📅 Published on: 2024-12-08 23:27:08
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Illinois head coach Bret Bielema spoke with the media on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, at the Smith Football Performance Center to …
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🕵️♂️ Transcript:
good afternoon everybody thanks for coming out on on an exciting Sunday afternoon it’s great to be with everyone uh of course earlier this afternoon received a call from uh Sharon ly Clary who’s the president of the board with the Florida Citrus Sports organization uh extending to the University of Illinois an official invitation to play in the 2024 cheit Citrus Bowl of course we enthusiastically accepted look forward to competing against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks uh in the game in Orlando on Tuesday December 31st I want to thank Steve Hogan who’s the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports along with all of his colleagues associated with the bowl game it really is a fantastic game and a wonderful opportunity for our team it’s the first time University Illinois has participated in the Citrus Bowl since 1990 uh it really is a meaningful achievement for our program I think everybody saw the rankings today up to number 20 uh in today’s final cfp rankings uh a team that won nine regular season games for only the eighth time uh in the history of the Illinois football program uh and achieved a long list of what I would call longtime first um for for our program I’ll have a chance to come back and and talk a little more coach has got a bit of a timeline today um but uh I’ll I’ll come come back up and answer your questions but for now I just want to thank a few folks uh first I want to thank our fans who showed up just in incredible numbers this year and I’ll talk more later about some of those data points and and talk a little bit about some of the things we have underway in terms of tickets both to the Bowl game and for our 2025 season uh also want to thank our players who have just showed incredible commitment toughness determination to lead us to this place uh I think the work that they have done on the field has gone very documented uh what maybe hasn’t gone as well reported is the things that this team has accomplished in the classroom setting uh program highs in terms of GPA for our football team uh and also the things that you’re not hearing about in terms of off the- field issues involving the student athletes with our football program uh we don’t have those kinds of issues occurring with our team right now and and that is something that translates to onfield Performance and so want to make sure and thank them for that also want to thank our coaches and our staff uh this building is a hive of activity throughout the course of not just the season but over the entire duration of the calendar year year and the work that they have put in to to lead us to this place is is really uh without peer and I just can’t thank them enough for all the commitment and and and effort that they have put forth to put us in this place and then of course the last person to thank is our head football coach Brett belma uh he’s someone who uh I met for the very first time uh just about four years ago not quite to the day uh but nearly four years ago to the day uh and someone who has had a a a a vision for what this football program can and should be uh and he has put absolutely everything that he has into leading us to this place that we are today uh he refuses to be outworked refuses to be out prepared uh he is a relationship Builder with our staff with our student athletes he’s a teacher I saw that in the very first spring practice I attended under his leadership the way that he interacted with the players the way that he commanded their attention the things that he does in this room with film and with preparation uh he is someone who teaches the game at a very high level uh and someone who is truly establishing his own list of longtime firsts in terms of a head football coach here at the University of Illinois and I’m really proud uh to call him a colleague and a friend and I’ll bring him to the podium now our head football coach Brett belma what’s up everybody um super excited kind of echo all the thoughts that uh Josh had but um super excited for our football team you know we talked in this meeting room uh literally uh on Martin Luther King Day last January talked about 12 guaranteed opportunities were in front of us and would hope to get into the postseason play and and you know to have this year uh uh you know kind of trend translate to what we saw happen on the field uh I know coming off the field beating beating Michigan team at you know ranked two ranked teams uh on a on a Stadium Field uh celebrating 100 Years of Illinois football I just thought that day to be you know no one talked about becoming B eligible no one really mentioned it I didn’t talk about it uh and it was kind of more of the standard right and uh uh one of the things that’s really kind of happened as the year has going on this team has continued to just fight for their rights um you know continue to put their best foot forward there are times where we’re ahead behind uh everywhere in between and this is just another guaranteed opportunity for that I’m really really excited for that thanks to Josh and his whole uh uh Department um everybody that makes these days possible you know joshh talked about a lot of things there that happen Beyond football that I don’t take for granted there those things that happen every day Mike Ma arts and our academics just to the way he organized it puts our guys in a position we’ve set three spring or three semester straight of over a 4.0 and uh that does translate I think into what you see on the football field our kids are very intelligent players and do a lot of really good things so um super excited for them uh about our opponent I just literally call Coach Beamer um before I came down here reached out to him and congratulated on an incredible season for they’ve won six straight right they lost a heartbreaker against Alabama and then have won six straight games against really good opponents