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Illinois Football Adds Robby Hauck, Mike Linehan to Coaching Staff: What It Means

The Illini added two new coaches – Robby Hauck (defensive backs assistant) and Mike Linehan (defensive ends) – to their staff Tuesday
Jared Shlensky|
Oct 4, 2025; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema watches warm ups before the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
Oct 4, 2025; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema watches warm ups before the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting Illini

It's barely March, and Illinois has already had its fair share of coaching changes – most notably losing defensive coordinator Aaron Henry to Notre Dame. Henry, the Illini's defensive coordinator each of the past three years, was replaced by veteran college football head coach Bobby Hauck nearly a month ago.

On Tuesday. Illini head coach Bret Bielema made two more new additions to the defensive staff in assistant defensive backs coach Robby Hauck and defensive ends coach Mike Linehan.

Robby Hauck, assistant defensive backs coach

Robby Hauck, the son of first-year Illinois defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck, is in his fourth year of coaching. The younger Hauck was a three-time All-American defensive back at FCS powerhouse Montana and ranked sixth in tackles among FCS players when he graduated.

Robby Hauck started his coaching career in 2023 at Portland State as its nickelbacks coach and special teams assistant. He was promoted to special teams coordinator and tight ends coach a year later, and in 2025 he was again special teams coordinator.

The hiring of a defensive backs assistant might not sound like big news, but Robby Hauck could play a vital role in the Illini's success. With Illinois adopting Bobby Hauck's aggressive 3-3-5 scheme as its base defense, adding a coach who recently played – and excelled – in the system to help coordinate the secondary could pay huge dividends.

Mike Linehan, defensive ends coach

Similar to Robby Hauck, Linehan is a young coach with ties to Montana and a background as an FCS player. Linehan began his coaching career at San Diego State, where he was a defensive line graduate assistant for three seasons. For the past three years, he served as defensive ends coach at Montana under Bobby Hauck.

The son of former NFL coach Scott Linehan, Mike Linehan played linebacker and spent his first three seasons at Idaho before transferring to North Texas for his final two years. In his five-year college playing career, Linehan finished with 43 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Other Illinois coaching staff updates

In addition to the hirings of Hauck and Linehan, Bielema moved around or altered the roles of some of the Illini assistants already on staff.

Artur Sitkowski was elevated from co-quarterbacks coach to quarterbacks coach; Mike Neu is now the team's passing game coordinator after serving as an analyst last season; and Houston Griffith is back on the offensive side of the ball as the team's assistant tight ends coach after serving as a defensive backs assistant last year.

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster.

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