The facts
The Illinois football team defense was two men short on the field in a goal line situation Saturday against Ohio State, a bewildering communication issue. Hours after that 42-19 loss to No. 7 Ohio State, first-year defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck and the program parted ways Sunday after just four games.
Illini head coach Bret Bielema said Hauck reached out ahead of their normal Sunday meeting, and the two agreed that a leadership change was best for the team. The Illinois defense ranks 101st nationally in points allowed.
"Coach Hauck and I agreed this is the best path forward for our staff, and most importantly, our student-athletes, at this time," Bielema said in a statement. "I would like to thank Bobby for his work with our program."
Hauck, who coached at Montana, brought in his 3-3-5 defensive scheme to Illinois, but the unit allowed 31 points in a home loss to Duke and 42 at Ohio State. "I enjoyed being a part of the staff here at Illinois and working alongside Coach Bielema every day," Hauck said in a statement from the team. "I wish Illinois the best of luck."
Bielema said weeks ago that part of why he embraced Hauck and his 3-3-5 scheme was due to the expense of signing top-shelf defensive linemen. The 42 points allowed to Ohio State, which saw Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith gouge the Illini D, and mistakes such as being caught on the field with only nine players proved to be the end of the road for Hauck.
The Illini national rank for scoring defense, at No. 101, is the third-worst in the 18-team Big Ten, ahead of only Rutgers and Purdue.
Our take
Four fucking games. Bobby Hauck rolled into Illinois with his Montana 3-3-5 and got shown the door after the defense pissed away 42 points to Ohio State and tried to stop a goal-line drive with only nine assholes on the field.
Bret Bielema openly bragged that he chose the discount scheme because top-shelf defensive linemen cost real money. The bill arrived anyway: 31 points to Duke at home, 42 on the road, and the 101st-ranked scoring defense in the country. Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith treated the secondary like a turnstile while the Illini coaching staff forgot two players existed.
Bielema claims Hauck called ahead of their Sunday meeting to agree it was time to split. That is the exact sound of a head coach trying to spin getting fired on national television the day before. Hauck’s parting note thanked everyone and wished the program luck, the polite version of fuck this clown show.
The Big Ten standings tell the rest. Illinois sits third-worst in the conference for points allowed, trailing only Rutgers and Purdue. That is the company you keep when your defense operates one man short on the sideline and two short between the hashes.
Bielema wanted savings. He got exactly what he paid for: a scheme that collapsed, a coordinator who lasted four weeks, and a defense that literally could not count to eleven when it mattered most.
