Bobby Hauck Named Illinois Defensive Coordinator

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bobby Hauck, one of the winningest head coaches in college football, was named Illinois' defensive coordinator, head coach Bret Bielema announced Monday. Hauck's contract is pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Hauck's fast and physical defenses have been a staple of his teams at Montana, a program he has led for 14 seasons as head coach from 2003-09 and 2018-25. The Grizzlies finished in the top 20 in the nation in scoring defense three times over the last five seasons using Hauck's aggressive 3-3-5 scheme, which he adapted to Montana from legendary coach Rocky Long's philosophies at San Diego State.

Since bringing the defense to Montana in 2018 and teaching it to his staffs over the past eight years, Hauck's defenses have ranked in the top five of the Big Sky in scoring defense, total defense, and sacks every season. His defenses have ranked in the top 10 in the nation in turnovers forced three times in the last five years, including finishing third nationally last season (27) and second nationally in 2021 (30).

"I am excited to welcome Coach Hauck and his family to our Illini FamILLy," said Bielema. "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."

"I am grateful for the opportunity to join the Illinois football program," said Hauck. "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."

Hauck joins Illinois with 38 years of collegiate coaching experience, including 19 seasons as a head coach at Montana and UNLV (2010-14). He has built the Montana program into one of the most consistent winners in college football, totaling 151 victories — the most among any active FCS head coach — and a .778 winning percentage during his 15 seasons running the Grizzlies. He led Montana to 13 playoff appearances, four national championship games, and eight conference titles.

When he stepped down at Montana, Hauck was the eighth-winningest active head coach in all of Division I football with 166 career wins and the third-winningest among all active Division I coaches at their current school. Last season, his Montana team went 13-2 with their only losses coming to eventual national champion Montana State in the regular-season finale and the FCS semifinals. Over the last three years, Montana has finished #2, #10, and #3 in the final FCS rankings.

Hauck has brought continued success in the FCS postseason to Montana with 20 playoff head coaching victories. He was the winningest active coach in FCS playoff history when he left Montana and the third-winningest of all-time in the tournament behind legendary coaches Jim Tressel (Youngstown State, 23 wins) and Jerry Moore (Appalachian State, 22 wins).

Hauck is the winningest coach in Big Sky Conference history. He won a Big Sky record eight conference titles and was the fastest coach in conference history to reach the 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80-win marks. The success has brought Hauck four Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year awards, three AFCA FCS Region 5 Coach of the Year awards, and he was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award in 2009 and 2023.

Hauck had two tenures at Montana, first from 2003-09, then from 2018-25. During his first stint as head coach at Montana, Hauck won more games and had a higher winning percentage than any head coach in FCS, won seven conference titles, and took the Grizzlies to three national title games. He returned to his native Montana after five seasons as the head coach at UNLV, and three seasons serving as the Associate Head Coach and Special Teams Coordinator at San Diego State (2015-17), where he learned under Long.

At San Diego State, Hauck helped the Aztecs to one of the best eras in program history. San Diego State went 32-9 during his three seasons on staff, including bowl victories in the 2015 Hawaii Bowl and 2016 Las Vegas Bowl, and a final AP ranking of #25 following the 2016 season. Hauck coached kick returner Rashaad Penny, one of the best player's in SDSU history, to three Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year awards and Penny also won the 2017 Offensive Player of the Year to become the only player in league history to win both awards in the same season. Penny left San Diego State as the NCAA record holder for career kick returns for a touchdown (7), a record that was tied in 2022 by another Hauck product: Montana's Malik Flowers.

From 2010-14, Hauck served as head coach and special teams coordinator at UNLV. As head coach, he led the Rebels to the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl in the program's first winning season since 2000. The Heart of Dallas Bowl was only the fourth bowl game in UNLV history and the first to be played on New Year's Day.

Hauck's teams have always excelled in the classroom, as well. Since returning to Montana, Hauck's Grizzlies have posted the highest grade point averages in program history, averaging over a 3.0 or better for 15 consecutive semesters. In that time, Montana has had a conference-high 243 Academic All-Big Sky honorees and a conference-high five Grizzlies have been named Academic All-Americans. In 14 seasons as head coach, his Montana teams totaled 387 Academic All-Big Sky awards.

Respected by his peers, Hauck served as the president of the American Football Coaches Association and chairman of the AFCA Ethics Committee and FCS Executive Council in 2025. He has previously served as the AFCA first vice-president in 2024 and on the AFCA Board of Trustees in 2019.

Hauck was born in Missoula, Montana, and went to high school at Sweet Grass County High School in Big Timber, Montana. He earned a bachelor's degree in business and health and physical education from the University of Montana in 1988 and a master's degree in education administration from UCLA in 1991.

Hauck began his coaching career at Montana in 1988 and 1989 as the team's defensive backs/defensive line coach, before stints at UCLA (1990-92), Northern Arizona (1993-94), and Colorado (1995-98). He then served as the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator at Washington from 1999-2002 before landing his first head coaching job at Montana in 2003.

Hauck and his wife, Stacey, have three daughters, Alexandra, Elise, and Sydney, and one son, Robby. His son, Robby, played football at Montana and set the school and Big Sky career record for tackles with 482, the sixth-most in FCS history.

Coaching Career

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