Illinois Fighting Illini coach Bret Bielema and South Carolina Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer got into a heated exchange at the Citrus Bowl this past season. The incident began after Bielema allegedly made a taunting gesture toward the South Carolina sideline after an injured player was tended to. Beamer interpreted this as disrespectful, and it led to a brawl on the field.
Bielema later claimed that he was not trying to taunt Beamer. Instead, he claimed he was making a T-bar signal related to a kickoff return play. The conflict spilled onto social media in the following weeks.
However, it appears the beef has been squashed. On Saturday, the Unnecessary Roughness X account posted a clip of Bielema opening up about how he spoke privately with Beamer in January to ensure they are on good terms:
“Yeah, I actually called him, you know, I get caught up in the moment, but that one was a little bit of a moment in a game. I literally called him. Later in January, there’s a coaches convention and I knew his dad was getting an award, so I knew he was probably gonna be there.
“I was gonna try to make it to the event, couldn’t do it, so I called him. Had a conversation. It was very cordial. I think you got to get past those moments. That ended up being a rule change. So, probably in the good of the game, it’s probably a good thing that it happened.”
Bret Bielema’s beef with Shane Beamer changed college football for the better pic.twitter.com/KK7xcjiWRg
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) June 21, 2025
The rule change Bielema is referring to involves how the T-signal will be used. Going forward, making a T-signal during a kickoff will automatically result in the play being whistled dead as a fair catch.
Illinois won the Citrus Bowl 21-17.
Bret Bielema and Shane Beamer’s Squads Will Not Face Off Again Next Season
After such an exciting game between Bret Bielema and Shane Beamer’s squads in the Citrus Bowl last season, it would have been exciting to see a rematch. However, they were not scheduled for a non-conference matchup, and as a result, they will not play in the regular season in 2025. The only chance they could play is if they meet in the college football playoff or in another bowl game.
The Illinois Fighting Illini will kick off their season on August 29 against Western Illinois. The South Carolina Gamecocks will play their first game on Aug 31 against Virginia Tech.
The Fighting Illini and Gamecocks are in similar positions coming into the season. They both narrowly missed out on the CFP in 2024 and will be trying to take that next step forward in 2025.
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