Who Could Bret Bielema Hire For His Coaching Staff at Illinois?

Illini Now/Sports Illustrated has decided we would try to prepare you, the Illinois fan, for possibilities as to who Bret Bielema may decide to bring to Champaign for his staff.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- In a matter of about 24 hours Bret Bielema went from trying to prepare the New York Giants outside linebackers for a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Cleveland Browns to taking over a Big Ten Conference football program as a head coach.

For the third time in his 23-year career, Bielema will be charged with putting together a coaching staff at a Power 5 Conference program. As of Saturday morning, the former Wisconsin and Arkansas head coach said in a radio interview with Steve Kelly and Loren Tate on the WDWS 1400-AM “Illini Pella Saturday SportsTalk” show he “literally not talked to anybody” about hiring assistant coaches for his new opportunity at Illinois.

“I’m sure there’ll be some people that remain a part of our program, as well as some new blood coming into it,” Bielema said Saturday morning.

Illini Now/Sports Illustrated has decided we would try to prepare you, the Illinois fan, for possibilities as to who Bielema may decide to bring and retain for his first staff at Illinois. 

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Possible Returnees From Current Illini Staff:

Illini Now/SI has learned that Bielema will conduct meetings with the current Illinois staff members starting Sunday through Monday before the new Illini head coach will announce any possible staff changes for the 2021 season or beyond.

RB coach Mike Bellamy - Bellamy returned to Champaign after being hired by Lovie Smith in 2019 after two seasons as wide receivers coach at Toledo (2017-18) and one season as quality control coach/analyst at Mississippi State (2016). Bellamy spent four seasons on the Illinois staff (2012-15), including three as wide receivers coach, and was a standout receiver for the Fighting Illini as a student-athlete in 1988 and 1989.

During his previous stint in Champaign (2012-15), Bellamy was promoted to Illinois' wide receivers coach in February 2013 after serving one year as assistant director of player personnel and relations (2012). In his role with the Fighting Illini in 2012 under-then first-year head coach Tim Beckman, Bellamy immediately served as a bridge between the coaching staff and former Illini players, coaches and staff across the country, building numerous relationships. Illini Now/SI is being told by multiple sources that prominent former Illinois players are hopeful Bellamy is retained because of his ties to them and the success the running backs have seen in the Illinois offense under coordinator Rod Smith. Also, if Bielema is serious about going to a more spread look with the Illini, it may serve him well to retain an assistant confident about finding success in a ground attack out of a more open offensive philosophy.

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DT coach Al Davis - You want someone with direct ties to Bielema from this current Illini staff? Look no further than the Arkansas graduate Mr. Al Davis himself.

Davis just completed his first season and hasn’t been in Champaign a full calendar year after being hired to Lovie Smith’s Illinois staff as defensive tackles coach on Jan. 17, 2020.

Davis was a defensive graduate assistant coach at Arkansas under Bielema for the 2014-16 seasons after lettering for the Razorbacks from 2009-12. Also, if Bielema wants to implement a more of a 3-4 defensive front look starting next season, it may serve the new Illinois head coach well to have a familiar face coaching those nose tackles.

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OL coach Bob McClain: McClain was instrumental in securing the offensive line signees in this 2021 class include Brody Wisecarver, Josh Kreutz, Zachary Barlev and Joshua Gesky. Some of those signees have been rather vocal that they’d like to see their primary recruiter (McClain) be retained by whoever gets the Illini head coaching job. The question regarding McClain is he has a long history with Rod Smith after the then-offensive coordinator promoted McClain to offensive line coach in Feb. 2019 from his offensive analyst role.

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New Additions:

Photo courtesy of University of Arkansas athletics department

Michigan Football Director of Strength and Conditioning Ben Herbert - Multiple sources close to the situation have told Illini Now/SI that Bielema would prefer to bring his long-time strength coach from Wisconsin and Arkansas with him to Champaign as he starts this rebuild with Illinois.

During his career as a strength coach, Herbert has worked with 76 NFL Draft picks, including 10 first-round selections. He coached two Heisman Trophy finalists, two Outland Trophy winners, two Doak Walker Award winners, 60 first-team all-conference selections, and 35 All-Americans. He also won five Big Ten Conference titles and participated in five Rose Bowl games as both a player and coach.

Herbert developed 17 Razorbacks who were selected in the NFL Draft and worked with two first-team All-Americans and 14 All-Southeastern Conference honorees. He was integral in the development of 2015 John Mackey Award winner Hunter Henry as the nation's top tight end and offensive lineman Sebastian Tretola, who was recipient of the 2015 Jacobs Blocking Trophy which is presented to the SEC's best blocker.

Herbert spent 11 seasons working with the strength and conditioning staff at Wisconsin, where he was involved in all aspects of sports performance for the football team. He was the football program's head strength and conditioning coach the final four seasons (2009-12) of Bielema’s tenure in Madison.

