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Illinois football coach Bret Bielema made a new SEC rival this week after naming names in a tampering accusation. His no-so-subtle jab at the Georgia Bulldogs is now going viral.
Bielema singled out Kirby Smart following the transfer of Josh McCray. He’s put two-and-two together after seeing his star running back split.
McCray was a three-star prospect upon committing to the Fighting Illini in the class of 2021. A native of Enterprise, Alabama, he left SEC Country to play in the Big Ten.
He made an immediate impact as a freshman, carrying the ball 112 times for 549 yards. Fast forward to his senior season, he’d developed into one of the team’s top offensive weapons.
McCray led the squad with 10 rushing touchdowns. That included a 114-yard, two touchdown performance in a bowl game win over South Carolina.
Kirby Smart liked what he saw in that matchup against SEC competition. He made an offer the tailback couldn’t refuse.
Josh McCray entered the transfer portal on April 18th near the end of the spring practice session. Two days later, he was a Georgia Bulldog.
Bret Bielema accused Georgia of tampering prior to McCray’s transfer portal entry.
The head coach sat down with Mark Ingram and Urban Meyer on the Triple Option podcast to discuss the upcoming 2025 college football season. In doing so, he named names in his tampering insinuation.
“Somehow he found his way to the portal and 12 hours after being in the portal, he was on a flight to Georgia. I don’t know how that happened, but it’s crazy.”
We’ve seen tampering accusations thrown around in the past. In most cases, the offenders are left nameless in a cloud of anonymity. Bielema wasn’t afraid to put the Bulldogs on blast.
Bielema believes Georgia gave McCray reason to enter the portal. He was set to assume a large role in the Illinois offense with spring practice wrapping up. Now, he’ll take his talents to Athens.
The accusation sparked a new rivalry within the SEC, Bielema’s former conference. In his team’s most recent matchup, he drew the ire of South Carolina’s Shane Beamer.
Bielema appeared to taunt Beamer on the sidelines. Beamer had to be forcibly restrained from starting a physical altercation. The Illini won the game, 21-17.
Now, Bret Bielema is poking a new bear in the SEC, and it happens to be the conference’s top dog. We’ll see if Kirby Smart has a rebuttal.