Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Interviews of the Week on 104.3 The Score: Feb. 9-13

Episode Date: February 15, 2026

In Interviews of the Week on 104.3 The Score, Ricky O'Donnell of SB Nation joined the Spiegel & Holmes Show to discuss the state of the reeling Bulls at the All-Star break and to break down a loaded 2026 NBA Draft class; Chicago Sports Network analyst Clay Harbor joined the Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show to share his wish list for the Bears in free agency; and Illinois football coach Bret Bielema joined the Mully & Haugh Show to share his goals for the program.

I think it's being in the middle that's what we don't want to do. I think we've seen that for the past four years, and we want to change that. And at the stage that we're in right now, I think we have to take a look at different combinations of players. And I'm definitely worried about so many new players on the team and how little time we have for cohesion and get to know each other and all this stuff.

but I trust Billy and his staff. They're going to do their best, you know, for the next couple of months to work with this group. Spiegel and Holmes, afternoons on the score. It's a lot of work that's being asked to the Bulls head coach when you have a team that looks like they're on a rec league run because they haven't had a ton of practice time, but that's really the smaller problems when it comes to the Bulls.

Ricky O'Donnell has been covering this team for a really long time when he was here covering the Bulls like on a daily basis. And now he covers the league for SB Nation. And we appreciate you jumping on the show, Ricky, joining us here on the Circus Sports Illinois Hotline. Circus Sports app, download it today. I want to go back for a second. Because I know that you've been in the camp of being skeptical

on everything that's happened with the Bulls. And then there was like a moment where you're like, you know what? I think I might be able to see what it is that they're doing. Yeah, week number one, we were right there together. Like, look at this, five in a row. Maybe the system is the star of that kind of thing. How do you feel like it didn't get to the point where it proved you correct in having a little bit of faith in them?

Yeah, I think, you know, I was somewhat a believer at the start of the year, mostly because the Bulls were beating good teams. Like the Pistons have been the best team in the NBA this year, essentially. The Bulls beat them on that run. The Magic looked good. they were just running off some pretty good wins. And I think from someone in my position where I've just always been so critical of the Bulls from an ownership and front office level that when they actually were playing good ball, I felt like I should compliment them and give them a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. Where it went wrong is that the Bulls lost to all the worst teams in the league in a row as soon as they started getting some injuries. They've lost three times to the Nats.

They've lost multiple times to the Pacers. They've lost multiple times to the Pelicans, I believe. So these games against the tankers early in the season, they had to essentially sweep those games to give themselves a shot at being a 45, 46, 47 win team. And instead, as soon as they hit some adversity with injuries, they just completely fell apart. So there were some decent things for the Bulls to hang their head on before the trade deadline. Really like Jalen Smith, really like Trey Jones, both of those guys,

are nice fines by Arturis Karnas Cháovas. Giddy has proved me wrong. He's played pretty well this year when he's been healthy. But in general, you know, this team was never really going to make noise in the Eastern Conference. And I think Arturis was smart to take a step back at the trade deadline to be a seller. Unfortunately, it's probably too little too late. There's 10 teams tanking this year. The Bulls have the most wins out of any of those teams.

They are choosing this path pretty late in the season. So they're going to be a long shot team in the lottery. They need to pray for some luck. But I think they had to make this. these moves at the end of the day. We wanted them to pivot, and they did pivot. Did they go too far or just too late? What is your thought overall as you look at the wreckage that's left behind? Yeah, I would say that based off what the Bulls got at the trade deadline, there's like three keeper assets, I would say. That would be Jaden Ivy, who is a restricted free agent at the end

of this year. It's going to be an interesting negotiation with Ivy. He's got a $30 million cap hold. The Bulls are going to be a cap space team this summer. They could potentially go out and make a big splash in free agency, try to throw a big offer sheet at Tari Eason, at Peyton Watson, at Mark Williams. But they can't access that money until they agree to a deal with Jade Nivey. I think it's imperative to get him on a team-friendly contract. So I'm interested to see just like the timing and how that all plays out. Then Rob Dillingham, who they got in the I-O trade.

I really loved Rob Dillingham as a prospect coming out of Kentucky. It looked like a huge bust, for sure, in his first two seasons with the Timberwolves, was never able to get on the floor. The guy is 160 pounds soaking wet. He's six foot two, maybe, just really small for an NBA player, one of the smallest guys in the league. But when he's on, he's completely electric, and he's going to need to shoot it at a high level.

At Kentucky, he shot 44 percent, a lot of those being off the dribble three-pointers. That hasn't translated to the NBA yet. He also hasn't had a consistent role or consistent playing time. To me, I want to see all the rob. Dillingham these last 27 games or whatever it is for the bowls the rest of the way actually put him in some lineups where he could be insulated defensively don't run him out there with anfrey simons and colin sexton that's ridiculous those guys should probably be bought out in the first place it's not even on billy as much as it is on our tourists but i do like dillingham is a flyer in the io deal

and then they got the pelican second round pick back in the vuch trade so that should be you know the number 32 33 overall pick that's a pretty good good pick in a draft. The Bulls did find I.O. in the early second round. So I think, like, those are your keeper assets. The rest of what they got back doesn't really matter and, you know, won't be on the team next year, most likely. And of course, the Bulls have a long, long way to go. It feels like this is their third rebuild post-Jimmy Butler trade. In the last nine years, they haven't won a playoff series since D. Rose was on the team in 2015. And I can't tell you when the Bulls are going to win a playoff series again, even in the JV conference that is the East,

It's going to be a long, long time because they got a lot of work to do to build back up. What strikes you is the biggest problem that this front office has? Ooh, that's a great question. I think in general, they've just been horrific with their use of first-round picks. You could look at it since Arturis came aboard, took Patrick Williams with the number four overall pick, compounded that problem by giving him $90 million that he never earned. So that was 2020. 2020.

