Illinois coach Bret Bielema is preparing for his first fall camp in Champaign.

Bielema talked about how the chance to coach Illinois is the “opportunity of a lifetime” as he enters this phase of his career.

“We talk about this all the time as coaches,” Bielema said. “Everyone else celebrates the start of a new year on January 1st. The calendar year. But as coaches and players, the first day of your year is really the first day of fall camp. It’s the restart to your season, it’s the restart to an opportunity. Nobody knows where it’s going to go.

“I was born in the state of Illinois. And little did I know that 51 years later I would be the head coach at the University of Illinois. And now to come back … to be back in the Big Ten West. I’ve played in this league, I’ve been an assistant coach in this league, I’ve been a coordinator in this league, I’ve been a head coach in this league. And now to be the head coach at the University of Illinois, it just aligns everything into an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Here’s his full thoughts as he drives to work on the first day of Illinois’ fall camp:

This is Bielema’s return to the Big Ten West after he was Wisconsin’s head coach from 2006-12. He was also the Badgers’ defensive coordinator from 2004-05 and served on Iowa’s coaching staff from 1994-2001. As a player, Bielema was a defensive lineman from 1989-92.

In 2013, Bielema left Wisconsin for the Arkansas job but was fired after five seasons in Fayetteville. He then spent the ensuing three years as an assistant in the NFL.

Illinois opens its season with Nebraska on Aug. 28.