It’s a custom of the college football season for head coaches across the nation to meet with the media towards the beginning of the week and discuss the prior week’s matchup and preview their upcoming test. Fans are often privy to the quotes coming out of their own team’s HQ, but what about their upcoming opponents’?
Let’s take a look at some of the quotes that Illinois’ head coach Bret Bielema had to say that referenced Indiana specifically in his Monday press conference.
Q: Opening statement
“…a very good football team here, obviously a College Football Playoff team a year ago. I really didn’t know Cig until coming into the league, I had heard of his name, but I’ve really enjoyed the last year and a half with him in the coach’s meetings. We sat right by each other last year in LA spring meetings. This football team, offensively, defensively, and special teams, is as well coached as anybody we’ll see. They definitely have complimentary football written all over it. Just the way they play, the way they talk, the way they communicate, just a very impressive group to watch overall. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us. I’m excited to get over there, I know it’ll be a good environment. I know I saw the stat it’s the first time two ranked Indiana and Illinois teams have gone against each other since 1950, I was shocked at that. I remember being a player against Indiana, I think they had a running back named Thompson? Was a really good player. And then obviously when they had Antwaan Randel El, exceptional football talent. And then last time we went over there, the fallout from that game really hurt us and stung but hopefully we’ll be better prepared on Saturday. We’ve got a lot of really good football players who know how to play and have been excited to start Big Ten play, and we’ll get that going on Saturday.”
Q: You’ve watched Indiana run the football these last 3 games, especially with what Bob [Bostad] has done with that offensive line… I imagine you watch that and think, ‘yeah, I’ve seen that before’?
“Yeah, different type of run game than we had together when we were at Wisco, but yeah Bob Bostad, in my opinion, is one of the best assistant coaches I’ve ever had. When we were together, it was not only the coaching and the development of our current team, but he did an incredible job recruiting and building that offensive line. We built a lot of good players. It wasn’t transfer players then, right? They were built from within. Bo had a really good knack of seeing a kid with a certain skillset and we got them in our program and our strength coach and our strength and conditioning, the way we built them, obviously led to a lot of success. And he’s doing that same thing now.”
Q: First time seeing Indiana and Illinois both ranked going against each other, what’s that say about the changing landscape in college football and the depth in the Big Ten?
“It’s just an unprecedented time. When I got here, we knew the portal conversation was coming, we knew the NIL conversation was coming. But, just in the last 2-3 years, the way you can transition a roster, right? For us, I’ve said this, it’s one thing to retain your players, but when you can acquire players from other rosters…and it’s not about pay, I get it, that’s in the equation. But, you’ve got to find players that fit your system. And I think Indiana is the case and point, obviously he brought guys with him from JMU, but now you’ve seen the addition of some other guys that have come in and he gets a player that they want. I would say, that we probably compete against Indiana in high school recruiting and portal windows as much as anybody else in the Big Ten. The kinds of systems that we both run and the kinds of players we both look for…”
Q: You say Curt has a very well coached team, what do you see that makes you say that.
“Yeah, there’s very few plays that you can see there’s a mental breakdown. We always say there’s more games that are lost than are won, whether it be penalties, turnovers, or mental errors, and they just don’t do those things. I think a tale is always good special teams, right? You can have a group that has a really good offensive unit, a really good defensive unit, but when special teams falls in line with that? That’s usually something that goes ‘ding ding ding’. And I think the fact those coaches have stayed with him through everything, obviously everyone gets bumped in salaries so that makes it easier too, but you meet an Indiana coach and you know they love the game. Even Bob Bostad, who he didn’t know but he retained, Bo fits that DNA.”