Thanks! Hadn’t seen that before.
Bielema committed to putting down roots, building long-term at Illinois: 'I wanted this to be my last rodeo'
Bret Bielema wants everyone to know he's at Illinois for the long haul247sports.com
"So when Bielema and Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman began negotiations on a contract extension, Bielema said he made a suggestion: insert a non-compete clause in his contract that would bar him from leaving to take another head coaching job within the Big Ten. Desiring a long-term partnership, Whitman loved the long-term commitment from a coach who had the most promising two-year start to an Illinois tenure in more than three decades.
Though Illini Inquirer has not yet received a full copy of Bielema's finalized contract extension, both Bielema and Whitman on Wednesday said Bielema signed that Big Ten non-compete clause as part of a two-year contract extension that goes through the 2028 season. The agreement gives Whitman more stability for what has long been an unstable program. In exchange, Bielema received a bump from a $4.2 million annual salary in 2022 to $6 million in 2023 to go along with various bonuses and eligibility for one-year contract extensions if he hits certain performance thresholds."
Illinois 21, South Carolina 17 Postgame
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Happy 2025! What a great way to kick off the new year!
I liked the Bielema hire, but I had no clue how it would work out. The bar was so low that even 6-7 win seasons would have been a great step forward.
It's incredible to see where he and Josh have gotten the program and where it can go if we keep building on things. What a great win and season; the only downside is waiting for next year to start.
I liked the Bielema hire, but I had no clue how it would work out. The bar was so low that even 6-7 win seasons would have been a great step forward.
It's incredible to see where he and Josh have gotten the program and where it can go if we keep building on things. What a great win and season; the only downside is waiting for next year to start.
Maybe they should be quicker in their subbing.
for whatever reason(s) , they never showed any replay of Beatty hitting the pylon on what may have been a TD itself , and then they downplayed any possible doubt of the “fumble/TD” by McCray
it was indeed a little strange
The best game? How soon people forget what Red Grange did to Michigan. Tsk tsk
Click here: Dick Butkus says it best
That whole sequence was bizarre, along with some other calls/no calls. I still don't know why they wouldn't have looked at both of those plays multiple times. Those are the kind of things that have derailed us in the past, it was awesome to see us play through it and get the win despite having 7 points taken away from us.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Exactly. The elite group of Big12 refs were duds. 1.
No real video evidence the Illini fumbled in the end zone 2. The ref could have called 12 men on the field but did not. 3.The ref cpuld have stepped away from S.Car centerand allowed the offense to start while the Illini did it's slow shuffle defense subs ...but the ref never did. Coach Bieliema got in the head of the S. Car coach.
Well the reason Bret came across the field was to check on an injured player who had taken quite a shot to his head. Once there he took advantage of the opportunity to express his displeasure with Beamers bush league move on the kickoff return to the officials and SC sideline. That's not taunting in my book. Beamer is the one who overreacted immaturely and made a fool of himself and turned it into a spectacle giving all the sport casters something to go on about.
I don’t have the historical perspective many on here have, so not going to say this was the biggest win ever for program. But I will say this win was absolutely huge. People on here lament that recruiting overall and specifically in Illinois hasn’t improved greatly (at least by rankings, and yes I know rankings aren’t everything) despite some on field success under Bret. I keep pointing out that the narrative for many of these Illinois kids is U of I can have some decent seasons with an occasional good/really good season here and there, but that’s it. That is all they’ve seen. So if NIL is equal (and yes I know it’s not), why not go to a program that has had more sustained success and higher highs? For many of those kids, Iowa or WI might actually be closer to their home than Champaign and they might identify with one of those schools more.
Yesterday’s win raised the ceiling for this program in the eyes of HS recruits and transfers. I can go there and and not only play in big games, but win them. And even bigger games aren’t a pipe dream or hopeful recruiting pitches. Add in the development side and success Illini players are having in NFL, and we could see the type of uptick in recruiting for which we’ve been pining.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
We've seen this happen twice in four days, with Cam Ward being the other one.
I'm all in favor of players with draft futures opting out before the game. I fully supported Pat Bryant's decision to not play in the bowl game, and if my kid came to me and said he was opting out I'd support him. But I will also say that once you commit to playing in the bowl game, you play. Opting out at halftime is bailing on your team. I cannot imagine a NFL team looking at one player doing this and another one committing to the full game and that not being a factor.
It also doesn't show a lot of respect to your coaches making a decision like that. I can't imagine any Illini player doing that to Bret Bielema. Take that comment however you want to take it.
My favorite football player... of ALL time!!
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Cam Ward wanted to opt out but decided to only opt out a half because if he didn't play, 10 other guys would have opted out as well. At least that's what was reported by the Athletic. In that case, I'd say he made a compromise that helped him and the team
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Then Cam Ward only did that to set the passing record, and I still don't like it. He was only in it for his own statistics.
