Bret Bielema Promises a More Spread Offense Look at Illinois

New Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema admits the traditional, pro-style running attack he showcased at Wisconsin and Arkansas may have to change.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bret Bielema is apparently stealing some philosophy from Albert Einstein.

Arguably history’s most famous theoretical physicist can help on the football gridiron because the newly hired head coach of the University of Illinois football program is a big believer in adaptation.

Einstein once said “the measure of intelligence is the ability to change” and Bielema sounds determined to change the old-school offensive philosophy he pushed in his last two college stops at Wisconsin and Arkansas.

While winning three straight Big Ten Conference titles and compiling a 68-24 record in seven seasons at Wisconsin, Bielema was known for a compact, power running game that was supplemented by a play-action pass game as a secondary option. In one of his first television interviews since agreeing to become the 26th head football coach in Illini football history, Bielema suggested fans shouldn’t presume that the grind-out style that made him famous in the past will resurface in Champaign-Urbana.

“The part that people automatically jump to is hey, this is what he did in the past,” Bielema said Saturday morning on the BTN Tailgate Show. “As coaches, we all evolve. I was a head coach for 12 years and witnessed some good things at the programs I was at but you gotta be aware in college football, it always evolves through the rules and the way society evolves in general.”

In his last four years at Wisconsin (2009-12), the Badgers were inside the Top 15 of all Football Bowl Subdivision programs in rushing offense and had a tailback lead or finish runner-up for the single-season Big Ten rushing title in three of those four campaigns.

“Look, let’s be real, it’s not going to be a wide-open air raid passing attack that’s for sure but if this is true and it sticks, it sounds to me like Bret Bielema is taking his experiences from a failed run in the SEC and using it to benefit this chance he has again at Illinois,” Sports Illustrated football recruiting analyst John Garcia said.

Garcia believes a more wide-open approach to offensive football could mean more flexibility with future prospects being interested in Illinois under Bielema.

“Mario Cristobal goes to Oregon and admits publicly they’re not going to be as wide open as they’d been in the past with Chip Kelly’s offensive philosophy,” Garcia said. “He’s been a home run hire for Oregon and so, different doesn’t always mean bad or panic. Sometimes it just means that you’re getting smarter and kids see it. They note who is changing and doing new things.”

Former Illinois tailback and Super Bowl champion Howard Griffith says he's convinced Bret Bielema is being honest when he says he'll adapt his offensive philosophy. 

One of the four on-air BTN talents who heard Bielema say these words was full-time analyst and former Illinois tailback Howard Griffith. Griffith, who set the NCAA record for touchdowns in a game with eight in 1990, said he believes the 2020 version of Bielema that the Illini are getting doesn’t completely resemble the version that began his head coaching career in 2006 or even the one who was terminated at Arkansas in 2017.

“You’re talking about somebody 15 years ago became a head coach and has had some life experiences and I wouldn’t underestimate what that does to a person,” Griffith said. “Since then, he’s gotten married. He’s had some professional struggles in getting fired for the first time. You learn more about yourself when you experience those things whether they’re good or bad." 

"Bret Bielema’s adaptation as a football coach is, I believe, coming from a place that recognizes he’s a different person entirely.” - BTN analyst and former Illinois tailback Howard Griffith 

Bielema’s apparent openness to what is now considered a modern-day approach with a spread offense that still emphasizes the run game but takes advantage of athletes on the perimeter at a much higher level could give him more freedom to cast a wider net for his future choice of offensive coordinator with the Illini.

“We’ll see some changes from what I’ve done offensively in the past for sure,” Bielema said.

Bielema has had spots of history where he’s opened up his offensive playbook when he felt like his program had superior athletes at the skill positions. Specifically in 2012, Russell Wilson became a graduate transfer from North Carolina State to the Badgers program and the future Super Bowl champion and All-NFL selection had 33 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions and averaged 226.8 yards per game through the air. With current Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst as the Badgers offensive coordinator that season, Wilson was named a third team All-American, finished ninth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy and was named the Big Ten’s Quarterback of the Year.

“For the general fan sitting at home, the people tuning in to Big Ten Network, we will do what we have to do offensively, defensively and special teams to have success, and it won’t be a carbon copy of what we’ve had in the past," Bielema said. “But the foundation is to be smart, to be great with the ball, to manage the clock and to give yourself a chance to win is going to be very, very important no matter what scheme we end up running.”