to play I’ve been in that League I know what it’s all about um uh uh just congratulations to uh South Carolina their fan base their players obviously a really strong tradition I’m really excited uh I don’t know coach Beamer well um I’ve known him through the profession just a little bit here but just uh coaches that have worked with him places he’s been um and just stands for all the right things in in college football I believe as well so super excited about the matchup uh for me it’s kind of a unique opportunity uh my first ever bowl game as a head coach was uh against University of Arkansas and it’s a very game um uh game that we won and gave us 12 wins at at Wisconsin when I was there and that set the program record for wins so to have a chance to tie that here at Illinois with a 10- win would be absolutely awesome uh Steve Hogan who was the director of the of the bulll game it was his rookie year as well that first year he and I got indoctrinated in this thing uh uh uh together so to see his career continue and and both both of us are married now with kids kind of a changed uh uh uh perspective than the first time we W today has been a great day I actually got to watch my daughter’s uh perform in a in a holiday program I got to watch a a a Kindergarten class rocket pretty good and my my my my second grade class and my other daughter to see to see that on stage today has been a pretty awesome day for a variety of reasons so um you know for our players I think this is awesome right to go to Florida we actually have 17 players from the state of Florida the highest in the Big 10 uh I think 11 or 12 of those guys are starters so they’re not just players on our team are our most prominent players obviously are a lot of them are from the state of Florida so I think to be able to go to Orlando and have that be a home game for those guys uh is a really really cool thing as well um haven’t been able to really mention a lot about it because last week kind of the way things un unfolded but uh you know had 14 allconference players and have 11 of those 14 coming back I think this this bowl game is going to have an opportunity for us to win 10 games but I think because we’ll celebrate uh the uh uh um um um a group of you know players that that this will be their last guaranteed game with us you know some seniors um and to give them a moment and opportunity to to speak in front of the team but also to set stage for next year right to have a a chance to play and you know I know it’s on New Year’s Eve night but you know to play in a bowl game of this prominence obviously the college football playoffs a lot of conversations being had and I’ve had some fun with that over the last two weeks but I knew that we weren’t going to be in that mix but I mean just the excitement this time in college football um absolutely awesome awesome to sit and watch I got a chance yesterday I kind of came in here during the day had some meeting with players and coaches walk through some things that we know are coming up this week but uh really Friday night and Saturday to sit and watch college football be at the level that it’s at it’s just just just absolutely just awesome I love my job very much but I would tell you the this is probably at a time in in college football where it’s as good as it’s ever been and it’s just really really I think controversy and and in conversations are all great right I know someone’s always got to be disappointed somebody’s always got to have an opinion but I think that place plays into where our game is at really now at a at a at a pretty special place so um I want to thank our fans especially too right like uh I’ve said it before to have a HomeField Advantage here at Illinois is something that I kind of dreamed of and and and and you know to see it had kind of Manifest this year especially in that Michigan game was was pretty awesome I know ticket sales are on for next year already so thank you for everything you’ve given us in the past and very excited about the future hopefully a lot of you will come down to uh Orlando I know it’ll be uh I know my daughters and my wife are excited about different things uh but to get to some well warm weather be down there has been uh something that we’ll we’ll be able to take in for a week and I’m very excited about it so uh with that open it up for some questions I’m not trying to dine and dash but we do have a a zoom call with the U Orlando media here at 3:25 or whatever it is so I got to go to that one too but with that open it up you strike a balance between W to win the game and want to make sure you guys have a great experience I mean yeah would they one the same you know um that’s a great question I I think it’s one that the outside world probably kind of thinks a lot about but our will snap in um you know so the game is actually going to be played on the 31st so we’ll consider that to be our Saturday right so I just kind of always done that with my Bowl teams you know even that first bowl game uh uh when we played Arkansas was my first time as a head coach I kind of pulled everything that I had learned um through my time as a coordinator and assistant coach and then I did a lot of studying uh with opponents you know like Hey how do you do it well how do you roll uh so I’ve kind of always used that approach we’ll actually fly down Christmas Day on the 25th and that’ll be a Sunday so it’ll be literally kind of starting a fresh week down there uh we’ll Build It Up um there are things that our players want to be involved in that the bowl this bowl has a few events that our players got to go to we’ll structure our practices around that but I’d like for the most part to practice somewhat midm morning right so we get to the routine of what we’ve been doing uh still working to finalize our actual Bowl our Bowl practice site um we got a couple things we’re working through there but uh um you know that’s what uh that’s what it’s all about and then it’s really got to be player driven as coaches we can say all we want but our players got to be driven I literally shot a a message to our Leadership Council earlier today the you know what we thought it was going to um and where it was going to play