You traded a lottery pick for Vouch. The pick they traded turned out to be Franz Wagner, who I think is the most underrated player in the NBA. He's probably a top 20 player in the world, in my opinion. He's fantastic. So that one really did not age well. The next year they took Dail and Terry. He's on a two-way contract now.

You know, he was just a complete bust for the Bulls, unfortunately. The next year, back in the lottery, again traded to the magic for the Vooch trade. The following year, you took Modis and then no one. Senge. So just a really poor use of assets in his first round pick. It feels like Arturis takes the same guy in the draft every single year. He always wants a tall, skinny, toolsy wing. And it has maybe worked out with Bezellis, who I think is a bright future and has had a nice age 21 season. We'll continue to get better. But in general, I think that if you are just burning first round picks every single season, especially when they're often in the lottery, is very, very hard to build a

good team and the Bulls are not a good team. Ricky, I'm going to be achieving a state of full and total bullslessness. And it's going to help me to read draft lotteries, write-ups, and mock drafts like you have just written. In fact, you are the first installment of, I don't know how many of them will do, but you're the first person we're going to talk to about this. So as we pivot from Bulls talk to lottery talk, let me ask you this. overall, if they're lucky enough to get in the lottery, and I think they will, and they get, you know, a top five pick, that'd be great because I think there are five picks of consequence in this.

But overall, I would like them to take a flyer on somebody who could be a star, as opposed to finding a role player who could be a piece of their rebuild. How many people in this potential lottery, you think, are guys who could be stars? Yeah, I think I love the top five. What makes this 2026 draft class so good is Cameron Boozer, Darren Peterson, A.J. DeBonson, that top three is loaded. And there's been two more really good freshman breakouts this year, Caleb Wilson, a forward for North Carolina, Kingston Fleming's, a point card for Houston. So after that, I think it's a bit of a grab bag. And it's very tough to sort of identify who the best players could be.

I like Mikkel Brown, a point guard out of Louisville as the number six overall prospect in this class. Who's the seventh best prospect? I mean, you could ask 10 people and get 10 different answers. I think that there's no real consensus on how the players are going to come off the board yet. A name that keeps popping up is Neda Ment, a freshman forward for Tennessee. He was the number four overall recruit entering the year behind the big three. And Nata Mett, you know, you could see what makes him an appealing player. he is exactly Arturis Karnasovas is his type.

He's a 610, toolsy wing who can sort of dribble pass and shoot, but he can't really do any of those things at a high level right now. Started off very slow. He's been playing some football lately, so I would name him there. And I think you've got a shout out Keaton Wogler from Illinois. Going from the number 150 overall recruit to a likely top 10 pick in June is just a crazy transformation. I think Illinois's got a shot at the final four this year, mostly because Keaton Wogler's explosion and his shot making is just fantastic.

I do have some serious concerns about how he translates to the NBA. He's a 6-foot-6, one-and-done lottery pick who has not dunked the ball this year. He tried to dunk against Wisconsin last week, and it was, like, pathetic. He didn't even come close, got stuffed by the rim. So to me, that's a pretty big red flag if you're a 6-6 guy and can't dunk in a game. There's never been someone that size who's finished a season with Z. zero dunks and hasn't been able to and he's still gone in the lottery, but he's an unbelievable off the dribble shooter.

And off the dribble shooting is one of those skills where if you're really good, it can cover up for a lot of weaknesses. So I think you got to name him too and guys with potential star upside. Okay. So that's what's happening on the draft front. And there's a lot of good players that you mentioned there. And by the way, like for people who didn't know, Caleb Wilson broke his hand. like they thought it was just like a strain,

but it turns out that he's broken his hand. We'll see how that bothers him, and whether or not it pushes him to stay or go with the draft, but what we shall see. What I wanted to ask you is some of the big questions about the league itself right now, because we're looking at, and you brought it up, the bulls can't get to the bottom,

and we know that that just increases their chances. is there a problem here? Does the NBA suffer when we are looking at a big portion of the league all trying to be worse than the others? Yeah, it's definitely a problem because everyone's talking about it. And it seems like every year after the Super Bowl's over, the moral panic about the state of the NBA sets in. Sometimes it's load management. This year it's tanking. Sometimes it's guys not trying in the All-Star game.

And the tanking thing is a big issue. And I've heard a lot of people propose solutions for it over the last couple days. I don't think any of them are particularly good. I think that as long as the draft still exists, teams are always going to be trying to find stars. You need stars in basketball, right? And the reason the Bulls haven't been good over these last 10 years especially is because they haven't had a star since they traded Jimmy. And the best way to acquire a young star on a cost-controlled contracts to do it through the draft. And man, look what it did for the Bears.

