl ring that was $88,000. Twenty fake diamonds versus 220 real diamonds. I always say to people, 'Those are two cool rings.' And a lot of people would say the Super Bowl ring has more value, but both of those rings mean everything to me, because it represents a year.

"I think that's what it gets down to. We're not paying any kid any amount of dollars to play in this game. I know some teams have done that and that's perfectly great for them, but our kids want to be here and are a part of it."

On the decision by Miami's Cam Ward to opt out of the second half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl and how opt-outs and similar modern developments affect his motivation to coach:

"I became a coach because of the way the coaches had an effect on my life. I know that's one thing they can never take away from us. It can get frustrating. I'm sure [South Carolina coach] Shane [Beamer]'s wife and my wife will tell you that ... I flew to Oakland, California, two days before Christmas and took a day away from my daughters that I was really looking forward to. I knew to go visit a player that I loved and try to tell him things that will make him come back and play with us would have a huge effect on not only our football team, but also my life.

"Nothing can ever take away how much you enjoy coaching young men and getting them to reach their dreams. There are a lot of things that – I'm glad I'm in my 17th year, not my first year, because I know I can do this probably another 10 years. But I don't know if I can do it 17, for a variety of reasons. Yeah, I don't think that can ever take away from what we're doing."

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