Football

No matter the consequences, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has become a self-appointed social media warrior fighting for himself, his employer, his players or values of the game he loves.

July 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Matt Stevens/IlliniGuys)

LAS VEGAS — There are still times Jen Bielema will give her husband a side-eye glance followed by a version of a consistent ‘Why did you tweet that?’ type of question.

Ranging from a variety of topics, the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has taken to becoming a social media warrior to defend what he consistently calls “the best time to a head coach in college football right now”.

As he enters his fifth season at Illinois, Bret Bielema does not believe he and his current employer can survive using the concept of shutting up and letting your play do your talking for you any longer. Following a 10-3 record last season, Bielema stood at the main podium of the 2025 Big Ten Football Media Days at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas knowing just several hundred feet away at the MGM Sportsbook, his team had +500 odds to be in the College Football Playoff field. And Bielema’s current policy seems to be that if he knows it and believes it, everybody in the outside world should know it too.

Following a 10-win season, Illinois predicted to finish fourth in the unofficial Big Ten Football Media poll.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

LAS VEGAS — A panel of 24 reporters throughout the Big Ten Conference selected Illinois to finish fourth in the 18-team conference going into the 2025 season.

The panel of league media members organized by Cleveland.com is an annual tradition as, unlike most every other Football Bowl Subdivision conference in college football, the Big Ten does not organize a preseason media or coaches poll. IlliniGuys.com was not asked to participate in the poll and I’ll be coming out with a IlliniGuys.com preseason poll shortly.

Coming off a 10-win season in 2024, Illinois was aggregated by the 24-reporter panel to finish fourth in the league in this upcoming season, which is a nine-spot jump in this Cleveland.com preseason poll from one year ago.

IlliniGuys.com addresses five issues and/or topics that Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and/or his three players (Luke Altmyer, JC Davis and Xavier Scott) might want to address in Las Vegas.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy MGM Hotels)

LAS VEGAS — After Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti steps off the podium for his introductory address and media Q&A session, the very next face you’ll see at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas for the league’s football media days will be Illinois’ head coach entering his fifth season leading the program.

Bret Bielema follows Petitti as the first Big Ten head coach to take the mic Tuesday at the main stage's press conference. Bielema's appearance will be live on Big Ten Network at 1:30 p.m. CST.

Bielema will then be on Sirius XM B1G Radio at 4:00 p.m. CST and then will finish his day on the Big Ten Network studio set joined by a host of panelists including former Illini tailback Howard Griffith at 5:45 p.m. CST.

We at IlliniGuys.com thought we’d detail five pressing storylines that we’d like to hear from Bielema and/or the three All-Big Ten players (quarterback Luke Altmyer, left tackle JC Davis and defensive back Xavier Scott) the Illini fifth-year leader brought with him to Las Vegas.

After a lot of public talk from the Southeastern Conference since late May, Big Ten Conference commissioner Tony Petitti will get his chance to present his public case in Las Vegas.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Big Ten)

LAS VEGAS — To steal most of this line from the late radio host Paul Harvey, after Tuesday we’ll know the rest of the story.

Last week, the Southeastern Conference - led by its commissioner Greg Sankey and a parade of football head coaches made their way through the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta to make its position very well understood on two critical issues currently holding up an approved proposal for a future College Football Playoff format.

As per tradition, Big Ten Conference commissioner Tony Petitti will have the first opportunity to address issues and take questions likely surrounding his viewpoint on a CFP playoff format that is drastically different than the rest of his conference commissioner colleagues. At 1 p.m. CST, Petitti will address media on the first day of his league’s football media days from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in the Big Ten’s first visit to the Las Vegas Strip since accepting the four West Coast programs (Southern California, UCLA, Washington and Oregon) into the conference membership.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular July 21, 2025 The […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

July 19, 2025

Illinois has had a strong start to its Class of 2026, but after a couple of painful misses on in-state tight ends Mack Sutter and JC Anderson, the program really needed to close the deal on its last big priority for 2026: Jacob Eberhart of Kirkwood (Missouri).  The four-star St. Louis area product is the son of former Illini Jason Eberhart, but with a strong offer list Jacob was far from a lock and in fact had not let the Illini staff know which way he was leaning until the morning of his commitment date.  I'm sure there was a massive sigh of relief in the Smith Football Offices that day as the 6'3, 205-pound athlete chose to follow in his father's footsteps.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular July 14, 2025 The […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 12, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois football continues to build momentum on the recruiting trail, this time heading to the Show-Me State to land its latest commitment. Jacob Eberhart, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound safety/wide receiver from St. Louis, Mo., announced his commitment to the Fighting Illini.

