When Bret Bielema was introduced to Barry Lunney Jr. during his first year at Arkansas, he was immediately impressed by what the young coach stood for and what he had already accomplished. While Bielema hired him as the tight ends coach, he quickly realized Lunney was his offensive coordinator in waiting.
But after Bielema left Arkansas and headed to the NFL, those plans would have to be put on pause. Lunney stayed at Arkansas through 2019 before being hired as UTSA's offensive coordinator. The pair kept in touch as they both moved on with their coaching careers and when the Illinois head coaching job opened up, Lunney admits the thought of an eventual reunion crossed his mind.
"I think it was something that I knew coach was going to get back into it," Lunney said. "When this job came open, I was kind of from a distance thinking, well, he would be a perfect fit for that. And if he did get it, I think that it certainly crossed my mind, based on our relationship that we had had, that perhaps there would be an opportunity that would present itself at some point."
That opportunity came quicker than Lunney or Bielema imagined. After reflecting on his first season at Illinois, Bielema decided in order for his program to take the next step offensively, there needed to be a change at the offensive coordinator position. While searching for the new piece to the program, Bielema kept circling back to Lunney.
The relationship the two had already formed years ago was a driving force behind that attraction, but the success Lunney had before and after they met is what intrigued Bielema further. Most recently, Lunney aided in transforming UTSA as one of top offensive programs in the nation.
This past season, UTSA's offense ranked 11th in the nation in scoring as it averaged 36.9 points per game. The Roadrunners finished with a 12-2 record, including a win over Illinois in Champaign early in the season. In that game, Lunney showcased his versatility as an offense coordinator as two-time All-American running back Sincere McCormick put up 117 yards on the ground while quarterback Frank Harris threw for 280 yards.
By the end of the season, UTSA's offense averaged over 400 yards of offense a game. Lunney kept the offensive attack balanced as his group averaged 255.5 yards in the air and 183.5 yards on the ground, something Bielema saw as "eye-opening" during his coaching search.
"He took the program to new levels of success," Bielema said. I saw it firsthand as a competitor and witnessed it overall….Conversations I began to have with him and even with their head coach, talked about what Barry was able to do to install, to implement, to put in his own verbiage and language. And then after I transitioned from Tony, I really was just impressed with Barry's knowledge, how he builds his package, how he communicates his package, the terminology. One of the things that jumped out to me right away was when he used the word 'tempro,' so it's a tempo offense with a pro style influence. That's something that jumped out to me and something that fit really quickly into what we were already currently doing."
By studying Lunney at UTSA, Bielema was able to see how much the coach had grown since the two were last together. But what was just as influential was Lunney's values in football and life hadn't changed.
Bielema was first introduced to Lunney through his father — Barry Lunney Sr. — who is one of the top Arkansas high school coaches in history. They had met with Lunney Sr. was in the middle of his decade-long stint as the Bentonville head coach, where he finished his coaching career in 2015.
At the time, Lunney Jr. was his father's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Bentonville as he coached at the high school from 2005 to 2013. Bielema had conversations with Lunney Sr. about his son's potential and as one of the most respected coaches in the area, Bielema took what he said seriously and interviewed Lunney Jr. shortly after.
The connection was there from the jump on both sides and the coaches became close friends after Lunney joined the Arkansas staff in 2014. And what drew Bielema to Lunney back then still holds up today.
"This move was made because I want to get a really good football coach in here," Bielema said. "But because I knew him personally, and what he's capable of teaching. That that's why I made the move. I think he's an incredible teacher. He coached in high school football, so he literally had to walk the walk of being a teacher and instructor. That's very important to me. A lot of people can talk very few people can teach. And I think he's an excellent teacher, which really gets me excited."
While Bielema pulled Lunney from the high schools ranks, Lunney had already spent a little time in college coaching. He started off as a graduate assistant at Arkansas — his alma mater before heading to Tulsa as a quarterbacks and wide receivers coach then San Jose state as the offensive coordinator for a season.
Lunney has high praise for all his coaching stops so far, but taking that transition from high school to SEC football was unlike no other. But it taught him how much he loved being in that intense environment.
"On one side of the coin, it was extremely natural," Lunney said. "And it was natural, because I was going to the university I graduated from, and so I was comfortable in the environment. The office building was the same office building that was there when I was a graduate assistant. The opponents, the stadium, the town, those things were really natural for me. What was unnatural for me was being a full time coach in the SEC, after my bulk of my experience had been in the old western athletic conference at Tulsa and San Jose State. And not knowing Coach Bielema, not knowing the staff. A lot of those guys had known each other, and worked previously together. So on one hand, I was really comfortable and on the other hand, I was really pressed and challenged professionally. So it was a nice blend for me. It was exhilarating and exciting. But yet there was a little bit of stress early on of being on the edge of my seat and really have an edge about me professionally, because I knew I needed to grow. It was a great experience for me, because coach was a great mentor for me."
While Lunney has spent little time in Champaign or even Illinois before this winter, there is a similar level of comfortability at the Smith Center. Lunney has previously worked with several staff members including Mark Taurisani, Tank Wright, Taylor Reed and Patrick Pierson.
Among being back with familiar faces and mentors, Lunney is excited to establish his offensive system into the Illini program and give his new players the best chance to succeed. One of the things about Lunney that has always stood out to Bielema is ability to maximize player strengths and communicate with his players on a high level.
"I think all my experience has really helped shape the way I see the game," Lunney said. "It's helped me as a coach to relate to the position coaches, it has helped me as a coach to relate to the position players. And by no means am I a self-proclaimed expert in any of those areas, but that experience has helped me see things from a different perspective. And I think we're always better as humans, as people, when you have the ability to see things through a different perspective of your own. And so that's enriched my ability to coach."
