Asmussen | Bielema meets the press
May 17—One of Bret Bielema's most important jobs as Illinois football coach is to sell his program. To fans, recruits and the media.
The third-year boss performed his duties with gusto Tuesday, making a string of stops at Chicago TV and radio stations.
Never know when the city's next great offensive lineman or running back might be watching or listening.
During a lively 25-minute appearance on WSCR's "Mully and Haugh Show," Bielema kept hosts Mike Mulligan and David Haugh chuckling with stories from his past.
Like the time his mentor at Wisconsin, Barry Alvarez, told him not to go to former player's weddings.
Why?
"He said, 'If you go to one, you've got to go to them all,'" Bielema said.
But Bielema broke the rule to attend quarterback Russell Wilson's wedding. That decision, Bielema explained, was made by his wife, Jen.
"She said, 'We're going to this one.' I said, 'Why?' She said, 'It's in London. It's in a castle. He's marrying Ciara and the wedding band was Earth, Wind & Fire.' So we managed to make that one."
Weddings aren't the only invitations Bielema has been getting. Offensive line great Joe Thomas, who played for Bielema at Wisconsin, asked his coach to attend his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction on Aug. 5 in Canton, Ohio. One little problem: Bielema and his staff will be knee-deep in preparation for the Sept. 2 season opener against Toledo.
My advice: Go to support Thomas in Canton. The Illinois coaches can handle the players for a day without a major slippage. Thomas is only going into the Pro Football Hall once.
Knowing the audienceChicago being a pro sports town, some of the talk from Mulligan and Haugh was about the NFL.
Three Illini were picked among the first 66 players in the recent NFL draft, led by No. 5 Devon Witherspoon, who went to Seattle in the first round.
Bielema had a feeling.
"John Schneider, the Seahawks GM and (coach) Pete Carroll called me the day before and asked a lot of questions," Bielema said. "I hadn't told (Witherspoon) that day.
"It was an awesome moment."
Three Illini defensive backs went the first two days of the draft, leading Haugh to ask: "How in the world did anybody complete a pass against you guys last year?"
"Haugh, very similar to your skills at Ball State," Bielema said. "They got in the NFL. You got in radio."
Haugh played in the secondary for the Cardinals, earning all-conference recognition before embarking on a career in sports journalism.
With four players selected this year (tailback Chase Brown went in the fifth round to Cincinnati), Bielema has had more than 50 of his players drafted.
On the wayThe quartet this year won't be the last Bielema players drafted. Current Illini offensive linemen Julian Pearl and Isaiah Adams, receiver Isaiah Williams and defensive linemen Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph Jr. could be among those getting the call in 2024.
"(Pearl and Adams) might be the best left tackle/left guard combo I've ever had," Bielema said.
But that wasn't the best nugget Bielema dropped on Tuesday.
Bielema said the five players have secured name, image and likeness deals that "pay them north of a couple hundred thousand dollars. Because of NIL, we are able to keep them."
They are part of the change in the mentality of the program.
"More games are lost than won," Bielema said, "I remember playing against Illinois when I had a good team at Wisconsin and I remember I kind of banked on them not being able to fulfill the moment. I would kind of plan on them losing the game."
Baseball talk, tooTuesday was Illini Night at Guaranteed Rate Field. Illinois center Josh Kreutz was scheduled to throw out the first pitch before the Chicago White Sox game against the Cleveland Guardians.
"I called him (Monday) and said, 'Hey, don't embarrass us,'" Bielema said. "I made a great head coaching decision. I knew I would roll it between somebody's legs, so I deferred to Josh."
Kreutz sent Bielema video of him practicing the first pitch. The baseball fun continues for the Illini on Wednesday, with St. Louis-area native Randolph throwing out the first pitch before the Cardinals play Milwaukee at Busch Stadium.
