Asmussen | Chill in the air? Perfect football weather.

Apr. 2—CHAMPAIGN — Temperature in the 30s. Wind chills in the 20s.

Football weather.

Bret Bielema loved it. On a Saturday morning/early afternoon better suited for polar bears and penguins, the Illinois coach tested his team for two hours on the Memorial Stadium turf.

"Obviously, a lot of good work out there (Saturday)," Bielema said during his post-practice press conference inside the cozy north end zone lounge. "I got excited earlier in the week because I saw the conditions and I knew this was going to be very similar to our Michigan State game (in 2022). That was a game that was really unprecedented for me the amount of volume of wind."

A child of the Midwest, Bielema knows the Illini will face this kind of weather again. Likely on a game day in 2023. His team has four November games scheduled, two at home (Indiana and Northwestern) and trips to Minnesota and Iowa. Saturday's workout will certainly help the preparation.

Of course, it was not a great day to throw the football. Quarterbacks Luke Altmyer, John Paddock, Donovan Leary and friends took turns trying to pass in gusty winds.

"New quarterbacks, would have loved to have given those guys better conditions to go out and throw it around," Bielema said.

On Tuesday, Bielema saw the potential of the competing quarterbacks.

"It was probably their best day overall," Bielema said. "Thursday was OK. And (Saturday), obviously, tough weather conditions.

"They're picking it up. Coach (Barry) Lunney has great rapport in that room and has continued to see those guys grow. I think they interact with our others players really well, which for me as a head coach, that's what I'm really looking at. They're picking things up and understanding how we play here."

Just as important as the work Saturday for Bielema, the Illini avoided any health issues. To make sure, Bielema pulled offensive linemen Julian Pearl and Isaiah Adams, wide receiver Isaiah Williams, and defensive linemen Keith Randolph Jr. and Johnny Newton early in the session.

Room to grow

Illinois is two weeks into the spring session, which wraps up at 7:30 p.m. on April 20 with the orange and blue spring game on BTN.

"They're all important," said Bielema, who is now in his third season. "In this day and age that we're in right now, for us to build this program, I think we've got to continue to take steps forward.

"In my coaching career, my third year at Wisconsin was probably my most difficult (his 2008 team went 7-6) but one of the most learning. Our third year at Arkansas was probably our best year (8-5 in 2015). We could see the rewards of what we had going.

"Year 3 is big for me because I've learned from my past experiences but it's a different world now with the portal, with the NIL and the dynamics of all that."

There is also a scheduling component. His first two seasons at Illinois, Bielema's teams had two open weeks. In 2023, the only break comes after the eighth game, a home Big Ten matchup against Wisconsin on Oct. 21.

"I do know this, we're six practices in and we've won every practice," Bielema said. "We haven't had a practice that set us back. I told our guys, 'We've got 15 practices. If we can walk off that field 15 times feeling good about the growth we've made, that's what we can control and that's what we'll do.' I think we've done that so far."

Welcomed guests

The Illinois High School Football Coaches Association held its annual clinic this weekend in Champaign-Urbana. The prep coaches were invited to attend Saturday's workout. If the temperature had been reasonable, the sidelines and stands would have been filled with coaches representing schools across the state. Bielema and his staff continue to build relationships with the state's coaches.

An event on Thursday packed a team meeting room.

"I've constantly made a point to these guys how much Illinois football matters to us," Bielema said.

The current Illinois coaches are cleaning the mess left by Lovie Smith's staff, which mostly ignored the state's players.

"Prior to me coming here, the two years prior, they had signed three players from the state of Illinois and we've signed 23 in the last two years," Bielema said. "We hopefully have put ourselves in a good positions here with our Illinois coaches. This weekend was just another step."

Illinois has one commitment for the Class of 2024: Mundelein offensive lineman Brandon Hansen. The three-star recruit attended Saturday's workout with his parents. He will enroll next January and participate in 2024 spring workouts.

In the running

Chase Brown won't be in the lineup for the Illini this season. The tailback from Canada gave up his final year of eligibility and is hoping to hear his name called during the NFL draft later this month in Kansas City, Mo.

Reggie Love and Josh McCray are among the likely replacements. A two-back setup (or more) has been Bielema's trademark during his coaching career. Brown's heavy workload in 2022 (he fell just short of the school's single-season rushing record) is an outlier for the coach.

Bielema expects to return his usual approach this fall.

"I was excited to watch our young guys run," he said. "Jordan Anderson and Aidan (Laughery), this is their second spring with us, which is a big difference. Kaden (Feagin) has been very impressive just the way he's picked things up and physically he's obviously a very gifted athlete."

Leading the way

The strength of the Illinois defense in 2022 was the secondary, which included three guys waiting on an NFL draft call: First-rounder Devon Witherspoon, Sydney Brown and Quan Martin.

Those three set a tone for the current secondary.

"You could see it in the way they react," Bielema said.

Witherspoon is returning to C-U for a workout with NFL teams this coming Wednesday.

"I know our guys will be all over him," Bielema said. "I think Taz (Nicholson) is trying to dip into Spoon's Nike contract a little bit. I see him wearing a lot of Nike lately. That group is really close. I think they went through a lot. We can use them as examples and they are great examples for the pepole they've already touched."

His time

Sophomore Tyler Strain, who started at cornerback in the ReliaQuest Bowl, is one of the players the Illini are counting on, with the Florida native recording four tackles during the Illini's 19-10 loss to Mississippi State on Jan. 2.

"T Strain for me as a head coach is one of the guys I've loved to see grow over the last year and a half," Bielema said.

Strain was signed by Smith's staff before Bielema took over.

"You could see early on he had talent," Bielema said. "Really over the last year, he has really grown off the field, which you've now see carry on the field. He's an incredibly talented player. Plays really smart. Has some good vision, very competitive. When you talk about how players rub off, I think Spoon was a huge influence on him in the way he handles things."

He's a fan

How did Bielema spend Friday night? Watching his alma mater Iowa play in the women's basketball Final Four.

Bielema was at home with his two daughters and his mother-in-law. He couldn't turn it off as Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark led the Hawkeyes to a stunning upset against No. 1 and defending national champion South Carolina. Clark scored 41 points, which was impressive.

"I'd never seen her play before," Bielema said. "That's unbelievable."

Bielema really liked how Clark handled the postgame interviews with a combination of excitement and confidence.

"Our guys are going to see that (press) conference, I promise," he said.