Illinois coach Bret Bielema's father died a day after Oregon win
The gist
Illinois coach Bret Bielema said his father Arnie died peacefully Sunday, under 24 hours after Illinois beat Oregon.
Bielema missed his Wednesday news conference to attend the funeral before Friday's Nebraska game.
How it unfolded
- Oct 26, 2026Bielema shares that his father, Arnie Bielema, died peacefully Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after Illinois beat Oregon.
- Nov 4, 2026Bielema's weekly news conference is moved to Wednesday because he was away attending his father's funeral.
- Nov 6, 2026Illinois (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) hosts Nebraska (5-3, 2-3) at Gies Memorial Stadium, 8:00 pm ET kickoff on Friday night.
Key terms
- Big Ten
- A major U.S. collegiate athletic conference, the oldest in NCAA Division I, originally named for its ten member universities.
- RPO
- A football play where the offense can choose to run or pass based on the defense's alignment and actions.
- play-action
- A football play that fakes a running play to deceive the defense before throwing a pass.
Source: Wikipedia