When Bret Bielema was in the midst of spending three seasons in the NFL, he always had an itch to get back to being a head coach in the college ranks, but not just anywhere.

The now second-year Illinois head coach wanted to lead a college program that he thought he could use previous experience at Wisconsin and Arkansas to parlay into success in an environment that he thought he would be comfortable in.

That’s why when Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman first called Bielema just over a year ago about the position with the Fighting Illini, there was mutual interest. Bielema said he was “excited” when Whitman reached out to him about the job.

“Being from the state of Illinois, watching things unfold here after I left Arkansas to be in the NFL, I had an itch to be a coach, a college football head coach,” Bielema said. “But I wanted to be in an environment that I thought you could win and I kind of wanted to do it in an environment where you could come in and apply some of the things you’ve learned in the past.”

Monday was the one-year anniversary of Bielema’s hiring to be the head coach at the University of Illinois. In Bielema’s first season with the Illini, he led them to a 5-7 record, which included two wins over ranked opponents on the road – No. 7 Penn State and No. 20 Minnesota.

But in the end, Illinois failed to qualify for a bowl game, a rare occurrence for Bielema and something he hopes to remedy.

“I only had two times prior to coming here in my career where I’ve missed a bowl game - my first year at Arkansas, my last year (at Arkansas) and obviously this year,” he said. “To come one game shy, is to be quite honest, infuriating for me, just because the expectation is to be playing a postseason game, but more importantly to be practicing. Hopefully, we’re not in this situation much more again.”

That practice time in preparation for a bowl is game is invaluable, Bielema said, particularly for the young players who are still developing. It would have been another opportunity to get better.

For Bielema to ultimately do the thing that he and Whitman have established as one of their top goals – achieve sustained success – Bielema reached out to former Illinois coaches dating all the way back to the 1990s. He wanted to learn about what made them successful and what they thought may have led to their downfall.

“I’ve literally talked to every coach that has been a head coach of Illinois over the last 25 years, except for one,” Bielema said.

Bielema said he has spoken to Lovie Smith, Ron Zook, Ron Turner and Lou Tepper to get their “unique perspective” on the Illinois program. Turner was a guest captain for an Illinois game this season. Bielema competed against Zook and Tepper, and he also interviewed Tepper for a job on one of his staffs.

What Bielema learned in his conversations with the different coaches was that each of them had a different point of view – input that has helped him pave the way forward for Illinois football.

“I think they all had their own perspective, and all of them have a different viewpoint,” Bielema said. “Coach Turner, what I really engaged with him was how he grew it, and then why he thought maybe it fell. Coach Zook was probably the guy that I was most engaged with. He’s a guy I have a lot of respect for, even going back to when we first met when he was coaching in Florida. His viewpoint was completely different than the others, just because of the way he took it over.”

Sustained success has been elusive. The Illini have had just seven winning seasons since 1992 when Tepper took over after John Mackovic left to take the head coaching job at Texas.

The last winning record was in Zook’s final season when Illinois defeated UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl to finish 7-6. By that time, Zook was out and defensive coordinator Vic Koenning served as the interim head coach for the bowl game.

Fans are hungry for a winner, Bielema said. His first team had some ups and downs, with a couple of impressive Big Ten wins on the road, including the epic 9OT upset of Penn State. It’s a start.

“Unfortunately, there’s only been a small number of winning seasons over the last 25 years,” Bielema said. “People are very, very excited to be successful. I think when we beat Penn State on the road – and that didn’t happen by chance – and to follow that up with at Minnesota.”

Bielema called the Illinois job the “perfect recipe” for his return to the college game. He’s in a state that he called home until he left to start his college career as a walk-on at Iowa. He’s back in the Big Ten, a conference that he competed and won in as a player, assistant coach, coordinator and head coach.

Illinois has been a tough place to build a consistent winner and Bielema is mindful of the past. Still, after a year on the job, he’s optimistic about the future.

“I know what we can do here,” Bielema said. “And that’s more tangible now than ever in my life, ever in the past year, so that has me excited.”