During his tenure with the Badgers' strength staff, Herbert helped develop 41 NFL draft picks, including six first-round choices. Wisconsin also produced five national individual award winners, 28 All-America selections and 49 All-Big Ten first-team selections.

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Offensive Coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase - Let’s get the dream scenario for Illini fans out of the way quickly. Scheelhaase is in his third season on Matt Campbell’s Iowa State staff after having worked with the running backs in 2018 and the last two years with the wide receivers. In 2019, Scheelhaase was listed in 247Sports' "30Under30" as one of the top rising stars in the profession. Scheelhaase was on staff at his alma mater from 2015-17, spending his first season as assistant director of football operations and running backs coach on Bill Cubit’s staff. He was retained by Lovie Smith and worked his last two seasons as an offensive analyst for the Fighting Illini. Sheelhaase has never been a coordinator but Bielema may want to take a chance on a local favorite with recruiting and coaching chops to implement his more open offensive philosophy.

A 2012 graduate of Illinois, Scheelhaase finished his career as the Illini’s all-time total offense leader with 10,634 yards, a total that ranks seventh in Big Ten history. In 2013 he had one of the best offensive seasons in Illinois football history, leading the conference in passing yardage (272.7 ypg), total offense (295.2 ypg) and completion percentage (66.7) during his senior campaign, while also breaking the school record for passing efficiency (140.7) to earn All-Big Ten honors.

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Defensive Coordinator/DB coach Paul Rhoads - When Bielema wanted to transition to the 3-4 defensive front philosophy in 2017, Rhoads was the man he turned to because that’s traditionally at previous stops of Pittsburgh, Auburn and Iowa State (head coach) that has been his bread and butter look.

Iowa State head football coach Paul Rhoads (cq) speaks during a press conference following the arrival of the Iowa State (cq) football team at the Executive Terminal (cq) at Sky Harbor International Airport (cq) in Phoenix on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009 :: David Wallace/ The Arizona Republic

After being hired as the Arizona defensive coordinator for this 2020 season, Rhoads, 53, is currently the interim head coach after they fired Kevin Sumlin.

Rhoads, a veteran of 10 bowl games in his career, arrived at Arkansas after a seven-year stint as the head coach at Iowa State, where he led the Cyclones to three bowl games and 32 wins. According to USA Today, Rhoads pulled down a salary of $750,000 this year and drew a $700,000 salary as Bielema’s defensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2017.

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Defensive Line coach Charlie Partridge - If Bielema wants a familiar face who can recruit Florida, Illinois and other critical Midwest states, Partridge is a logical connection for his staff with the Illini. Partridge, 47, got his first full-time staff position in college football in the state of Illinois as the defensive line coach at Eastern Illinois under legendary Bob Spoo. 

Pittsburgh Panthers assistant head coach Charlie Partridge looks on against the Duke Blue Devils during the third quarter at Heinz Field. PITT won 54-45 :: Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports

Partridge served as defensive line coach, linebackers coach, and special teams coordinator at Pittsburgh for five seasons before joining Bielema’s staff at Wisconsin as co-defensive coordinator in Jan. 2011. Partridge was widely credited as Wisconsin's lead recruiter in the state of Florida, and helped land five-star running back Alex Collins for the Razorbacks in his first two months on the job. Partridge followed Bielema to Arkansas in 2017 and is currently in his second stint at Pitt as the associate head coach/defensive line coach.

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Offensive Line coach Kurt Anderson - The recent reports, including the one Sunday morning by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, tying to the NFL’s interest in Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald makes the situation regarding certain members of the Wildcats staff interesting. 

Anderson was named Northwestern’s offensive line coach on Jan. 14, 2019, after serving the 2018 season as a quality control analyst for the Wildcats. Anderson has ties to Bielema after spending two years as the offensive line coach at Arkansas following three seasons with the Buffalo Bills as an assistant offensive line coach. While at Arkansas, he helped mentor 2017 Detroit Lions first round draft pick and All-SEC offensive lineman Frank Ragnow. The Razorbacks' offensive line helped pave the way for running back Rawleigh Williams III to capture the SEC regular-season rushing title with 1,326 yards and provided time for quarterback Austin Allen to throw for an SEC-best 3,430 yards. Senior left tackle Dan Skipper earned second-team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and became just the sixth offensive lineman in program history to earn All-SEC status in two different seasons, while Ragnow was named the nation's best offensive lineman, best run blocker and a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus (PFF) and was a second-team All-SEC choice by the Associated Press. 

Anderson has Midwest ties after he was a standout on the offensive line at Michigan from 1998-2001. Anderson was a two-year letterwinner (2000-01) as the starting center and received the Hugh R. Rader Jr. Memorial Award as the team's top offensive lineman and was selected All-Big Ten honorable mention following the 2001 season. As a player and coach, Anderson has been involved in seven bowl games, highlighted by Michigan's 1998 Rose Bowl win that sealed the program's national championship.