Sheldon Beiste, previously Shannon Beiste, is a major character on Glee. He was a recurring character since his introduction in the second season through the sixth season. He is the current football coach at William McKinley High School who replaced Ken Tanaka. He was married to Cooter Menkins. However, Beiste leaves Cooter in Props after Cooter continues to physically and emotionally abuse him. In Jagged Little Tapestry, Beiste comes out as transgender and announces he is going to transition to male, thereby changing his name from Shannon to Sheldon.
Shannon replaces Ken Tanaka who resigned after suffering a nervous breakdown after the wedding to Emma Pillsbury fell through and becomes the new football coach. Because sports are considered a bigger money earner than cheerleading and Glee Club, Principal Figgins cuts the Cheerios and New Directions' budgets by 10%. Sue becomes furious at her and Will's budget being cut, so she asks Will to help her "destroy" Shannon. Surprisingly Will agrees, which causes them to become "frenemies." Together, the two of them begin "Operation: Mean Girls" in which the two of them prank and bully Shannon, by ordering a massive amounts of pizza under his name and trying to alienate
Shannon, Sue, and Will
him as a new member of the staff. This is all done with the hope of driving him to quit his job. Shannon tries to ignore the bullying, which reminds him greatly of his childhood, and instead pushes on with his job. He forces the entire football team to re-tryout, but still offers the team the prank-pizzas when he is forced to buy them. Slowly however, the pranks begin to eat away at Shannon who finally explodes at Finn Hudson, who asks him if Artie Abrams, who uses a wheelchair, can try out for football. Thinking that Finn and Artie are trying to humiliate him the way Will and Sue are, he throws Finn off the team and refuses to let him back on when Finn tries to explain he wasn't trying to be mean, but was instead trying to help his friend. Will soon feels sympathy towards Beiste and realizes that he's been treating Shannon the same way the Glee kids are treated every day. Will apologizes and offers to become his friend despite Shannon's earlier insult of Glee Club, and Shannon accepts.
Finn suggests that Sam uses Coach Beiste as a way to cool down when he is feeling sexually aroused. This method is soon adopted by other members of the Glee group including Tina, which causes Mike to confront Shannon demanding he stay away from "his girl". Shannon, confused, speaks to Will who reveals the "cool down method," prompting him to quit his job due in large part to the fact he can't stand how no one will give him a chance at the school aside from Will.
Shannon and Will kiss
Will confronts his students, and they admit they had not intended to hurt him, and admit that he is the best coach they've ever had. Later Will finds him clearing out his stuff and after a heartfelt conversation in which he adm
The guys make up with Shannon.
its to have never been kissed, Will gives him an innocent first kiss. He then takes him to the choir room, where the boys perform the number, Stop! In the Name of Love/Free Your Mind, which is dedicated to him. Touched by it, he shares a group hug with the boys.
Shannon is seen lecturing the football team, telling them not to spray athlete's foot in their team mates eyes. Sue interrupts Shannon and informs him that she is cutting the football program. Shannon asks her who the Cheerios are going to cheer for. Sue is left speechless and leaves after claiming that she will "answer her question later."
Coach Beiste is seen coming in the locker room breaking-up the fight between Sam and David, and furiously demanding what was going on that caused the fight.
Shannon organizes Secret Santa, but due to a diversion from Sue , Becky swaps Shannon's tub of names with a tub with only her own name. Later on Sue's scam is revealed and Shannon, along with Emma and Will, confront Sue to which she tells them that she is everybody's Secret Santa and she has legal rights to the gifts. Will checks out the legal rights and when Sue returns to her office the next day, she finds the football team taking her gifts to put under the tree for orphan children. Will tells her that because she misrepresented herself, she doesn't have the legal rights. Later, Artie and some other guys from Glee Club ask him to dress up as Santa, break into Brittany's house and tell her that Santa can't give her what she wanted (Artie walking). Shannon is hesitant at first but agrees if it will help Brittany. Later, at Brittany' house, Shannon (as Santa) tells her a story of how when he was young, he wanted to be like other girls, but Santa couldn't do it and so he moved on and ended up being glad that he didn't get what he wanted. Brittany is disappointed and Shannon leaves. The next day, Shannon is seen watching and listening to the Glee Club performance of Welcome Christmas. He too donates to the Christmas Appeal. After the performance, the Glee Clubbers (minus Artie and Brittany) head to the Choir Room to discover Artie walking with an invention called a ReWalk. Shannon is hidden in the hall watching them with a smile, hinting that he was the one who bought the ReWalk.
