Illinois football's Bret Bielema: Michigan sign-stealing scandal 'sickening, disgusting'

Illinois football coach Bret Bielema didn't mince his words when asked about his opinions on the Michigan sign-stealing investigation on Thursday.

Bielema, an Iowa offensive lineman from 1989-92 who was head coach at Wisconsin from 2006-12 and at Illinois since 2021, was critical of the sign-stealing scandal at Michigan, which includes allegations that former staffer Connor Stalions used a network to illicitly scout opposing teams to learn their signals.

"... That's sickening, it's disgusting," Bielema told reporters. "I'll let (Michigan and the Big Ten) figure that part out. "And I think as coaches we just gotta hold the integrity of the league, everybody's gotta feel like everybody's playing by the same rules and kind of go forward from there."

REQUIRED READING: Michigan sign-stealing investigation, explained: Can NCAA penalize Jim Harbaugh's program?

Bielema was also asked if he had gone back and watched the Fighting Illini's 19-17 loss to Michigan last season, which Stalions reportedly attended. Stalions reportedly bought tickets under his own name to multiple Illinois games since Bielema took over in 2021.

Bielema said he hadn't rewatched the game and had been focused on this season, although Illinois doesn't play Michigan in 2023. Still, he gave a long response to the question, comparing Michigan's situation with a reaction from former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.

"Obviously we don't play them this year, so I haven't really," Bielema said. "You just get so consumed where you're at. Listen, when the point and time comes when I can say something, I'll have a lot to say. I've won in this conference, I've played in this conference, I've coached in this conference at two different schools.

"I remember being in this league as a head coach at another place (Wisconsin) when I literally got a call from another coach the day after we played them, they called our people during the course of the game. It was (coach Pat Fitzgerald) at Northwestern, we were at a home contest there and he called me and said, 'Yesterday ... your signals were coming over our headsets.' He told his people to put them down, change the channel and compete in the game.

"I thought (it was) the highest moment of integrity."

The question now remains as to what the Big Ten and commissioner Tony Petitti will do to punish Jim Harbaugh's football program, if at all.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bret Bielema calls Michigan sign-stealing investigation 'disgusting'