South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was indignant during an injury timeout late in the third quarter of his team’s Citrus Bowl loss to Illinois.
As Illinois coach Jaheim Clarke was attended to by trainers on the South Carolina sideline, Illinois coach Bret Bielema walked over to where Clarke was. Bielema then turned to the South Carolina team and staff and made a substitution signal with his arms, as there had been some playmaking regarding substitutions earlier in the game.
That seemed to enrage Beamer, who had to be restrained and shouted at officials.
ESPN sideline reporter Quint Kessenich stood right behind Beamer as the series of events unfolded.
“Bret Bielema walked across the field taking care of his injured player and taunted Shane Beamer with the switch position that the referees use, the matching signal, he did it repeatedly,” Kessenich said on the broadcast. “Beamer could hardly believe it at first. He taunted Shane Beamer, and Beamer had enough and snapped. Shane just turned to me and said, “You saw what he did.” I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. He taunted the opposing coach.”
After Beamer went berserk, ESPN cameras captured Bielema grinning as he returned to the sideline. A common defensive tactic is to take as long as possible when coming on to match attacking personnel to slow down an offense and possibly force a delay in the game penalty.
However, there was little animosity between the coaches after the game. After Illinois’ 21-17 victory, the two coaches shook hands in the middle of the field without incident. Bielema was asked directly by Kessenich about the incident after the match, but did not answer and instead talked about the victory.
Beamer discussed the issue during his postgame news conference.
“In all my years as a coach, I’ve never seen that happen,” Beamer said after the game. “An opposing coach comes along while his player is injured and actually has something to say to the opposing head coach.”
The win means Illinois finishes the season 10-3, for its first 10-win season since 2001. South Carolina finishes the season 9-4.