Illinois Coach Bret Bielema Sought Joint Practices With Bill Belichick's Tar Heels

Add Bret Bielema to the list of college coaches who have publicly admitted they're all for joint practices and a scrimmage against another college program during the spring season. Colorado's Deion Sanders was the first to bring it up, and Syracuse coach Fran Brown endorsed the idea. The two schools even tried to seek approval from the NCAA back in March but were denied.

In fact, Bielema even went so far as to make contact with a newbie upstart college coach by the name of Bill Belichick to ask about a potential spring collab with his North Carolina squad.

"I just reached out to him and said, 'Hey, if we could go a little challenge with North Carolina and Illinois, either now or in the future, would you be interested?'" Bielema said in a recent appearance on the "See Ball Get Ball" podcast. "That was really the genesis of it."

I just reached out to him [Bill Belichick] and said, "Hey, if we could go a little challenge with North Carolina and Illinois, either now or in the future, would you be interested?" That was really the genesis of it.Illinois coach Bret Bielema

And for those wondering why Bielema reached out specifically to Belichick and North Carolina, don't forget that there's a preexisting relationship there. Bielema was a consultant for Belichick's New England Patriots in 2018 and the team's defensive line coach in 2019. The two clearly have a professional relationship, and considering Illinois and North Carolina aren't in each other's conference or on each other's schedules, it makes total sense.

Hopefully the NCAA approves of joint spring practices and a scrimmage in the future. Practicing against your own guys gets you only so fara, and it's not like these schools lack the finances to get this done.

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