You get the number one pick and it changed everything with Caleb Williams. So the Bulls just have to hope for lottery luck to get that. I will say that since the NBA flattened the lottery odds a few years back, I think it was maybe in 2018 or 19. The worst team in the league has never gotten the number one pick. Last year, the Mavericks jumped up from 11 to 1 to get Cooper flag. The year before that, the Atlanta Hawks jumped up from 10 to 1. It took a Zachary Reese-Sach.

So it's definitely possible for the Bulls to move up. you know, finishing the year as the ninth or tenth-th-worst team. But it is definitely a bad look for the NBA, that all these teams are incentivized to lose. You know, the games are still going on, but you got teams like the Jazz resting healthy players in the fourth quarter. Lowry Markinen's got 25 points at the end of the third quarter the other night, and they don't play them in the fourth to try to lose on purpose.

I don't know what the real best solution is. I've always sort of wondered, like, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence. that maybe the NBA draft lottery is rigged or has been rigged in some years. And I wonder if maybe that's the best way to punish the tankers is just to make sure teams like the jazz don't get the number one pick for resting healthy starters down the line. But otherwise, beyond abolishing the draft, there's no real easy solution to do this, I think. Well, this is the reality of it. And that's why I find myself, we've always said luck is not a plan, but that's clearly one of the

ways you have to try and go about it. And they're trying to go about it. So I'll be following the mock drafts and the lotteries because we need to because that is the hope at this point. So last thing, last thing on that front, have you decided on what kind of skill sets translate the best in your years of kind of putting these mock drafts together and thinking about the prospect? What kind of skill sets do you look forward to to decide whether somebody has the capability to emerge as a star from a mock? I think you look at size, touch, and feel. And, you know, you just need those things to be good at basketball. Even when small ball was all the rage in the NBA, like, you still need positional size.

Touch is just shooting. You got to be able to make shots when you shoot. If you're shooting in close, if you're shooting from deep. And then feel, I think, has replaced athleticism, in part because look at Steph Curry and Nicola Yokic, two all-time great players who are probably below average athletes in terms of, terms of running and jumping at their position. But, you know, Yokic and Curry are, to me, both top 10 players of all time probably. And they're both incredibly smart players.

I mean, great for a lot of different reasons, both have fantastic touch. Yokic obviously has a ton of positional size, but the feel for the game, I think, is so important. So a little tougher to evaluate. A couple stats I like to look at. One is just assist to turnover ratio. Just sort of clues you into decision-making, I think.

And then I also like steal percentage. generally in the NBA, guys who have like a steel percentage about three or two and a half percent in college or in international. Those are the guys who tend to pop. So I think just like getting steals, anyone who's even played pickup basketball, if someone's getting a lot of steals on the floor, they're usually one of the best players out there. So I like touch, size, feel. Of course, these are difficult intersections to find, especially when you're not picking at the top of the draft, as the Bulls have not been for a long time now. But hey, the Bears got really lucky to get Caleb, right?

They needed Lovie Smith to lead the Texans to a miracle in that final game of what was that the 23 season. So luck is always involved and the Bulls need some luck on their side. Patrick Williams wasn't good enough in terms of lucking into the 2020 draft. They need another bite at the apple. Hopefully they got it this year. Build that man a statue. And Bill Ricky won too.

Ricky, we appreciate you. Thanks for jumping on. Thanks, guys. Great stuff. Thank you, Ricky. love the general idea salute so rare we get a general in the army by the way

but the idea of touch and feel and of course size I dig that a lot Cam Boozer is a really interesting prospect in that way yeah because people don't know what to think of him

because he's a really good basketball player for sure for sure but they're not sure about all of the other stuff well it gives us a great lens with which to watch college basketball. For those of you joining me in bullslessness, and even those of you who are not. When we come back, we'll stay with college basketball because my least favorite coach has thoughts.

It's next here on the score. Windy City Smokeout returned July 8th through the 12th. Listen to Mullian Haw all week on 104-3 to score for your chance to win a pair of four-day general admission passes to this year's Windy City Smokeout, featuring artists like Blake Shelton, Lainey Wilson, Jordan Davis, and Moore. Wristbands are on sale now at windycitysmokeout.com. Clay Harbor, former NFL play. Clay Harbor, slot to the left.

Here's a big pass. And it's caught touchdown by Harbor. That's a touchdown. Clay Harbor makes that catch. And they've got Harbor for the touchdown. Football analyst for Chicago Sports Network. I think the bears have two really good tight ends. I've been in tight-in rooms, meeting rooms, practice fields, game field.

These two guys, three guys. you can even throw Dermas Smyth in there, but Colton Loveland and Colk Met are extremely tough and physical players. These are guys that can do everything. Clay Harbor with Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 the score.

