Bielema's comments were widely interpreted as implying potential tampering -- an increasingly common concern in the transfer portal era. But following fan criticism of his remarks on social media, Bielema responded directly Thursday morning to clarify the timeline and defend McCray's decision.

Bret Bielema made some noise yesterday with what he had to say about the portal recruitment of Georgia RB Josh McCray, who left Illinois in the spring transfer cycle. He has since had to add to his comments with a post about it on social media.

Tampering happens often in college football, and Bret Bielema thinks that Kirby Smart tampered with one of his running backs.