Bret Bielema on firing back at SEC narratives: ‘If you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will’

There isn’t a single conference in college sports that doesn’t want to push a narrative about itself, trying to position itself as well as possible. The SEC is, of course, no different, even if Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema doesn’t always agree with those narratives.

At times, on social media, Bielema has pushed back against those narratives in support of the Big Ten. He was asked about that during Big Ten Media Days, explaining that he believes the conference should fight a perception battle against the SEC.

“I’m not the right guy to do it,” Bret Bielema said. “I may do it. My wife will tell you, she gives me a couple of ‘slow your roll’ deals once in a while when I’ll get going. I will tell you this, I learned early in life, right, if you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will. Sometimes that’s a little bit driven on what I believe in.”

Bret Bielema is the unique head coach who has worked in both the SEC and the Big Ten as a head coach. That does give him a unique perspective on the debate between both conferences. Of course, the majority of his career has been tied to the Big Ten, including as a player and assistant coach. It was early in that career when more veteran coaches shared some advice with him.

“But I will tell you, I stand here as a head coach that has been very fortunate. I was an assistant coach. I played and coached under Hayden Fry. I worked for Kirk Ferentz. And Bill Snyder. Barry Alvarez. I worked for Bill Belichick. Those first four guys, in college football, those guys are all first-ballot Hall of Famers. I today represent a lot of what they taught me. But I also remember being at my first Big Ten spring meeting, and Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel pulled me aside, and I was 35, 36 years old,” Bielema said.

“And they basically said, ‘Hey, from what Barry has told us, you’re going to be a really good football coach. You’re at an age right now that as you move forward in your career, you’re going to have to be a voice for this game when we need it the most.’ I think about that all the time. I was just sitting there, ‘Oh, Lloyd is a pretty good dude. Jim Tressel, he’s got the sweater vest and all, but he’s a pretty cool dude.’ I didn’t realize the impact of what those guys put in me as a young coach. I sat in there and listened to Joe Paterno and [Jim] Delany get in fights. Like, I was like, ‘This is awesome.’ Right? They’re going back and forth on debates.”

On the field, the Big Ten has proved itself in recent years. That includes winning two straight national championships amid off-field discussions about changing the College Football Playoff format.

“And the part that’s been so awesome for me in my career is, like, what’s right is right, what your opinion is great to express on your own. But you have to listen to others, right? You said right away, like, I don’t go after the SEC. I like making points or retweets, but I want to make college football great. I want all of us to get to a place that everybody can have success,” Bielema said.

“When this gentleman mentioned earlier about capping [the CFP] at four, and why should those four teams have to play another game. I would say, ‘Why the hell would you not want to play another game?’ Keep everybody going in the right direction. College football is at a world where the depth that you can acquire and attain however you want to do it, some people believe in if you pay somebody a lot of money, they’re going to play really well. I don’t believe that’s the case. I think kids play well when they’ve been coached, developed, and treated the right way. They’ll make their money when they make their money.”

There are going to be times when Bret Bielema advocates for the Big Ten over the SEC in these debates. That’s natural given where he’s at as a coach. At the same time, he made it clear that nothing is personal and there are friends for him in coaching across conference lines.

“It’s just I know that I get labeled at that a little bit,” Bielema said. “But I will tell you there’s several coaches in the SEC that I consider very great friends. Mark Stoops and I, we used to share a hotel together in spring recruiting when we both made $50,000. We split a Motel 6 for $32 a night so we could keep our per diem money. When he got his big contract — I know I got a little bit of one too, but I said, ‘Come a long way since Motel 6, right?’ Some of those guys are my best friends, and respect the hell out of who they are and what they are.”

This season, Bielema and Illinois are hoping to be part of the Big Ten’s effort to cement itself ahead of the SEC. Of course, that won’t be easy and the two will likely once again be jockeying for position once the season begins.