Charlie Bullen Named OLB Coach/Pass Rush Coordinator

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Charlie Bullen has been named the Illinois football program’s outside linebackers coach/pass rush coordinator, head coach Bret Bielema announced. Bullen joins the Fighting Illini with 11 years of NFL coaching experience, including the last four years with the Arizona Cardinals.  

Bullen spent the last three seasons as the Cardinal’s outside linebackers coach after originally joining the Cardinals staff as assistant linebackers coach for the 2019 season. He also has seven years of NFL experience with the Miami Dolphins from 2012-18 working with the linebackers and defensive line. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Charlie Bullen and his family to Illinois. Charlie has a wealth of NFL coaching experience, including coaching some of the elite pass rushers of the NFL, plus a background in the Big Ten. I look forward to watching Charlie continue to develop our outside linebackers and pass rush, while growing our defense in 2023.” 

“I am fired up to be joining the #famILLy back in my home state of Illinois,” said Bullen. “I am grateful to Coach Bielema and Coach Henry for the opportunity to assist with the continued rise of this great program. Ready to get to work!”

With the help of Bullen’s outside linebacker group, the Cardinals ranked fifth in the NFL with 89 total sacks during the two-year span from 2020-21. Of those, 50 came via the outside linebackers position. During that span, three Cardinals outside linebackers posted 10+ sacks: Markus Golden, Chandler Jones, and Haason Reddick. 

In 2021, Bullen coached Chandler Jones to the Pro Bowl after becoming the franchise all-time sacks leader (67.0) and finishing the season with 10.5 sacks, one year removed from being limited to five games due to an injury. He tied the franchise single-game record (Haason Reddick) with 5.0 sacks in a win at the Titans. Jones (10.5) and Markus Golden (11.0 sacks) each had double digit sacks in 2021, marking just the fourth time in franchise history that the Cardinals had multiple players with 10+ sacks in a season. Arizona also finished the 2021 season ranked in the top-10 in offensive points allowed (8th), fumble recoveries (1st), and rushing touchdowns allowed (3rd).

In 2020, Haason Reddick had a career-high and team leading 12.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, 16 QB hits, and six forced fumbles under the coaching of Bullen. He was the only player in the NFL in 2020 that ranked in the top-5 in sacks (4th), tackles for loss (3rd), and forced fumbles (2nd). Over a three-game span (games 13-15) in 2020, Reddick set a team record with 7.5 sacks and six forced fumbles, becoming the first NFL player in the past 21 years to post those numbers. Arizona had an NFL-high 18 players who recorded at least 1.0 sack in 2020 and an NFL-leading 12 players who had 2.0+ sacks, finishing the season with 48.0 sacks, the fourth-most in the league.

Jones finished second in voting for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, was named first-team All-Pro, and was selected to the Pro Bowl after setting a franchise record with 19.0 sacks to go along with a career-high eight forced fumbles and seven strip-sacks. His 19.0 sacks ranked second in the NFL while he tied for the league lead in forced fumbles and led the NFL in strip-sacks.

Prior to joining the Cardinals, Bullen spent seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins, including his final three seasons in Miami (2016-18) as the Dolphins assistant linebackers coach. He originally joined the Dolphins in 2012 as a defensive assistant before being promoted to assistant defensive line coach in 2013, where he coached for three seasons (2013-15). He worked under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, who went on to be the Cardinals defensive coordinator while Bullen was with Arizona.

Dolphins LB Kiko Alonso totaled 100+ tackles in each of Bullen’s three seasons (2016-18) working with the linebackers. In 2018, Alonso led the team and tied for 10th in the NFL with a career-high 125 tackles, the most by a Dolphins LB since Karlos Dansby in 2012. He was the only NFL player with at least 100 tackles, three interceptions, and three forced fumbles in 2018. Alonso had 115 tackles in both 2016 and 2017, which ranked ninth and eighth, respectively, in the AFC in those two seasons.

During Bullen’s first season as assistant linebackers coach in 2016, Miami won nine of its last 11 games to clinch its first playoff berth since 2008. The Dolphins defense held opponents to a 36.2% third down conversion rate in 2016, which ranked 4th in the NFL, and forced 21 turnovers in the final 11 games, the league’s fourth most in that span. Alonso was a key contributor to that run, scoring a go-ahead touchdown on an interception return with 1:01 to play in Week 10 at San Diego. Alonso also became the first Dolphins linebacker since at least 1993 with an interception and fumble recovery in a game.

As a defensive line assistant for three seasons, defensive ends Cameron Wake (27.0) and Olivier Vernon (25.5) ranked 10th and tied for 12th, respectively, for the most sacks in the NFL from 2013-15. No other NFL team had multiple players in the top-20 in sacks during that stretch. Wake was selected to the Pro Bowl in back-to-back seasons (2013-14) while working with Bullen. In 2015, Wake had 7.0 sacks in seven games – including four in Week 6 at Tennessee – during an injury-shortened season, joining Julius Peppers as the only NFL players with at least seven sacks in each of the previous six seasons (2010-15). Vernon (7.5), Wake (7.0) and Ndamukong Suh (6.0) were one of just four NFL trios of teammates with at least six sacks each in 2015.

The defensive line totaled 30.5 of Miami’s 39 sacks in 2014, including a team-high 11.5 from Wake. The Dolphins defensive line had 34 of Miami’s 42 sacks in 2013, including a team-high 11.5 by Vernon and 8.5 from Wake. It was the first time in franchise history that the Dolphins had at least 40 sacks in three consecutive seasons (2011-13).

During Bullen’s first season in Miami, the Dolphins ranked seventh in the NFL and third in the AFC in scoring defense (19.8 points per game) and its red zone defense led the league, as opponents scored touchdown on just 42.6 percent of their red zone possessions. Bullen worked primarily with the defensive line, which featured Pro Bowlers Randy Starks and Wake, who led the team with a career-high 15 sacks, the fourth most in the NFL that season and sixth highest single-season total in team history.

Prior to working with the Dolphins, Bullen coached for three seasons (2009-11) as a graduate assistant working with defensive backs at his alma mater, the University of Iowa. He also served as a student assistant for two seasons (2007-08), working with Iowa’s quarterbacks while working on his bachelor’s degree. In 2006, he served as a volunteer assistant at Iowa City High School working with the team’s quarterbacks.

Before attending Iowa, Bullen played quarterback at Harper (Ill.) College and St. Norbert (Wis.) College. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa in Finance in 2008 and a master’s degree in Sports Management in 2011. 

Bullen is native of Palatine, Illinois, and a graduate of Fremd High School. He was high school teammates with quarterback Scott Tolzien, who went on to play for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema at Wisconsin.

Bullen and his wife, Megan, have three daughters, Elle, Berkley and Nellie.

Coaching Career