You aren't going to recognize Bielema this year.

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I can't stand him, but I am glad he did this.

Illinois football coach Bret Bielema is going backward.

Looking younger. Feeling so much better.

Bielema, 55, told the Sun-Times this week he’s down 75 pounds since the Citrus Bowl upset of South Carolina. He got home from that New Year’s Eve game, lugged his daughters’ suitcases — and himself — up a flight of stairs and thought, “Whoa.”




“I gotta do something here,” he admitted that day.

Bielema has stopped eating after 5 p.m. He’s taking walks and doing cardio twice a day. He’s hoping to shed another 50. Whether or not he can get there, it has been a life-changing endeavor.



chicago.suntimes.com

Illinois, Bret Bielema are feeling a positive vibe heading into the season

Heading into Year 5 with the Illini, he has one of the Big Ten’s fastest-rising programs.
chicago.suntimes.com chicago.suntimes.com
 




Bielema was on Pardon My Take on Friday...awesome interview.

Don't think I've ever done a bigger 180 on a coach than I've done with him. Really good coach and just an old school ball guy. Great personality and funny.

He was extremely hate able/punchable while the Badgers HC (plus with the Hawkeye history) though. Illinois is a classic B1G school we have tons of history history with, but we don't have a blood feud with them. Have to respect what he's done in Champaign.
 








Best of luck to him as those are great goals, but I'd be interested in a follow-up after the season. It's easy to fit that all in during the off season, but once camps starts I'd be interested to see if he can even make time to do cardio once a day compared to twice. Then as the season gets close and he is in the facility with the coaches grinding away until 10 pm at night, we'll see how not eating after 5 pm holds up. That's when all the old habits pop up. But I wish him luck.
 

99Gopher said:
Best of luck to him as those are great goals, but I'd be interested in a follow-up after the season. It's easy to fit that all in during the off season, but once camps starts I'd be interested to see if he can even make time to do cardio once a day compared to twice. Then as the season gets close and he is in the facility with the coaches grinding away until 10 pm at night, we'll see how not eating after 5 pm holds up. That's when all the old habits pop up. But I wish him luck.
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If it's Ozempic (which these days seems likely) he should be able to keep it up as long as he has access to the drug. Or if it's bariatric surgery, that is permanent (that's what Limegeover did).
 

As mentioned by others.
I've done a total 180 on him.

Probably my 2nd favorite coach in the Big Ten right now.
He and PJ seem to get along well.
 

Word said:
If it's Ozempic (which these days seems likely) he should be able to keep it up as long as he has access to the drug. Or if it's bariatric surgery, that is permanent (that's what Limegeover did).
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I have a relative in his 50's who had a similar wakeup call last year. He's down 90 lbs. with no drugs, so it is possible.
 



He'll always be Brett "Summer's Eve" Beilema to me. His antics in the Bowl game were hilarious, because it wasn't against the Gophers, and while amusing, the guy is a Douche. But he can coach.
 

balds said:
I have a relative in his 50's who had a similar wakeup call last year. He's down 90 lbs. with no drugs, so it is possible.
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Yeah when you're that overweight if you just stop overeating you lose a lot.
 

I was embarrassed when Gopher coach Tim Brewster had his rivalry with him and said a bunch of things about him that he didn't like him etc. Brewster just wasn't very classy there. That guy can flat out coach and Brewster -- not so much.
 

Not sure why the way he loses weight matters. For a lot of us, it is really hard to lose weight. The important thing is he has lost weight and is a healthier guy now. That is a very good thing. I don't pretend to know how he did it but why should that matter?
 



fmlizard said:
The Bret Bielema love-fest is a thread I never expected to see on GH

Am I going to log in tomorrow and see Who Loves Iowa? We Love Iowa!
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I respect Beilema as a very good coach, but if he ever ends up at Iowa or Wisky, he's dead to me.
 

He did well at Wisconsin, horribly at Arkansas, and is doing ok at Illinois. I don't get the love.
 

I hope PJ Fleck never blimps up like Bret Bielema. Good for BB for taking the initiative to improve his health and well-being.
 

I'll admit, a part of me is going to miss the overweight Bret jokes. Some were pretty funny and I didn't feel too bad about it because I figured he was laughing at us peons all the way to the bank.

On the other hand, very happy to see he is losing the weight.
 


His family had to have been embarrassed about his wife. Thankfully it took a "lugging" event to realize that yes, he is out of shape and overweight. Taking that first step is typically hard, but the next one is much easier. Congratulations Bert for taking the first step.
 


Ya, that's great! Doing a great job with the football program at Illinois, his health and a family man.
He was very unlikable at Wisconsin, however. :)
 

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