Illinois wide receivers coach Justin Stepp was instrumental in the commitment. Stepp, who has developed a reputation for connecting with high-level talent at the wide receiver position, helped sway Eberhart from a near pledge to Oklahoma. With Illinois building one of its best classes in recent history, Eberhart now becomes the 23rd commitment in the 2026 class.

Less than a month after Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman’s comments on the matter and less than two weeks into the CSC’s existence, resistance to the regulations has already begun.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 12, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy David Craan/Illinois Athletics)

Despite it resembling many things of the previous NCAA’s enforcement department, Josh Whitman insists the new College Sports Commission will be drastically different.

The athletics director at the University of Illinois, who was elected the chairperson of the NCAA Division I Council in May 2024, stressed last month to local media the CSC’s enforcement wing designed to investigate and punish programs in violation of the new regulations put in place starting July 1 will have more qualified personnel and complete autonomy to “investigate swiftly and punish hard”.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 8, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois football program continues to build a strong recruiting pipeline to Florida, and its latest offer shows that trend. The Illini recently extended a scholarship to Noah Renes, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker from Melbourne, Florida.

To date, Illinois’ 2026 recruiting class already includes five Florida natives:

A first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks was on an unofficial visit in Champaign at the Memorial Stadium Rededication game that the Illini won 21-7 over Michigan.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 8, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Fargo Force)

One of the 32 first round picks in the first round of the 2025 National Hockey League Draft was intently scouted as a 2026 class prospect by the University of Illinois football coaching staff.

Mason West, a 17-year-old athlete from Edina, Minnesota, was in attendance as an unofficial visitor at Champaign’s Memorial Stadium for the 100th season ‘Rededication Game’ that Illinois won 21-7 over Michigan on Oct. 19.

Late last month, West became one of three first round picks by the Chicago Blackhawks with the 29th overall selection when he heard his name called at the draft by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. West, a 6-foot-6 and 218-pound forward, attended the draft as a highly-ranked prospect at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles in order to do the ceremonial shaking Bettman’s hand and putting on a Blackhawks sweater on the stage.

Morton offensive tackle Soren Fifer says he targeted the Illini summer camp dates in order to get the individual instruction that he can bring more dominance to his Class 5A high school program. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 7, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  — Soren Fifer was convinced he needed to circle June 11th on his calendar if he wanted to improve his offensive lineman skills. 

What the 2027 prospect, who had already received an offer from the University of Illinois football program, didn’t realize was what he’d be taught on the Memorial Stadium field during the Illini’s Big Man Camp would easily translate to his offense at Morton (Ill.) High School.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular July 7, 2025 The […]

With the previously slated home game against Missouri being moved off Illinois’ 2026 non-conference, IlliniGuys.com looks into possible non-power conference opponents to fill that spot.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

July 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Now that Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman has confirmed the 2026 home game against Missouri will not be happening, the obvious issue is Bret Bielema’s football program has an open non-conference slot on that schedule.

In his summer media roundtable on June 27, Whitman said what he was “a mutual decision” between Illinois and Missouri to remove the 2026 game from their schedules was a desire to subtract one power conference opponent from each of their slates. Illinois was slated to host both Missouri and Duke in its 2026 schedule along with scheduling a home game against Southern Illinois. With the Big Ten Conference continuing with its nine-game league schedule, Illinois was slated to play 11 power conference opponents in the 2026 season.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

July 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Mack Sutter)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In a span of less than a week, the Illinois football program lost two of the state’s top prospects, both tight ends, as Mack Sutter of Dunlap and Mt. Zion's JC Anderson committed elsewhere. Ranked No. 2 and No. 5 in Illinois, respectively, according to Rivals.com, Sutter chose Alabama while Anderson committed to Ole Miss.

Both were heavily recruited by Illinois, and head coach Bret Bielema and his staff did everything by the book. They tracked their multi-sport performances, went to watch those events, built relationships with their families, and welcomed them to campus more than five to seven times each. The Illini left no stone unturned.

Sutter made his decision first. Anderson followed with his announcement on Tuesday. But what stood out this time wasn’t just the losses; it was the strong backlash across social media, message boards, private group chats, and text threads. And in many ways, that’s a sign of progress.