30 best college football coaching hires this century

28. Bret Bielema – Wisconsin

Wisconsin is always that team that is always high in the top ten of the AP Top 25, but they never seem to actually make the College Football Playoff. Before their runs under Paul Chryst, they had Bret Bielema. He came over from Kansas State to become the defensive coordinator for the Badgers and became the head coach two years later.

Bielema immediately made a huge impact. He finished the 2006 season 12-1. They beat Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl, and the team finished the season ranked in the top ten. He had P.J. Hill running over the entire Big Ten, but they didn’t face a particularly hard schedule that season. They avoided Ohio State, and the real test came next season.

While 2007 didn’t go as well as 2006, they still finished the season with nine wins and they avenged the loss to Michigan, beating the then-13th ranked Wolverines at Camp Randall Stadium. In 2009, Bielema’s full recruiting class took shape, and it was a very good team. They won ten games including another bowl win, this time in the Champ Sports Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes.

In his final three seasons in Wisconsin, Bielema went on quite the run. He went to three-straight Rose Bowls, which was the first time since the new millennium the Badgers were in the historic game. They lost all three times, but they had to survive a very good Big Ten just to get there. He had stars like Montee Ball, Russell Wilson, and Chris Borland on the roster. He was able to create stars, and then he left to go coach at Arkansas. That was… a decision. He’s now back in the Big Ten as the head coach of Illinois.