Dreams and nightmares. That's Clay Harbor's theme. Also the Philadelphia Eagles, which he was won. So, you know, that's how it works around here. This is Rahimi Harrison Brody on 1043, the score. Talking a little bears,

kind of wrapping up the Super Bowl, wrapping up the NFL season. And I know, we talked about this, your free agency targets, but before we get to that, we were talking about the cap casualties too. Kevin Fishpain had a really in-depth article in the athletic. We were talking about the decision-making process and Marshall brought it up. So like, if you're Ryan Poles, how do you face Dennis Allen? You know, and how does Dennis Allen try to champion for his guys? You know, what goes on in that type of discussion where you're having to make so many decisions

about guys who are free agents, guys who might have a really favorable cap hit for a team? a Tremaine Edmonds, for example. Yeah, you go to your coaches and you say, how valuable is this player to you? Is this a guy you need? You think you can find a replacement at a lower price because we got to do some restructuring. One thing that I will say is the restructure potential, which is the 2006 cap savings through simple restructures, which is basically turning salary into a bonus. So what can you do with contracts based on just turning them into a bonus?

and the bears are very high. They're the seventh team listed, $85 million that they can turn into salary cap via just changing that into bonus. That's without changing years on the contract. So sometimes you'll hear guys say it's more cash than cap. So if McCasky, George McCasky is okay with paying more. Some rosters cost more than other rosters, even though you have to be under the salary cap because the bonuses don't count towards a cap. So if George McCasky is okay with it, they have a lot of money that they can turn into bonuses.

And also something I want to say is like the combine coming up in less than two weeks, that's when you find everything out. As a player, as an agent, your agent will go in, they'll have meetings with every team and they'll go, okay, we like this guy. We like this guy. As a player, that's the first time you'll find out when you're afraid, does your team want you back? Does this team want you? Does this team want you? Does this team want you? That's when all the trade conversation happens. That's when all the free agent conversation happens.

That's when as a player you find out, okay, there's going to be a big market. You find out, okay, there's only two or three teams interested in me. Unfortunately, for me, that was typically the case. You got three teams for a lot of my other buddies. They'd be talking to me like, yeah, this team, this team, this team. Like, dang, man, you got 10. I got three. But all you need is three.

You need three good ones that really want you and you can get a decent deal. It's just like house hunters. Collecting valentines like in elementary school and kids, you're looking over at a desk and some kids got 12 Valentine's on his desk. and you've got four. And you're like, why doesn't anyone want me to be there Valentine? I would say that Clay probably gets more Valentine's now than NFL team interest. I'm just going to throw that out.

Burn. Yeah, yeah, that's true. We've been playing this buzzer the whole day and it's just living rent-free in our heads. I love that buzzer. It's very TikTok coded. The roast is on. It's very FN, you know. I do think, though, that that is an interesting aspect of the combine that we haven't really talked about.

Because we have been, as Bears observers, so obsessed with who they going to get. How tall is Caleb Williams for real? How tall is everybody else for real? Who's jumping really high? Underwear Olympics. The free agency aspect of the Combine was not something that we necessarily discussed. But also, who's going to be number 10? And now you realize they don't have a top 10 pick.

That's different around here. Very. Yeah, it is different. But I think there will still be some players available. You know, at some point, we'll talk about my draft process. I did that yesterday in the big pro football show. I had to give David Haw, Ruthie Polinsky, some of my favorite picks that will fall to 25.

And I think there's some solid options, left tackle, edge rushers, because the class is deep in both those positions. Like that running back class was deep, and that's why they waited until the seventh round to take a running back. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, well, I just, I got to tell you, it's not just that it's been a surprise. It's the marriage of the offensive line blocking so well

and how he's run, Kyle Minangai, that helped make that work so well. Like, when you think about that part of it, and let's just shout out also the run game, Eric Biedemae was a real game changer, I think, in that room as well. Yeah, I think you got a really good running back coach, Studsville. The guy's coached 12, 1,000 yards rushers in his career. He's been a coach for almost 30 years in the league. He's a guy that will come in, he will command respect. He's been an assistant head coach.

He's been an interim head coach. He's been a guy that's been a coordinator. So he's done so many things in football that when he walks in that room, you're running back, you're standing at attention. This isn't like the substitute teachers here now that Eric B. Enemy's gone. This is still another guy that is an alpha guy. He's a guy that will instill discipline. He will have that right kind of stuff that Ben Johnson likes, that players, they will have to respect. I'm interested in what you have to say, Clay, and you kind of dialing up your own thing on Blake Pro Football Show.

First of all, I'm just behind the scenes. Is this a producer directive or is this like you coming in and I'm saying, hey, I really want to talk about these three guys? No, this is a producer directive. Say, hey, I want to, it's collaborative, but do something with free agency. Go and find three guys that you think would be a good fit for the Bears free agency. And it's very open window. I could just say, Trey Hendon, the top three guys come to my head.

But I actually go, I watch film, I look at how these guys play, look at numbers, and I come up with three guys position. needs for the bears that I think could be potential good fits. And I think that's a good segue to get into where we're going as far as the free agent targets. I think the bear should consider. My third guy, Chicago, you're not going to like this. Nobody's going to like this one. It's a safety. The reason you're not going to like it because this is a dude that ended the bear season. His name Cam Curl. You know, Marshall, when he goes to gym, all he's doing is curls. Cam Carle can play. Hamstring curls, but this guy can play. He's only 26. I turned on the film.

