Illinois coach Bret Bielema is a fan of the transfer portal because it allows colleges to function like the NFL
Before it existed, Bielema imported future NFL stars JJ Watt and Russell Wilson while he was coaching at Wisconsin. Watt and Wilson started elsewhere before linking with Bielema.
"That was before the portal but it was guys that were coming from outside our program and came in and had great success," Bielema said earlier this week on an appearance on the Jim Rome Show. "Those are things that we're looking for.""Quite simply, when I left college football, I went in the NFL for three years," Bielema said. "I was with the Patriots for two years, the Giants.
"We've literally added a bunch of transfer portal guys," Bielema said. "We have a wide receiver that started over 40 games {Zakhari Franklin}. We have a tackle that started over 20, other players that have started multiple years. It may have not been at Illinois but they've been starters. We've got a corner that started 20 games at Texas, played in a college football playoff game.
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