Bielema’s Illini Rebuild Continues As Top In-State Recruiting Prospects Cross Illinois Borders For College Decision
Despite putting a higher priority and emphasis on building relationships with elite, in-state recruiting talent, Bret Bielema’s effort with local prospects still not producing high-level results.
By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst
July 16, 2022
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The foundational piece of the Bret Bielema hire nearly 20 months ago was his promise to not only his new bosses at Illinois but also in-state high school programs that the Illini would win recruiting battles on their elite-level talent.
Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman executed an efficient, seven-day search from the day Lovie Smith was terminated (Dec. 13, 2020) to the day Bret Bielema was hired (Dec. 20, 2020) and on his checklist of goals for the new hire was the desire and skills to attract the best high school talent inside the state of Illinois to stay in their home state for college football. More importantly, it was a much-needed quality to keep rival Big Ten Conference programs such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue and Minnesota from consistently poaching the state’s highest ranked players.
“I can’t control anything Illinois has done or been a part of in the past, (but) I can control is what we do in the future. There isn’t going to be a program in the country that’s going to recruit you harder to come to your home state,” Bielema said in his introductory media conference in 2020. “I really believe this. For Illinois to be successful like they've never been in the past, they have to recruit the state of Illinois better than they have in the past.”