Like this guy's playing in the box like Bristker, but unlike Bristker, he can also cover. No. Yeah, when I look at this guy, he does everything well, he's physical, he's good, you can put him in the box, you can play him deep. He's a strong safety, so you can still bring back Byard if he want to, and he put some analytics with it. He was 15th among all safeties in pass rating when targeted in coverage. He was 16th in coverage grade per PFF. He was second in run defense grade per PFF. And when I turned on the film, I saw exactly that.

It's a guy that fits a Dennis Island system. We saw what the Seahawks were able to do. Nicky Meen Wetherspoon, two versatile players in the defensive backfield. You got Kyler Gordon. Give me another guy like Cam Curl that you can move around. I think that would be a really good piece for Dennis Allen. And you know what Cam Curl does that is really savvy is he makes in-game adjustments. You can see when he would start to sneak around or when he would start to jump around.

He's a detail-oriented guy when it comes to just how he's able to kind of start to pick part of team when it comes to the routes they're running or what the route tree is for that specific game. I felt like that was happening against the Bears. And he also played 16 games, at least the last three seasons. Like, this guy's never hurt. He plays, he is going to be healthy. And I know that was one of the things with Briskkeye, I know he played 16 games. To get to number two, you guys ready for this one. John Franklin Myers. Okay, this guy has three names so you know he can play. Is that how that works? Yeah, he's a defensive tackle. I think it just means he was named a certain way. Yeah, he's a defensive tackle.

He's a 3-4D end, but he's a detackle. This guy's going to play 3 technique. Same position as Jervon Dexter. He can play little nose, but he can line up at 6. He can line up outside. He can line up anywhere along defensive line. He's 290 pounds, 6'4. Dennis Allen-type guy.

The last two years, he's had 14 sacks all coming from inside. So if you want a guy that can get some inside pass rush, we saw what that was able to do, Seattle. I'm not trying to steal the Seattle Seahawks blueprint, but that blueprint looks pretty good. Okay? So this is a guy that can do a lot of good things for you. As far as interior rushers, fifth and sacks, eighth and hits,

21st in pressure, 6-4-290. Versatile player can line up all over the defensive front. So that's why I like John Franklin Myers. I'm sensing a theme here with the versatility and more of not just getting guys, but getting chess pieces that could be moved around like Queens for Dennis Allen. Yeah, exactly. And he's a guy that will give you someone that can get that pressure that you're hoping Grady Jarrett could from the inside, that we're hoping Jervon Dexter could from the inside.

And I think he'd be a perfect piece in that Dennis Allen system. And finally... Hold on. One more thing on him, though. Do you think because he's coming from a Broncos defense that was considered top five in the league that the price will go up for him? I think there could be a bidding more for this guy just because there's not a ton of interior defenders on for. free agency that are really good. So you might overpay, maybe like you did Di-O-Dainbo. That's not good.

But I think this guy is a player. When I looked at Di-O, I said, I don't know what they're doing here. You know, as a tight end, I'm like watching this guy as an edge rusher, I go, I don't need help. I'm a tight end. I shouldn't be saying that. As a tight end, why are you bringing me this guy? He's like, oh, he's good against the run.

I feel like I can block this guy in pass rush, okay? I shouldn't be able to feel that, Marshall. If John Franklin Myers lines up out there, I'm going, hey, give me a couple chips. I need some help. So this dude can play and I think you'd be a better look according, you know, as far as my history goes and blocking guys like that. And finally,

Ed Rusher, I know there's been people pounding the table saying, trade for Max Crosby, trade for Miles Garrett. I don't want to give up no first round picks. I don't want to give up another big time player. You got Trey Hendrickson in for agency. You also got this guy. I turned on the film and I said,

how come nobody's talking about him? You're going to say, no way. I'm going to say, Adafé Oway, okay? This guy can play. He started with the Ravens. He got traded to the Chargers, right? The only game you have to watch is the Chargers playoff game

versus the Patriots. This guy had three sacks and two four fumbles. I turn on the film. He's great at rushing the passer. He's also versatile. He plays for a 3-4 defensive end. They might have him as an outside line. He can play D.N. in a 4-3.

He's not the typical build that a Dennis Allen likes. you know the long, bigger, stronger guys, but this guy is really good against the run. He can set the edge, but he can get some pressure too. I really liked what he was able to do after he moved from Baltimore to the Chargers. His win rate, after he made that move,

was 16.5, which was 11th among all edge rushers in the National Football League when he moved from mid-season from Baltimore to the Chargers. So I would love to have Adafé Owe on the Bears. I noticed there were three deep. defensive players when you talked about free agents. My issue is, do they have money to invest more into the defense based on where they already have money going into this?

Yeah, I had an argument. I said, yo, listen, like people want all these new defenders, do it. The Seahawks didn't invest in the D line. Say, hey, Ryan Poles did that. He took his swings and he missed. Guess what? Grady Jarrett obviously got hurt. Maybe he can get better.