out so I had a meeting in here on uh um on Friday where we kind of uh you know talked about some things that were in front of us I told them we thought we were going to be in the Citrus Bowl didn’t know our opponent everybody was saying it was it going to be South Carolina uh uh BMA or Old Miss one of those three kind of depending how it played out and obviously very excited this decision about the B game you have to ask this every time but with everything happening in football how do you feel about your roster going into and then specifically Gabe and and Xavier obviously great seasons have processes ahead of them yeah you know this this is you know was a little bit unusual we had a Signing Day in the middle of the week last week which you know brought about some conversations I knew when when we got done with our game against Northwestern I knew that this week prior to the portal opening up I was going to have to have some conversations right and we always say uh uh conversations are always good you’re either building or tearing down whatever you’re speaking and um I I always say to our guys listen sometimes tough conversations are hard to say but they’re are hard to have but they’re more rewarding so uh Pat and I had some initial conversations I I think there were some things that that came into play we’re going to bring him available to you guys in the media I think it’s just uh one of the most decorated players in our program history for me as a head coach um I grew with him for four years here so like he holds a very special place in my heart but once he kind of expressed to me what he wanted to do how he wanted to do it uh I totally understood kind of kind of the same thing two years ago we had a couple guys spoon and and the Brown Brothers right um so to this point I think the only one that’s going to uh not play is is is uh um Pat had some initial conversations with not only Xavier and gay but also a lot of other players I had about 25 player meetings last week I’ll meet with my entire roster over the next two weeks so um obviously you can always get surprises but uh last week I met with several players that I know I felt they had been trending towards doing portal world right and and so those weren’t really shocking to me and actually uh some things that I encouraged then I told them hey I’ll I’ll help manifest getting you wherever you need to go it’s just part of college football now so uh but that’s really the only that’s the only news I can give you I think Gabe and uh Xavier are not going to be blind to the fact I turned in five underclassman that we con the NFL lets us do five of those guys and Gabe and and X were two of those guys we turned in their paperwork uh as fast as we could to get their grade reports back and then we’ll have a conversation with that move forward attention’s been so good for you like how how do you feel do do you feel confident that retention will remain oh retention you talking about players yeah just of your roster yeah I think our guys like playing man like I really do um and to play a quality opponent like this and in in an environment um uh you know we there something I’ve been kind of breeding into them right I kept talking about 12 guaranteed opportunities and what you do with those gives you the best opportunity on the back end so um I think all that’s going to help us play out Josh has you know volunteered some things administratively to help with our guys to to retain them you know um uh I think what you know I was very upfront with hey here’s my plan really these next two weeks we’ll probably practice three days a week so we’ll get in about six practices before we go down there and we’ll have a full week of practice down there so it’s almost three times the amount of practice you get for a normal game so we’ll keep it fun we’ll keep it light keep it short crisp clean um get a chance for a couple of our guys to get healthy um uh you know and that’s really about it you talked about after the Michigan game not talking about being vable to make that the has that been easier to do inside this building than maybe outside you know I can’t even I just I only see the people in this building so I don’t I don’t really know like even for me today to walk through St Matts and hey coach hey coach you you know like think for the outside world there’s probably a lot going on but not not in my world right so um no I really I don’t I can’t say to that right like I I think it was more about hey let’s get this next one let’s get to eight you know first let’s get to seven wins let’s get to eight wins you know um let’s get to nine and again I think it’s more perception from the outside world I will tell you this though like Mark especially my chiefest staff and and Pat emilton you know they they are very cognizant Pat Pearson was great always giving me information from the outside world looking into our program I think it’s a really big deal on the outside which is awesome I just don’t see it as much those practices you have leading in to Orlando how do you structure that is that guys who have gone a lot or do you use those as dvo opportuni yeah we had two scheduled last week but with with Dana passing I backed it down to one that was all dvo and two deep um so and there were some other guys that were players that played quite a bit I pulled them out but um yeah for instance like so Monday Tuesday we’re going to do all early down preparation and working on the two phas of the kicking game uh Pon KC so we’ll concentrate on that today tomorrow and Tuesday uh then Wednesday we’ll have a a midm morning practice um uh that will be all early down and and focus on that I’ll probably have a two to four periods a day that’ll be strictly to dvo guys our guys like coaching them and seeing them and it kind of gives you a build-in break you know so uh we’ll do that I think Thursday will be a lot of the same and then Saturday uh uh will be probably a combo platter and then I think the the next uh uh week those three practices we have will be really probably more specific you know we’ll have a red down a red area practice a third down practice and it allows you to really focus on specific things and also allows me to