It's "all or nothing". If the game is important enough to play for a half, then it's important enough to play the full game.
THIS! Why is nobody discussing this in the media? Beamer should honestly be ashamed of himself. If he didn't like the substitution situation then he should have stopped subbing players in. He showed the whole world what a tool he is yesterday on national TV.
I cannot wait to catch the 60 minute replay of this game on BTN. We were the better team, and our coaches were smarter than theirs. The Michigan game was ultra enjoyable, but to me this was the icing on the cake and the most fun to watch all season. Bret getting in Beamer's head was genius, and extremely fun to watch.
Thank you to the players that have chosen us, the Fighting Illini. And thank you to our coaching staff for this season. Let's keep it going in 2025. They won't give us any national respect unless we follow this up with a similar season. We have USC and Ohio State coming in to Champaign next season......oh nelly!!!
Go Illini!!
Thank you to the players that have chosen us, the Fighting Illini. And thank you to our coaching staff for this season. Let's keep it going in 2025. They won't give us any national respect unless we follow this up with a similar season. We have USC and Ohio State coming in to Champaign next season......oh nelly!!!
Go Illini!!
again, but Bret checked in with his injured player on that side of the field so his going that way wasn't completely isolated.
the most hilarious moment that encapsulated the entire game was the play USC burned their timeout for substitutions in the 4th. at that point, clearly the refs were allowing whatever was happening and USC substituted not once but twice (first with 17s on play clock and then with 10s on the play clock).
i mean, everyone in the stadium had to know what was then going to happen. if Beamer wants to be angry about losing a timeout, he should look in the mirror on that one
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
If I'm being honest, all I've really wanted for Illinois football is to be sustainably competitive. 7-9 wins a year on average, the occasional run at a CFP bid or conference championship game opportunity, and getting to a bowl game for the extra 15 practices is a solid expectation. Yesterday showed that the program is unquestionably on the right track. Illinois was the better team and had to overcome a variety of officiating blunders and distractions to win. It was not a fluke win.
Had South Carolina won that game, it would have very much been a "smash and grab" type of win for them with at least three very questionable calls (incorrect fumble call, missed hold on the SC touchdown run, missed pass interference on the Altmeyer interception) and one that was borderline (possible block in the back on the kickoff lateral).
I did a fast rewatch of the game this morning while drinking my coffee while everyone else was still in bed.
Just in the first couple minutes of the game we have:
The ESPN crew highlights the SC safety that “opted out” at halftime saying how much he cared about the team and getting 10 wins. I’d love to know the details of him choosing to not play the 2nd half. When did he decide that was what he was going to do?
Also what a horrendous start for us! We have a penalty on the opening kick off. They get tremendous pressure on us forcing a punt.
Super weird punt play where we are blocked into their returner. Fortunately we didn’t get a bad call here against us at least.
And then we have to hear from Bill Lemonnier. Unbelievable. I still wonder what wouldn’t been had we beaten Michigan at home like we should have had his crew not blown multiple fumble calls. And then to have a bogus fumble call taking a TD away from us shortly after. Unreal!
But after our first drive it felt like this was going to be too much. All the credit to our coaches for having us composed and for totally controlling this game.
Just in the first couple minutes of the game we have:
The ESPN crew highlights the SC safety that “opted out” at halftime saying how much he cared about the team and getting 10 wins. I’d love to know the details of him choosing to not play the 2nd half. When did he decide that was what he was going to do?
Also what a horrendous start for us! We have a penalty on the opening kick off. They get tremendous pressure on us forcing a punt.
Super weird punt play where we are blocked into their returner. Fortunately we didn’t get a bad call here against us at least.
And then we have to hear from Bill Lemonnier. Unbelievable. I still wonder what wouldn’t been had we beaten Michigan at home like we should have had his crew not blown multiple fumble calls. And then to have a bogus fumble call taking a TD away from us shortly after. Unreal!
But after our first drive it felt like this was going to be too much. All the credit to our coaches for having us composed and for totally controlling this game.
1966, Slush Fund
He is a very reasonable-sounding voice, but still an SC fan making excuses (although he repeatedly says he's not) and not admitting that Illinois was just plain better -- case-in-point: he was super impressed with L Scott's 24/34 pass completion but did not acknowledge that those were basically all short dumpoffs because our gameplan worked to perfection.
Guess I see these things a little differently, idk...
1. Fumble was called on the field
2. I'd guess they missed it, not that they 'chose not to' throw a flag
3. They're not going to allow offense to sub, but not the defense. Bret knew this. The commentators acting like they should/could just let them snap the ball was kind of dumb tbh.
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