And when you're in your 30s, tough for me to see that. Before he even tore his Achilles, Diodangbo wasn't much of a player. you expect me to think he's going to come back after Torn Achilles and be better. Shemar Turner, even before he got hurt and tore his ACL, didn't see much from him. A second round pick, and those two players, they did the investing in the defensive line. But like I said, if you're willing to go all in, if you're willing to maybe move some of this salary to bonus, you have the seventh most, I think Trey Hendrickson would be great. Or, yeah.

I'm saying cut Tremaine Edmins. You can get rid of Tremaine Edmins. I think you'd find a replacement. but I think there is a possibility for them to still have a decent amount of money in free agency. If you do convert some of these salaries to bonuses. I have a question about the direction of why you're saying this. So I want to get to that on the other side of this break. More with Clay Harbor football talk here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score.

He got his bad. That's as good a rush by Devin Wetherspoon as you will see in the National Football League. Welcome back. It's Malin-Haw, Chicago Sports Radio, 104. 343, the score. Ruthie Polinsky in for Mully today. That was a highlight from the Super Bowl, because Devin Witherspoon is a cornerback for the Seahawks who had himself a day,

which brings us to our next guest who joins us on the Plumbers 911 hotline. Plumbing emergency call 1833 Plum 911. Local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time. Brett Bilema is the Illinois football coach and a proud one at that after watching that Super Bowl. Good morning, coach. How are you? Good morning, Brett. Good morning. How are you guys?

Doing well. Thanks for joining us this morning. First of all, there's a lot to get to because you've had a pretty active offseason already. But let's start with the pride you must have felt watching the former Alainai cornerback, Witherspoon, have himself a Super Bowl. It was awesome. You know, it was really cool. David, more than anything, was to watch the game unfold and to see the guy that we had coached and materialized right in front of us.

But the best moment was seriously post-game to see him get interviewed, and he's just grown into a young man that has got the whole world in front of him. I thought it's crazy, right? Like Kirby Joseph, who plays for us, now plays for Detroit. I think he's the highest paid safety in NFL history. And my guess is, Spoon, maybe before it's all said and done here in the next couple of months, it might be the highest paid corner in NFL history. And to have those two guys come out of the University of Illinois is just awesome.

Coach, you also overlapped with Hunter Henry at Arkansas. So you had, you know, two guys at center field, you know, with the coin toss. saying hi to each other before the game that had to have been pretty cool for you too. You know, Ruthie, it's just, you know, as a head coach, there's certain things that you go through with guys and what you experience with them while they're here, but more importantly, why they go. And yeah, Hunter, I believe it was a 10th year in the league, right? And when Josh McDaniels, well, obviously when the whole change happened at New England and to have the transition there, but I knew that Josh was going to be a guy that really took

took advantage of Hunter's skill set as a tight end. And for the first time in his NFL career, he'd been in an offense that kind of featured that position. And then when I heard that Spoon was elected captain and Hunter, I knew was already a captain in the wingland to have those guys meet midfield. It's just really one of those awesome moments as a coach. It has nothing to do with football.

It just has to do with the people. Talk with Brett Bealema here on the score. Coach, you've had yourself quite an off-season, and you spoke this week about how this, as far as your staff is concerned, will be a year and a season of transition. Five of your 10 assistant coaches have moved on. That's college football these days.

That's the NFL as well. There's a lot of turnover. Interesting moves. You add Jared Elliott, a former Ball State coach, also a former head coach, your new tight ends coach. And then Bobby Hout, your defensive coordinator, was the head coach at Montana for 19 seasons. Thought he was retired.

You lure him back into coaching. Great opportunity for him. Great addition for you. How would you describe the last month and just in how you have had to deal with some of these staff realities? Do you know what, Dave, just a complete foot race, you know, so January, well, we play our last game, December 30th. We have December 31st, New Year's Eve Day is the only day that my staff and I had had off since July. And you kind of took a deep breath, but I knew what was coming. And we started the portal season, all of January is the only time I could be on the road as a head coach.

I was in Chicago, you know, two or three times recruiting. I was across the country. I kind of put off the hiring process until February 1st. But as you mentioned, you know, I had transition at Tide-in at special teams, three positions on defense. But I kind of knew even going back into fall camp in July and August, you know, at the beginning of season, we had had three straight years of stability, produced two of the back-back winning in seasons in the history of Illinois football.

So I knew that because we had done things well, I knew others take notice. of that, right? And, you know, I didn't lose, but gained the opportunity to have five new guys walk in this building. And, you know, I had a couple other guys got targeted by some big-time programs that came after my guys. But I see it as a sign of respect. You know, anytime, you know, the NFL, I think I've lost five coaches the NFL in the last two years. And as much as I don't like it, I do like it for them, right? It's an opportunity for them. So I knew you'd pay attention to that Ball State are getting in here. Oh, chirp, chirp, chirp, you knew that.