teach the game right there’s a reason you play uh you know the reason you rep early Downs is usually 75 to 80% of the game is first and second down 15% is third down and the rest are are are make up the game so teach our players how important early Downs are and why that is question you on the month probably do you feel a different vibe in this building for for who for you maybe or everybody in this building do you feel a different vibe than you did two years ago when you preparing to go to Tampa um I think again uh that group was excited um that was a very unusual unique uh Bowl experience just because of Mike’s passing you know there was a lot of different things around that whole week when we got down there I never felt like the whole world was rooting against you as much as I did and and it was for all the right reasons right I mean I love I talked to Mike Leech so we have a press conference uh I think next Sunday I I remember literally talking to Mike two days before our pressor you know so there’s kind of that whole thing hanging around the guys had never been to a old bowl game of that stature right so uh this one I’m I’m kind of glad we get to go to Orlando know right so it’s a new Fresh um uh uh Camping World Stadium even though it’s it’s it’s renamed I’ve been in that Stadium quite a few times I think I’ve played in it three times um but I just got smacked in the face Brett shared with me that we’re 0 and six against SEC opponents here at Illinois so seems like we’re always going up against something of the past it’s kind of beaten us down but um I think our guys are going to you know talk about being one and0 and playing in this opportunity and again I think to play an opponent to the level of South Carolina I know they got a great quarterback I know they got a running back to run really well um defens I know they’re a freak Show athletically and and production wise so we’ll have our task you know set out but I’m I’m super excited to get one more chance with these guys you miss the uh after the your first season you played Citrus Bowl but the year before Al final season you’re also Citrus Bowl you have any memories of that as being the transition game of from him to you with Co with the coach yes weren’t you in the Citrus that year yeah yeah so it was kind of his final game leading oh before it I got you um you know what I can’t I’m getting old um I just remember I was super excited for that game um uh uh yeah the year before yeah yeah it was uh it was an Auburn game yeah and actually I think that was in Tampa if I’m not mistaken might have been but um um but you know that bowl game I just remember how excited I was to be a head coach we had won uh 11 games in the you know like and that was a big deal um uh had a lot of really good players back then there there wasn’t really all the uh you know that was in 2006 so um one of the crazy things someone showed me an article that you know of my seven years at Wisconsin uh probably would have been in if we were a 12 team format I probably would have been in the bowl game or in the playoffs five of those seven years which is awesome to think about right and I know we’re just knocking on the door we’re number 20 uh you know I’m not even sure if we had got to 10 if where we’d be right there’s some things to work out I I told us to the a group I was on a on a zoom call on on uh Thursday with the NCAA and I said hey man like I came home the other day my daughter’s doing new math I don’t know what the hell that is right and and I said that like like this is just what we’re talking about right now in the college football thing like we’re trying to compare things how they’ve done in the past and and and comparing to how we’re living life now and it’s just two different worlds right even that bowl game back in 2006 um you know there weren’t opt outs I never had a player opt out until I was at Arkansas right so it was just a different world and college football back then Citrus bow is one of the major RS outside of the college football playoffs obviously this the destination for this team but for the program do you see it as a stepping stone toward that ultimate goal of of getting to the playoffs absolutely postseason play I think is critical right like uh um just a simple thing like all of our guys that played in four games that we kind of had to protect so they didn’t use their fifth right now that those guys are all open to play right so there’s just all all kinds of sorts of things to uh you know that are are rewarding it’s going to continue to take this team forward I think on Wednesday I know what our schedule is for next year I know you guys don’t yet but I think I think that schedule and the way it lays out is going to get a lot of people excited I think the uh the the fact that um you know I’m not going to give away any surprises we have you know Ohio State USC coming here next year you know I think that’s a really big thing um uh you know you know to potentially you know have as many guys return obviously you never know in the future but I me Luke uh I I I I was excited when I met with him the other day we kind of talked about what the plan was long range for him and and uh he literally hits me up every day about anybody that we we want to recruit getting in the portal was like you know when there was transition at Purdue right those kids could get in the portal immediately and like most of the portal kids can’t get in until Monday right but anybody that’s had transition on their coaching staff those guys could get in the portal immediately and that’s already started to happen over the weekend with some of these teams in transition so um by the way say congratulations coach odm I can’t believe Purdue just likes to hire a bunch of buddies of mine I guess because coach Odum and I are very very close competed against each other back in Missouri I literally talked to him on the beginning of last week uh um saw a presser he had and sent it to him with his daughter sitting on his lap and just an incredibly good dude and and obviously a very talented coach U was satting on the couch watching rooting for him on Friday night and shot him attex said heard he might be coming close so I I