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Bret Bielema earns contract bonus as Illinois secures bowl eligibility
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Bret Bielema is no stranger to winning seasons, and he appears to be well on his way to another one as head coach at Illinois.
On Saturday, Bielema’s Fighting Illini used a strong defensive performance to take down Michigan 21-7 for the first time since 2009. The victory was Illinois’ sixth of the season, qualifying them for their second bowl game of the Bielema era.
That mark also meant that the head coach would earn a tidy bonus of $25k for guiding the program back to the postseason.
Illinois coach Bret Bieleman set for a bonus of at least $25,000 as Fighting Illini get 6th win and become eligible for a bowl game by beating Michigan
— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) October 19, 2024
Per Berkowitz’ reports, Bielema joined the likes of Kirby Smart, Barry Odom, Matt Campbell, Ryan Silverfield, Brian Kelly, Chris Klieman, Mike Elko, Josh Heupel, Eliah Drinkwitz and Jeff Monken in earning various wins bonuses Saturday.
Bielema also has the chance to earn more bonus money as the season progresses.
Illinois will look to clinch the second winning season under Bielema when it heads to Eugene to take on presumably top-ranked Oregon next week. The game is set for a 3:30 ET kickoff and will be broadcast by CBS.