Other Illinois players have alleged mistreatment by coach Tim Beckman.
In a report by CNN about coaching transgressions that encompasses the women’s basketball team and the football team, Kenny Knight, a tight end, and three others allege that Beckman was unnecessarily physical when angry during practices.
Recently graduated football player Kenny Knight and three other former players who spoke to CNN say they witnessed two incidents in the past two years in which head coach Tim Beckman was physically rough with players. One player is still on the team and declined through his teammates to talk about what happened. But witnesses said that at the start of one practice, the player ran onto the field with his helmet unbuckled, and Beckman ran over to him, grabbed his face mask and jerked his head back and forth, yelling at him.
In 2013, Knight says, a similar thing happened to him. He says Beckman grabbed and tackled him from behind, throwing him to the ground during a practice. Two former teammates who witnessed the incident backed him up.
They say it happened after Knight was hit “dirty” by another player with his head down — something that’s prohibited in college football.
“I immediately got in his face about it,” Knight said of the player who hit him. “Before I had the chance to lift a finger, in a matter of seconds, I was grabbed by my shoulder and thrown on the ground. I was livid, I thought I was going to look up and see one of my teammates had thrown me down, but I looked up and saw Tim Beckman staring in my face. I was shocked. I don’t think I uttered a word.”
In May, former Illinois offensive lineman Simon Cvijanovic lit into Beckman on his Twitter account, alleging mistreatment by the coach. Cvijanovic said he was asked to unreasonably push himself after he suffered an injury to get back on the football field and was “uninvited” from the football team’s banquet.
Another former player, defensive back Nick North, alleged Beckman made him rush back from a knee injury. Both North and Cvijanovic’s allegations are referenced in the CNN report. After North’s claims, Beckman released a statement that said he was disappointed in the way North chose to express his displeasure and was overwhelmed with support from others around the program. Following Cvijanovic’s rant, Illinois’ athletic director said he supported Beckman but would look into the claims.
According to the university, Beckman believed he was breaking up a fight in the instance referenced by Knight. CNN cites players who saw the incident and say there was no physical confrontation and it was not able to be viewed on practice tape. Beckman declined comment for the report.
Beckman came to Illinois from Toledo after the 2011 season. Beckman was reportedly sued in 2013 by a former Toledo player for negligence and violation of Ohio’s hazing law. In three years at Illinois, Beckman is 12-25.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
- Tim Beckman
