Macomb native, former Western Illinois coach hired by Illini football as senior analyst

PEORIA — Myers Hendrickson has won a job with the Illinois football program.

The Macomb native and former Western Illinois football head coach will be senior analyst for the Illini under head coach Bret Bielema.

"I have watched Myers' entire coaching career continue to grow over the years," Bielema said in a release. "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."

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Hendrickson, 35, went 0-22 in two seasons at WIU before signing on as an analyst for Florida International in the spring. He was head coach at Kansas Wesleyan University from 2019-21, where he went 31-5 over three seasons, twice had teams ranked top 25 and twice led his team to the NAIA quarterfinals.

Hendrickson, the son of former Western Illinois football head coach Mark Hendrickson, was a wide receiver at Western Illinois. He also earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors as a punt returner.

The Macomb High School graduate launched his college coaching career as a defensive quality control coach at Auburn in 2012. He has been a quarterback/receivers coach at Kansas Wesleyan and offensive coordinator/quarterback coach at Coe and Northern State.

"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."

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Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Macomb native, former Western Illinois coach hired by Illini football as senior analyst