When first-year Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema was working in the NFL with the New England Patriots and legendary coach Bill Belichick, he was surprised to see that the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach held a Christmas party the day before a game.
Bielema remembers freaking out about how he, the players and the rest of the Patriots coaching staff should be preparing for the game they had the next day. But quickly those emotions and the distraction of the game left his mind when he saw players, coaches interacting with their families and children. Even Belichick, the stoic, often too serious head coach played with kids, including Bielema’s two daughters Briellea and Brexli.
“I remember we had the granddaddy of them all,” Bielema said on Wednesday from his COVID-19 isolation location. Bielema tested positive for COVID-19 last Monday and hasn’t been with the team in person since.
“A Christmas party the day before a game, right, and it was the kids, it was Santa, there was games or toys and I’m like losing my mind. I’m, like, and I see Coach Belichick cover over talk to my little girls and I’m just like this is just insane. But we went out on the next day and kind of just reaffirmed in my mind again that I think the players want to see us.”
What Bielema learned from this experience with the Patriots, is the importance of welcoming his players, coaches and their families together for a football family holiday celebration. So, for the first time in his 13 seasons, he decided to host a Thanksgiving for his team and coaches at the Memorial Stadium Colonnades Club.
Bielema said that about 90 players have saved their spot for Thursday’s meal with the remaining 20-30 players opting to drive home and spend the holiday with their families before returning to Urbana-Champaign on Friday for last day preparation before the Illini’s Saturday home game against Northwestern.
“I was kind of shocked the player did sign up for it because I thought more guys might go home or just kind of go into their own thing because they get per diem money,” Bielema said. “But we have a really good meal coming at them. Our guys like food.”
Illinois is getting the food catered on Thursday by the same company that provides food for recruiting visits. Bielema said that the food is a pretty popular attraction for many of the players and that the attendance numbers saw a “spike” when he shared where the meal was coming from.
For most, Thanksgiving means quality time with family, food and, of course, football. But, oddly, for a lot of college football players, there aren’t the same traditions because Thanksgiving always falls on the final Thursday of the regular season. So many players aren’t able to spend time with their families. But Bielema decided to bring together the Illinois football family for his team. Coaches are allowed to bring their families to the meal and many are bringing players to their houses later in the day to celebrate.
“I was talking to Ryan [Walters] two nights ago,” Bielema said. “I believe Ryan invited all the safeties to come over to his house and I know a couple of caches invited their positional groups to come over to their house.”
Unfortunately, Bielema doesn’t get out of COVID isolation until Friday, so he won’t be able to get in attendance. Center for Disease Control (CDC) protocols require Bielema to isolate for 10 days before returning to in-person activities with Illinois football. So, Bielema won’t be able to attend Thursday’s feast, but he still made it a possibility for his team to celebrate the holiday.
“I think it’s just one of those moments where you get to be something bigger than a football coach,” Bielema said. “I know our guys take advantage of that.”
