Bielema, Gies, associate athletic director share insights on world of college sports
Apr. 11—CHAMPAIGN — In 2009, when he was head football coach at Wisconsin, a student-athlete came to Bret Bielema and set a live pistol in front of him. "I knew I didn't want to reach at it, because he was closer, and I didn't know if that gun was for me or someone else," Bielema said.
"And I just instinctively took him to a place that had nothing to do with what he came in to talk about. " The student admitted that he'd "fallen behind" in online betting, and people were looking for him because of his debts. "He was thinking about knocking off a liquor store, a grocery store or something," Bielema said.
"He was looking for money, and he came in to talk to me. " Ultimately, Bielema was able to defuse the situation and take the clip out of the gun. "If I had panicked in that moment or if I had reverted to confrontation, that outcome could've been totally different," he said.
"So I think there's a lot of times where, as leaders ... you just have to go off your gut instincts. " He added that the experience taught him that, "No matter what you're going through, the moment that person enters your office, all that's important is what they're going through.
" That was just one of the pieces of advice that Bielema, head coach for Illinois football since late 2020, gave to students who attended the 11th annual Illinois Sports Business Conference on Friday at the I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center in Champaign. Conference Co-President Sophia Libman, a UI sophomore, said the event is "one of the largest student-run sports business conferences in the Midwest. " The event's keynote panel featured Bielema, UI alumnus and donor Larry Gies, and Bobbi Busboom, executive senior associate director of athletics, development and administration.
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