There was a time during spring practice when it appeared that Colorado and Syracuse would have joint sessions. At that same time, Illinois coach Bret Bielema was thinking about trying to do the same thing.
Bielema recently said he was hoping to set up a joint practice or two with Bill Belichick and North Carolina.
“The one thing that was really intriguing to me in the NFL was those minicamps where teams would get together and compete with one another,” Bielema said on the _See Ball Get Ball_ podcast with David Pollack, via Dan Lyons of SI.com. “This past spring, I think it was Colorado and Syracuse were talking about getting together, and there was a moment where we thought some teams might get together, either in the spring or in the fall. . . . 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?](https://www.si.com/college-football/big-ten-coach-wanted-scrimmage-bill-belichick-unc-before-ncaa-decision)’ That was really the genesis of it.”
It’s unclear whether it would have happened, mainly because the NCAA prevented it from happening. It’s a possibility in the future, which means that Illinois and UNC could get together for future joint practices in the spring.
Assuming Bielema stays at Illinois. And Belichick stays at North Carolina.