Bret Bielema Sends Sarcastic New Year's Message to Shane Beamer Amid Citrus Bowl Feud

The fireworks from Tuesday's Citrus Bowl spilled into New Year's Day between the two head coaches.

Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema continued the Citrus Bowl feud with South Carolina's Shane Beamer. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Tuesday's Cheez-It Citrus Bowl between Illinois and South Carolina turned fiery in the third quarter when Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer took exception to Bielema making a taunting gesture in the direction of South Carolina's sideline after Illini defensive back Jaheim Clarke went down on the field with an injury.

Here's the footage of Bielema emphatically putting his arms out, as well as the reaction from Beamer afterwards:

pic.twitter.com/DySr5iz34A

— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) December 31, 2024

While the coaches shook hands (somewhat) amicably after the contest, a game that Illinois won 21-17, the anger from Beamer spilled over into the postgame press conference, when Beamer called the perceived taunt "bush league."

After a quiet night on social media, Bielema fired back with a post on X, continuing to taunt Beamer's Gamecocks.

"Happy New Year and congrats on a great season...." Bielema wrote. The Illini coach added hashtags that included "HappyNewYear2025" as well as another that said "CFBPlayoff." The latter of the two is an obvious jab at Beamer, who was very vocal in his frustration of South Carolina being left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Happy New Year and congrats on a great season…. #HappNewYear2025 #CFBPlayoff https://t.co/tUtQNcZw61

— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) January 1, 2025

There's clearly no love lost between these two programs, as Illinois finishes the year with 10 wins for the first time since 2001.

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