I I’m super excited for him and him his opportunity but um uh yeah that’s about it I’m curious if you one more you’ve had a second to zoom out like you think back to that first meeting in here after pen State and you’ve got two Florida bowl games you got a chance for 10 you got a chance to maybe think about this build from from that moment to where you are now I I probably will um uh I have a uh uh 55th birthday on January 13th which is you know I didn’t I didn’t I was sitting in the living room I believe in New York on my 50th and most people have a little shindig for their 50th it’s a big moment and I I I I remember my wife and I my wife’s birthdays the day before mine few years ahead but um uh so we we we got a pair of birthdays coming up that we’re talking about taking like a two or three day trip in February just kind of taking a moment but like this is crazy like last week I knew it was going to be insane so now we’re going to prepare for this bowl game and then literally on January 1st the portal window opens up again where guys that can come in January 1st through the 5th and then we go into a live recuiting period in January which is going to be unprecedented so I don’t see me being able to relax for a while but I I you know I talked to Josh a lot Josh is usually my grounding man we’ve done this like you know like he sent me uh something after and uh uh we knew we were going to be playing his game and it kind of struck me that you know he’s now as a as an ad finally getting to live the things that that he dreamed of right and he envisioned before I was ever here right um so so it’s it’s big in that I come in and saw Bobby bus boom right and Bobby’s smiling ear to ear because she was here when it was successful and I think she’s been waiting and now she gets to vicariously get to do these things now so uh and to see you know I went to the country club with my uh my family my girls Friday night and I I had some people grab me out there that are obviously longstanding align ey fans and and I I think the outside world reminds me how much we’ve changed right and I will say this and recruiting is it’s definitely like I made the deal the other day I to flip nine kids like I’ve never had that in my career right so uh and I’m telling you what’s happening right now in the portal world is kids that we were in on that really liked us but we weren’t winning enough for them which I totally understand um that’s not the case now right you got a guy like Luke Alm who really could be one of the best quarterbacks in college football next year could be a Heisman candidate like what do good receivers want they want good quarterbacks right and and good lineman um now we’re not going to go you know portal crazy but I would see us taking you know five to six guys on both sides of the ball that fit immediate uh places we have a lot of really good young players coming back I look on defense like Alex Bray uh uh uh you know you got Dylan rosak who’s a really good accomplished linebacker who didn’t play the last several games you got obviously X and and and Gabe um and but Matt Bell’s a really good player M retes M Scott uh Caleb Patterson um you know up front you got young guys that got a lot of valuable reps um uh Alec Bryant probably played his most complete game we had a good conversation with him on Thursday about where he can go in the future right so I think those are really good then offensively to have three-oh lineman between gki crouts and and uh Melvin back and now you know a lot of good guys uh competing for that uh you get tanner Arkin who I think is one of the most serviceable tight ends I’ve ever had in my career just a really good player uh and Cole Rus could never stepped on the field you got a cover your running backs uh obviously a wide receiver we have you know two guys in cap Jones Malik KY and Hank batty who played and and Colin Dixon is a war daddy right I mean there’s there are a bunch of really good players coming back that they get me excited but I think this this game is going to be big to build momentum for that speaking last a couple minutes you’ve had a lot of turnover on your staff the last couple years for different reasons but after such a successful year how do you feel about your staff yeah what you guys did this year in for well first and foremost again you know thank Josh um uh you know one of the things I’ve always tried to maintain like if we want to be to a certain level in this conference we have to maintain that in three important areas right um our roster uh in a way our roster nil’s you know money and and that’s going to become a little bit more balanced I think moving forward and then you know being able to acquire a staff and keep it and um you know I can’t predict into the future but I had initial conversation with a couple I I always start with my coordinators going forward um so I I fully intend and hope and pray that Barry and Aaron and and Dish those three guys will be back with us and Josh has already allowed me to have some conversation with them and and put that in place I know that’s very very important I have an a a a a great admiration for both offensively and defens I think I think and it’s kind of crazy playing South Carolina Justin step we hired from there right so this is going to be a big game for him but I think step has literally helped change the the culture especially in that offensive room um unfortunately lost him Dana D was a huge asset to that that program or what it is but I really was excited the way our offensive staff coach Ward just continues to be very impressive I think on defense Cory Parker and Archie have been just like like just incredible um uh I I think for Aaron in particular because Aaron works with them in the back end and then Arch is our only voice upstairs I thought those guys in particular have been uh invaluable to our staff and then I it may sound funny but I’ve been able to hire this Army of these young coaches and I mean those are going to be Rock in 10 years those guys are going to be college football like I promise you um some of those guys are very gifted so I don’t expect transition but I never know
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