Named as the 26th University of Illinois head coach, Bret Bielema enters his third season in charge of the Fighting Illini and looks to build on the prior experience of his coaching staff in an effort to run through the Big Ten and earn a bowl bid.
Illinois Fighting Illini Coaching Staff
Head Coach, Bret Bielema
With stops at Wisconsin and Arkansas as a head coach, plus a brief stint in the NFL under his belt, Bielema brings his 115-77 overall record into his fourth season as the leader of the Fighting Illini.
As a head coach at Wisconsin, Bielema led the Badgers to three Big Ten championships and three Rose Bowl appearances, with an overall record of 68-24. Following the success in Madison, Bielema moved on to Arkansas for five seasons.
As the Razorbacks’ HC, he had three consecutive bowl appearances after a difficult first season. After five seasons in Fayetteville, Bielema spent several seasons in the NFL with the Patriots and Giants.
Bielema left the NFL to move to Champaign, Ill., in 2021 and has amassed a total record of 18-19 since his arrival. His best overall season with Illinois resulted in an 8-5 record and his single bowl appearance with the Illini in 2022.
As a head coach, Bielema has led 11 of his 15 teams to bowl games. Although the Illini finished last season with a 5-7 record, momentum seems to be in their favor of the Illini as they look to continue developing more talent after seeing multiple NFL Draft picks the past few years.
Illinois is one of five schools to have three or more players drafted in the first three rounds of the draft in both 2023 and 2024. The recruiting also looks to continue improving after steadily rising every year with Bielema at the helm.
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, Barry Lunney Jr.
Reuniting with Bielema after five years at Arkansas, Barry Lunney Jr. is entering his third season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Lunney began his coaching career at Arkansas in 1999 as running backs coach, with stops at Tulsa, San Jose State, and Bentonville HS before joining Bielema’s staff at Arkansas as the tight ends coach.
Lunney moved on to offensive coordinator at UTSA, where he coached Frank Harris to a career year and helped lead the Roadrunners to the 11th-best offense in the country.
Illinois’ offense has made huge strides under Lunney, ranking top five in passing, yards, and scoring in 2023. While at Illinois, he helped develop All-American and future NFL running back Chase Brown and quarterback Tommy DeVito, who found positive accolades filling in as a starter for the New York Giants last season.
Defensive Coordinator/Secondary Coach, Aaron Henry
Aaron Henry joined Illinois’ coaching staff as the defensive backs coach in 2021 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in December 2022. He will enter his second season in that role after being the youngest coordinator in the Big Ten in 2023.
Henry played for Bielema at Wisconsin and got his start as a coach in Madison under him before following him to Arkansas as a graduate assistant. Henry’s first job as a position coach came in 2016 at Rutgers.
In 2021, Henry led a huge turnaround, as Illinois’ scoring defense moved from 97th to 31st nationally by orchestrating a pass defense that allowed the fewest passing yards in Big Ten games. The improvement flipped Illinois from the bottom half of the conference into the top third in multiple statistics.
In his tenure at Illinois, Henry coached Devon Witherspoon, who emerged as one of college football’s elite shutdown corners and went on to be selected No. 5 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. With fellow DBs Jartavius Martin and Sydney Brown being drafted in Rounds 2 and 3, respectively, Henry has become well known for his development of players in the secondary.
Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach, Robby Discher
Robby Discher is in his second season as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach in Champaign. He led the special teams to a seventh-best ranking nationally and the nation’s best in blocked kicks/punts with seven. Discher’s career includes stops at Sam Houston State, Oklahoma State, Toledo, Louisiana, Georgia, and Tulane.
Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach, Thad Ward
Thad Ward is in his fifth season and second stint as RBs coach for the 2024 season. He previously coached running backs at Illinois from 2016-18 and was promoted to Assistant Head Coach in March 2024.
Ward was crucial in the development of Kaden Feagin, who was named honorable mention All-Big Ten as a freshman. Ward’s career includes stops at Western Illinois, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Temple, and Kansas State.
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach, Terrance Jamison
After two seasons as defensive line coach, Terrance Jamison was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2023. He is currently entering his fourth season at Illinois and helped coach Jer’Zhan Newton to back-to-back All-American seasons. He previously coached at Wisconsin, Cal, Florida Atlantic, Texas Tech, Air Force, and Purdue.
Wide Receivers Coach, Justin Stepp
Justin Stepp will be stepping into the role of wide receivers coach for the first time in 2024 at Illinois. His previous coaching experience includes jobs at Clemson, App State, SMU, Arkansas, and South Carolina. He has a twin brother, Josh, who is a coach at Cincinnati.
Offensive Line Coach, Bart Miller
Starting his fourth season at Illinois, Bart Miller has been coaching the offensive line for over 12 years. Before getting the job in Champaign, Miller was at Wyoming, Ohio, Air Force, Minnesota, Florida Atlantic, New Mexico State, and Wisconsin.
Linebackers Coach, Archie McDaniel
Archie McDaniel is a newcomer to Illinois, as he will be in his first season coaching linebackers for the Illini. McDaniel has over 17 years of coaching experience, with previous stops at Texas A&M, Texas Southern, Tulsa, New Mexico, SMU, Texas State, and Houston.
Outside Linebackers Coach, Clint Sintim
Clint Sintim joins Illinois’ coaching staff for the first time as the outside linebackers coach. Despite being in his first year in Champaign, he’s a 10-year veteran in the college coaching ranks, with Virginia, Delaware, Richmond, and West Alabama on his résumé.
Defensive Backs Coach, Corey Parker
Corey Parker’s first season as the defensive backs coach comes after a stint coaching cornerbacks at Toledo. Previously, Parker was the head coach at River Rouge High School in Michigan for 13 years, where he amassed an impressive 113-34 record.