Yes, exactly. And Ruthie would like this. We might be interviewing a Michigan guy, which is going to be a name. Oh, love to hear that. Well, I'm glad you brought it up because, obviously, as a Big Ten girl, I have to ask you just kind of about the state of the Big Ten right now. Obviously, the last three national champions coming out of the Big Ten, what's it like to be a part of this? And what does it mean for your program? You know, Ruthie, to be honest, I say this all the time.

and I know a lot of people want to complain about college football and what's going on around it and what's the logistics of everything as it happens right now, but there's not a better time. I've been a head coach going into my 18th year. There's not a better time to be a college football coach, and more importantly, here in the Big Ten, Tony Petiti, who's our commission,

has done an unbelievable job since he arrived to build this conference into the premier conference in the college football. Obviously, a lot of really good things happening, but to have three back-to-back-to-back national shows. champs, three different teams, too. So it's not just one team at the forefront. And I tell us, you know, we've been a really good team the last two years, but we haven't gotten into playoffs, right?

So we've been knocking on the door, but I want to open that door, right? I want to go to a different place than we've ever been. And there's a great examples of college football going on right now, and a lot of them are in the Big Ten, which makes it awesome. How did you attack that challenge this offseason? How different will your team be next year? You lose your quarter. You lose a lot.

And obviously that's part of being in a position that you are having all the fun right now, trying to fill those holes and plug those gaps. But how different will your team be next year? And what are reasonable expectations? You know, just a great teaching point today. So Friday mornings we have a.m. workouts at 6 a.m. And last Friday I came in and watched the guys workout. And at the end of the practice, we were doing prouler work,

which is a really hard, intense, grueling thing for one guy. individually. And last week, I watched some guys go through it, and there were guys standing at the finish line that were just waiting for those guys to come across. Well, when I watched another group do it, they all came out and encouraged the guy, and the guy went, you know, faster, quicker and stronger than ever before. I went down there today, and just in a matter of week, the entire team ran to the guy that was trying to finish the drill and encouraged him to get across. And my message was like, hey, it's all about what we do individually, but it's what we do collectively that matters. And to see the growth of our team from last week to this week has just been awesome.

So that's all the things, as you know, David, like, you know, good football teams are made great players, but it's how that team thinks together. And to build this group from, you know, January to July and then jump into August training camp and then September to see where the thing goes, that's why we do what we do. So it's a really fun time. Got a lot of really, we lost some good players. Don't get me wrong. Like I've got a handful of guys going to the combine. I think we'll probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of probably 12 to 13 guys that will sign NFL rosters, which

obviously is great for them. It's not the greatest for us, but that next wave of guys are waiting. To see those guys materialize and come about is really what is what drives us every day in his building as coaches. Luke Altmeyer, Gabe Jacobs, and Jacey Davis are the three guys that were invited to the combine,

and I saw that you posted on Twitter. There should have been a lot more. I'm curious who you think should, who else should be there, coach? Well, so I've been doing this a long time, and I remember the first quarterback I ever offered as a head football coach, the guy by the name of Scott Tolzine, who's right from there in Chicago. Yeah. He was a quarterback now coach for the New Orleans Saints. I think he turned down a couple of coordinator jobs this year.

Well, it was crazy for me. He was the offensive coordinator at the Senior Bowl, and he coached my quarterback, Luke Bauer, right? He coached my left tackle, J.C. Davis and Gabe Accus. Melvin Priestley. He coached four of my guys that I remember this, like, yesterday, he was on the cusp of making the combine. He didn't make it. So I called the NFL. I called every person I could think of.

And I found a way to get him in. You're not going to believe this. He actually was invited to the combine to throw to DBs. Wow. I said, hey, just get him in front of people, just get him around people. So he actually didn't get to work out with the quarterbacks. He got to throw to the DBs, right? basically he's thrown interceptions, right?

But people saw him throw. And as crazy as this is, right? Ruthie, you love this. Jim Harbaugh saw him throw, right, at the combine, and invited him when he was head coach of the 49ers. He invited him to his free agent, and he went on to play, I believe, eight or ten years in the NFL, right? And just find a way to get in the door.

So, you know, our three guys made it. I'm trying to find a way to get all these other guys in, and a couple of them we might go sneak it in. But, you know, I think Miles Scott, I think James Thompson, I think Dylan Roziak, I think there's a couple of Lyman. You know, I think of all the players I got that graduated this year, the guy that might be player ready more than anybody is Josh Keske, my left tackle, another Chicago area kid that as long, I've had more offensive linemen draft in the NFL

than any coach in the country. And I think my left guard, Josh Keske, when someone gets him into a camp and there's a lot of teams that love him, they're going to be like, holy cow, this guy's ready to play. And he's as ready as anybody. So, you know, nobody gets it right. The end result is what matters, and I'm excited for those guys. We're talking with Brett Bilema here for another few minutes on the Mullen Hall show. Ruthie Polinsky's in for Mully.

Coach, when you look at Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, the last three national champions, and you look at what that says about the conference and the growth, and maybe the parity in the league, what is your explanation when people ask you about that shift in power from the SEC maybe to the Big Ten? and also that the follow-up would be naturally okay. Indiana won a national championship. It does, if not pressure, it creates opportunity for a program like Illinois to say, all right, what's next?

Are you ready for that challenge? And are you in that caliber in terms of being a program? You know, David, it's correct. The portal world in the NIL world has changed college football, right? Like, guys don't have to sit behind someone for three years to get an opportunity to go play somewhere. that's a big deal. This portal window is just allow good players to move and then also good players from lower levels.

