CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Myers Hendrickson joined the Illinois football program as a senior analyst, head coach Bret Bielema announced Monday. Hendrickson brings a championship history and a wide array of coaching experience at all levels of the collegiate game, including two seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach, to the Illini staff.
“I have watched Myers entire coaching career continue to grow over the years,” Bielema said. “He has had an incredible amount of success and experiences in a very short window of time. He will work with our defensive staff to forecast future opponents as well as game week prep.”
“I’m extremely excited to join Coach Bielema’s staff and Illinois football,” Hendrickson said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity to work with such an outstanding staff and group of student-athletes. It’s an exciting time for Illini football, and I know more big things are ahead for this program under Coach Bielema’s leadership. My wife, Hannah, our daughter, Charlotte, and I are excited to be in Champaign and join the famILLy.”
Hendrickson comes to Urbana-Champaign after two seasons (2022-23) in Macomb, Illinois, as the head coach of his alma mater, Western Illinois. He was hired as the Leathernecks’ 31st head coach in December 2021, returning to guide the same program where he played from 2008-11 during his father Mark’s tenure as head coach (2008-12).
Hendrickson’s stint at the helm of the WIU program brought him back to Illinois following a highly successful three-year run, from 2019 to 2021, as head coach at NAIA power Kansas Wesleyan where he had previously served as an assistant in 2014 and 2015.
He led the Coyotes to an overall record of 31-5 (.861), the highest win percentage in program history, while winning two Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) championships in 2019 and 2021, one KCAC Coach of the Year award, and one AFCA Region Coach of the Year award. The 2019 team reached as high as No. 2 in the national coaches’ poll – the highest ranking in school and conference history.
Hendrickson’s KWU squads twice ended their seasons in the NAIA Quarterfinals and finished each of his three campaigns with top-25 rankings, coming in at No. 3 in 2019, No. 25 in 2020, and No. 10 in 2021. His tenure featured conference and school records for the most points (90) and yards (793) in a single game, as…
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