Did Illinois know what happened last time Bielema extension

Spin it however you want, but that contract ended up probably costing Long and Bielema their jobs in a short period of time at the end of 2017.

That's not even the end of the story.

The Razorbacks ended up paying Bielema a ridiculous buyout until he quit waddling around enough to even bother seriously trying to meet the terms of that agreement.

They took him to court and the UA doesn't lose many (if any) in Washington County courts. The checks rightfully stopped until whatever the settlement was.

In fairness, Bielema went back to the Big Ten where he fits. His former boss, Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, said as much in an appearance at the Little Rock Touchdown Club in 2017.

With the Illini, took over a program that had suffered nine consecutive losing seasons, Bielema has methodically rebuilt them into a competitive team in the Big Ten.

Over four seasons, he has compiled a 28-22 record, including an 18-18 mark in conference play. Illinois finished 10-3 last season, matching a school record for wins, defeating South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl, and finishing No. 16 in the AP poll.

Bielema’s new contract will start at $7.7 million per year, with retention incentives beginning at $700,000 and increasing annually.

The deal is structured to potentially extend through 2035 if performance benchmarks are met.

“Over the last four seasons, our program has been built on tough, smart, dependable people in every facet," Bielema said. "From our players, to our coaches and staff, to our administration. I am fortunate to work every day with an athletic director that fully believes in our football program and a coaching staff that fully believes in our players.”

We heard all of that for five years with the Hogs. You have to give Bielema a thumbs-up for not ducking much.

He even handled a press conference after he was fired with more grace than many would expect. Considering he was handed the final termination notice as he walked off the field following a loss to Missouri it was surprising he even did the press conference.

Whether he knew they were setting up a press conference to make the firing official with an interim athletics director to fill the role for a month until hiring someone that knew what they were doing.

For two years, Bielema was given nothing but support as he bumbled around trying to completely change something that really wasn't broken.

What he wanted to do at Arkansas was never going to work, but he's already had more success at Illinois than he was ever going to have here.

But Illinois might want to remember those big contracts haven't proven to provide motivation.

It just might be the other way. Or maybe he's changed, assuming there's much of coaching the Razorbacks he remembers.

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