We've made a really big push on players from the FCS or Division 2, Division 3, or guys that are from, you know, non-power 4 programs. The other is NIL, obviously, you know, some programs are running NIL programs before NIO is here, right? So like that, that's kind of just made the world of college football more balanced and more able to shift.

shift people into positions at a different level. And then also just competitive balance, right? Like we've got nine teams' schedules in the Big Ten. Now we've got in the SEC. I think to kind of just level the playing field that everybody's kind of playing through the same agenda is really, really cool. I think the part that's hard for people to adjust is just,

you know, the people that make decisions. Like, you know, voters. I'm talking to two media people, right? Like, it's hard for them to realize that what they've learned over the last 20, 30 years of their life isn't necessarily the reality of today. And that's what I always go back to. You've got to judge every year.

I do anything right now. It's based on one thing. How do I make 2026 Illinois football great? That's what drives me every day walking this building. I really don't care about 2016. I really don't care about 2006 or in 1996. I worry about this year. And I think that's the problem or that's the thing that probably has a hard time

getting through to all the people in today's world. Coach, you brought up Josh McDaniels. And obviously I know your connection. to the New England program, you spent some time there. I just wanted to get your thoughts on Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft not being first ballot Hall of Famers. You know, you're not in them, but I tell you, those two guys, when I was in a building for two years, literally gave me football utopia to work with Coach Belichick, what he taught,

what he learned, and what he passed on to not just me as a coach, but a player. And Robert Kraft was, you know, a very present owner. Like everything he did was, you know, based on trying to help us win. I think the world of those two guys, I'm sure they're going to be in there eventually. Sounds like, as everything, right, there's some things that need to get worked out on how the process works. And it's kind of like what we're doing right now in college football. You know, we've got a 12-team playoff system. I think 24 would be best.

Like if we get to 16 or 18 or wherever it lands, I think to be able to step back, take a picture, and understand that sometimes things aren't always done the right way and to adjust them. I think is everything. I think as men, like we always pride ourselves on a lot of things that we go through it. And, you know, I always say, you know, the pride always comes before the fall. We just got to realize what we're doing, how we're doing it. Ruthie, you bring up a great point. Like, these are two guys that are obvious to the outside world on why they should be there.

Well, for it to not happen within the world that matters is probably screaming that something's got to happen, right? And it is what it is. And you've got to live through that moment, but hopefully it's great. in the future. Last one for you, coach. So since your last bowl victory, which was your 19th and two seasons, so things are rolling down in champagne, you've added 29 prep prospects, if I have the information correct, 17 transfers and four junior college players. But to me, I wonder this, was that all putting that together as challenging as retaining your own players? And is that just the reality of today's college football coach that keeping your own guys in the building, in the

program is almost, if not equal to, it outweighs the new guys you're adding to it. You know, it's good. Hey, you were a pretty good player. You think about the money you would have made back in the day? I tell him all the time. Tell him all the time. He came before his time, Ruthie. He came way before his time, right?

Like, I just, it's insane to think about. But also, like, in our program, there are three driving factors every day when I walk in this building. Retention, removal, and acquisition. position, right? And all three of them are pretty big, right? Like I remember there's a good friend of of mine, Ted Kellner, when I was at the University of Wisconsin, he gave me a book called Good to Great, right? And there's a line in that book, right? Everybody thinks about getting the right people on the bus, but sometimes it's about getting the right people off the bus. And I think it's equally balanced.

We've retained Matt Bailey and Xavier Scott, two of the best players, not only on our football team, but I think in all of college football, for sure, in the Big Ten, my number one priority when that last game was done was to retain those two guys. right? And just like a year ago, to retain Gabe Accus, to retain Melvin Priestley, J.C. Davis, Luke Altmeier, all the guys that we're reading about in this year's NFL draft, retainment is priority number one. And because of NIL and because of revenue share, that's more able now than ever before, right? There's guys in our building, I know could have went other places and got bigger money, but they knew what we've built in them and what they can be over the next year. And that's really, we run this place like an NFL program every day. everything I learned in the NFL for three years is what we apply here.

And that's probably the most enjoyable part of my job is seeing these guys, you know, transition into something special over this next year that I'm preparing them for a day. I just talked to Miles Scott earlier today who's, you know, going to play safety in the NFL next year. Like, I have tried to prepare these guys while they're with me for the day when I'm not with them, right? Just like when all of us went away to college, you know, you prepared for that moment by what your parents taught you and installing you. and even though when you went to college, you know, they're not with you in a room, but you still heard them in your mind, right? Like they prepared you for a moment when their voice wasn't there.

That's what I do with the head coach. I try to prepare them for a moment in their career when they're trying to make it to an NFL roster, when they hear me when I'm not there. And that's probably the part I enjoy the most. I love that, coach. That's great. Thanks so much for joining us. Best of luck, and you're always welcome here.

You know what I was just thinking about? You talked about Football Utopia in New England. I feel like Football Utopia when we get to talk to you. That was pretty cool, coach. Thank you. Well, I say, Ruth, you're at. Mully, tell them to take the day off every day. We'll pass along.

Brett Bilema. Yep, I and I. I just finished this cheer. Oh, my gosh. What's happening to me? David. Yes.