Illinois HC Bret Bielema understands challenges of facing interim staff at Maryland

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Maryland football is set to return to SECU Stadium on Halloween afternoon to host an Illinois team inching closer toward bowl eligibility. After a disappointing 2-3 start was highlighted by one-possession losses against Duke then Purdue, the Illini have responded with an overtime win against Michigan State before taking down Oregon, 21-10, at home last week.

Yet head coach Bret Bielema acknowledges the challenges that present itself when preparing for an interim head coach.

"I know Locks is an offensive guy so he's definitely involved with [Clint] Trickett the whole year, but now it's kind of probably been the first time for him as an OC that doesn't have Locksley in that meeting with him. So that's going to bring another dynamic," Bielema said on Thursday. "I told our guys the other day -- offense, defense, special teams, you're going to see something new and different. It's a bye week. It's a bye week with a new group of coaches. You're going to see something."

Aazaar Abdul-Rahim transitioning into the CEO role as the interim head coach allows the coordinators a chance to do that now with Trickett and Zac Spavital, elevated initially from ILBs coach, calling the offense and defense on Saturday. Though Bielema does not have a personal relationship with either of the coordinators or Abdul-Rahim, his familiarity with Spavital's family portrayed alignment in messaging, something he also noted was consistent throughout Tuesday's press conferences all the way up to AD Jim Smith.

"They're a very good football family so I'm sure the messaging that I'm hearing from them, they're all kind of on the same page. I think one of the things as a head coach I learned early and then I've watched during my career is the more the messaging is the same, usually the results are that way."

Yet Bielema reiterated that the news of the coaching transition was met with an immediate thought for Mike Locksley as the two have routinely spoken fondly of each other through the years given their decades long friendship.

"I shot Locks a text. Locks and I are extremely close. He's a guy that I love in this profession. He and I are in a couple of committees together. I didn't know anything about it, somebody said something at practice and I thought -- because their defensive coordinator had been let go. So I didn't know anything about it until I got off the field yesterday," Bielema said last week. "As a coach -- I've been let go. I grew the most in the moment when somebody told me I wasn't good enough. So I've always just kind of opened my heart and opened my thoughts to guys that are in that situation."

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