Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was the first of 14 Big Ten coaches to speak at Lucas Oil Stadium, which hosted Big Ten Football Media Day. The Illini coach, entering his third year with the program, gave a short opening statement, detailing his values and ideals as head coach.
Bielema started off by discussing the ReliaQuest Bowl, which Illinois participated in last season.
“We were in our first January bowl game in a long time at the University of Illinois,” Bielema said.
The veteran head coach discussed recruitment successes.
“In Februrary, we signed a recruiting class that I think [will] continue to build the tradition of the players and roster development,” Bielema said. “In March, we jumped into the beginning of spring football and started a ticket campaign.”
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That season ticket campaign was a historic success for the athletic department, which announced Wednesday that it had reached over 9,500 new season ticket holders, the most in 15 years.
Bielema also welcomed a group of new coaches to the Big Ten West and wished them well.
Before opening up to media questions, Bielema spoke highly of new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, and mentioned a couple of coaching hires within the program, namely defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, last season’s defensive backs coach who was promoted to the role after the departure of Ryan Walters.
“With my staff I currently have, there’s five new coaches that are in new roles,” Bielema said. “Aaron Henry, who was my DB coach a year ago, has now transitioned to our [defensive] coordinator.”
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