The 30-plus year's around the Illinois football program and recently hired Illinois football coach Bret Bielema had the best first day of anyone Bob Asmussen has seen.
'A great hire' and 'young enough to be here for a long time' is how Asmussen described his initial thoughts on the hiring of the former Wisconsin Badgers and Arkansas Razorbacks coach.
After not having the success at Arkansas he had hoped, many wonder if Bielema was riding the coattails of Barry Alvarez but Asmussen doesn't see it that way. He says Bielema's success and handprint were all over the program well after Alvarez departed.
Perhaps Asmussen's biggest compliment of Bielema though is the fact his introductory press conference was one of the best Asmussen has seen in his 30-plus years being around the Illinois football program. He points to Bielema's plans to recruit the state's top players and his aspirations of developing a winner right away.
Bielema, 50, in seven seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach (2006-12) won three straight Big Ten titles under his direction (2010-12), sporting a 68-24 record while playing in six bowl games.
