Bobby Hauck didn’t stay away from coaching for long. Just five days after resigning from his position as the head coach of the Montana football program, he has accepted a role as the defensive coordinator for the Illinois Fighting Illini, as confirmed by the university on Monday.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join the Illinois football program,” Hauck expressed. “Coach Bielema is one of the great head coaches in all of football and I am extremely excited to work for him and the student-athletes and staff here at the University of Illinois. I have a great feeling about the players, the coaches, and the future of this program. I will miss Montana dearly because of the relationships and the passion I have for the football program. I hope to bring some of that to the Illini. I can’t wait to get started.”

On February 4, Hauck announced his retirement after an impressive tenure, first from 2003 to 2009 and again from 2018 to 2025. Over 14 seasons, he achieved 151 wins, captured eight Big Sky titles, and made 13 appearances in the FCS playoffs, including four trips to the National Championship games, setting a Big Sky record.

After leaving Montana, Hauck spent time at UNLV from 2010-2014, posting a record of 15-49, before taking on a role at San Diego State as the special teams coordinator from 2015-2017 before returning to Montana.

“There’s never a convenient spot in the college football calendar to announce you’re retiring, so today’s as good as any,” Hauck mentioned in his retirement speech. “I wasn’t going to have them spread my ashes on the practice field because I dropped dead out there. There comes a juncture where it’s time to do something else.”

During his retirement press conference, he voiced concerns about the changing dynamics of college football today, stating, “A lot of the head coach stuff in current day Division I college football is not enjoyable. I think it’s the perfect time for me to retire.”

Nonetheless, it appears the allure of a Big Ten program was too enticing to decline. Under Bielema’s leadership, Illinois has seen a resurgence, winning 19 games over the past two seasons. They now look forward to Hauck’s expertise to enhance this upward trend, having coached a top-10 scoring defense in FCS during 2021 and 2023 with his innovative 3-3-5 scheme.

Coach Bielema shared, “I am excited to welcome Coach Hauck and his family to our Illini FamILLy. Since meeting Coach Hauck early on in my head coaching career, I have had tremendous respect for who he is, what he stands for, and the program he has built. He is a family man with incredible attention to detail and a great ability to teach the game to both his staffs and players. Coach Hauck’s aggressive defensive scheme, which he learned at San Diego State and developed at Montana, will be an exciting new style that has never been seen here at Illinois.”

Following Hauck’s departure, wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy has stepped in as the new head coach at Montana.