Bret Bielema doesn’t care about Michigan’s feelings amid cheating scandal

The release of the NCAA’s findings on Michigan’s recruiting, sign-stealing, and advanced in-person scouting scandal has rocked the college football world.

The NCAA levied eleven violations against the Wolverines. The university has defended itself thus far, stating that the NCAA exaggerated some of the charges and others were completely false. 

Once the news dropped and Michigan responded, Illini head coach Bret Bielema took to social media, and as an Illinois fan, it sure has been entertaining. It started with a simple repost. He only reposted a tweet about Michigan denying the Connor Stalions sign-stealing allegations. 

In step 2 of getting under the skin of every Michigan fan in the world, Bielema let the world know that he was looking forward to squaring off against Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines. I’m not going to lie; Bielema's desire for the Harbaugh rematch is awesome, especially considering Illinois had a mediocre game against Michigan this past season and still beat them 21-7. 

I’m sure the Wolverines would’ve retained a little more talent if Harbaugh had stayed, because of the illegal recruiting, but he didn’t stay, and Bielema has a thought on that too…

Step 3 was by far the easiest step. All the ornery coach had to do was post a short line of emojis. This time, he seemed to rile up two very different fanbases, and in very different ways.

The comment section of this, and really all of these posts, is only about 10% Illini fans, the other 90% are very angry Michigan fans and very amused Ohio State fans.

I also happened to notice some very angry tweets from our friends over at GBM Wolverine. They don’t seem to think much of Bielema, Paul Finebaum, or any of the rules Michigan broke. GBM may be right about none of their favorite team's wins being vacated, but to everyone who isn’t a fan? Their National Championship is tainted.

The last attention that the Citrus Bowl-winning coach gave the cheaters was just one last reminder of how much honesty means to Harbaugh. He only needed a few emojis as he quoted another video of the yellow and blue coach driveling on about always telling the truth while doing the opposite.

As more information comes to light, I would love to hear Bielema’s opinions on all of it. I wonder what he thinks of the 52 text messages that were deleted from current Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore's cellphone? What about his thoughts on the statement from Harbaugh’s lawyer Tom Mars, and the recruiting violations back in August? 

Maybe our beloved head coach gave his opinion on the matter at the time, but if he did, I missed it. Or maybe I didn’t and just want to see Bielema mock the yellow, yes yellow, and blue a bit more because they did what my team hasn’t been able to do, win the National Championship. And they did so by cheating. 

Would Michigan have won the title without the extra advantages? We don’t know, but we do know that the NCAA is unlikely to strip that title. So, the 2023 **National Champions** remain **champs.**

Maybe Michigan and their fans have gotten a little too big for their britches, or maybe I have jealousy surging through my veins. Either way, I’m here for all the Bielema trolling Michigan posts. The next step, get Michigan, and South Carolina for that matter, on the schedule for 2025.

Don’t tell me the NCAA couldn’t get that done. Let’s see some fresh and heated rivalries. We’ve spiced up the playoffs, let's do the same to the regular season and rivalry week. Until then, our head coach will just have to win on social media, and Illinois fans (and Ohio State fans) can at least enthusiastically follow along.