Illinois announced that coach Bret Bielema has been making the rounds at NFL organized team activities during the offseason. The Fighting Illini coach visited Halas Hall to watch the Chicago Bears practice.
Bielema has plenty of reasons to stay busy these days. The team won 19 games over two seasons with back-to-back bowl victories.
He’s also performed the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field every year since arriving in Champaign.
But it was watching Caleb Williams that really caught Bielema’s attention during his NFL visits.
Williams made the cover of Madden NFL 27, which releases this summer. A video of the quarterback rolling right and connecting with Rome Odunze for a touchdown went viral with 1.8 million impressions on social media.
“You’ve got a quarterback, I’m telling you, I’ve been around a lot of quarterbacks. Russell Wilson, all these guys. The arm talent of Caleb [Williams] is insane. He rolled out to his right and threw a ball down the field, and I just sat there and shook my head.”
Bielema made those comments during an interview with 104.3 The Score.
The 15-year-old Bielema watched his Bears win the Super Bowl. Now he’s watching their potential franchise quarterback as a college coach.
Russell Wilson played under Bielema during his college career. So did current Illinois starter Luke Altmyer and Tommy Devito.
That quarterback development track record gives weight to Bielema’s assessment of Williams.
Williams hasn’t played a regular season NFL game yet. But he’s already earning praise from coaches who’ve sent multiple quarterbacks to the league.
The validation comes as Williams faces pressure as the Bears’ top draft pick and cover athlete for the league’s premier video game.
Bielema’s comments suggest Illinois might continue producing NFL-caliber quarterbacks. The program’s current roster could include the next signal-caller to make that jump.
