Bret Bielema Explains His Side of Citrus Bowl Incident With Shane Beamer

Ryan Phillips | Jan 1, 2025

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema during the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. / Via ESP

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and South Carolina's Shane Beamer got into it during the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl Tuesday night and it doesn't seem like their feud will calm down anytime soon.

Beamer explained that he believed Bielema was upset because of a trick play South Carolina ran on a kickoff return. He explained Illinois's coach was angry about it and took time to taunt him while checking on an injured player. Bielema had another story.

Bielema took to X (formerly Twitter) and quote-tweeted Beamer's explanation to confirm that's what he'd been upset about but, had a clarification.

He said, "This is the best explanation of everything that happened and I couldn’t agree more. Except I wasn’t taunting Coach I was telling the whole SIDELINE that we knew the standard for football at every level for years has been disregarded moving forward." He added, "#HappyNewYear2025."

This is the best explanation of everything that happened and I couldn’t agree more. Except I wasn’t taunting Coach I was telling the whole SIDELINE that we knew the standard for football at every level for years has been disregarded moving forward. #HappyNewYear2025 https://t.co/lFfDdCSqto

— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) January 1, 2025

I never knew how badly I needed South Carolina and Illinois to turn into a rivalry.

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