Coach Beiste recruits Rachel, Tina, Mercedes, and Lauren to the football team. He also forces the football team to join Glee Club to foster a sense of unity. While speaking to Will about the problems he has with the football team, he jokes that he's worried that Will might attempt to kiss him again. Will plays along and assures him that he won't kiss him again. Later, Coach Beiste suspends the entire football, sans the Glee Club members, because they do not wish to participate in their own half-time show. However, later the football team change their minds which results in state championship victory for the Titans.
Shannon takes Santana to the school nurse after she was beaten up by Lauren, the latter of whom he yells at to leave before she gets into more trouble.
Shannon helps Will have fun. After seeing how uptight he is, he takes him to a bar where he goes to a lot. He gets drunk at the bar, and the two sing One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. He later takes the drunken Will home, and they talk for a bit. Shannon says while they were responsible in not drinking and driving perhaps they are a bit old to be going out and partying. Shannon advised Will to drink plenty of water and take some aspirin before going to bed. Shannon gives Will a platonic kiss before leaving his apartment.
Shannon appears eating lunch with Will when Emma protests letting Holly Holliday teach the Glee kids about sex. He giggles at Emma's unintentional double entendre.
Personality
Sheldon appears to be a very intense and driven man, who wants to do whatever he can to train his players into being a formidable football team. However, he has also shown to be very sensitive because of being bullied as a child due to her large size, deep voice, and somewhat masculine appearance. Although Sheldon's coaching style can be stern at times, he is an incredibly gentle and loving person, even becoming a mother figure to Puck, and for the rest of New Directions to a lesser extent. He has French heritage, as mentioned when he spells out his name. He also seems to enjoy music quite a bit, as he can be seen singing along to Need You Now and TiK ToK.
Relationships
In Audition, Will initially teams up with Sue in an attempt to run Shannon out of the school, fearing that his successful coaching strategies may have unfortunate consequences for the New Directions. Will later apologizes for treating Shannon badly and they become good friends. They are occasionally seen eating lunchtogether in the faculty lounge, and they have worked together to teach lessons to their students and to counter Sue's scheming. In Never Been Kissed, Will gave Shannon her first kiss, though their relationship is strictly platonic. In Shooting Star Shannon did confess that she had romantic feelings for Will, (he thought that Will and Emma were broken up at the time). Although Shannon was upset at first when Will did not return the feelings and explained that he and Emma had made up, it did not negatively effect their friendship. In Previously Unaired Christmas Shannon and Will oversee auditions for the living nativity scene with Artie and take parts as Shepards.
Burt Hummel, United States Congressman, is a recurring character on Glee since its first season. He is the father of Kurt Hummel and the stepfather of the late Finn Hudson.
Burt's first wife died when Kurt was around eight years of age; in the second season, he marries Finn's mother, Carole Hudson in Furt. Burt is presented as a typical "man's man," a mechanic and a football fan. He is most noteworthy for often comforting his son and being very protective over Kurt (especially regarding his experiences after coming out as gay). In Grilled Cheesus, he almost died after suffering from a heart attack brought on by arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm), causing him to go into a coma for a period of time. He does fully recover and starts taking better care of himself. In Season Three, Burt Hummel runs against Sue for the United States Congress and he wins, leaving Sue angered and distraught, for Sue was planning to diminish glee clubs within all state schools. In the episode Goodbye, Burt dances to Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) as a graduation gift to Kurt. In Season Four he reveals to Kurt that he has Prostate Cancer and Blaine promises to take care of Burt in Lima while Kurt is in New York. He beats it. In Season Five, he watches his son get engaged, while sadly losing the other.
He is portrayed by actor Mike O'Malley. He was a recurring character during all seasons, except the second season, when he was a main character.
Burt is first mentioned by Kurt, who proudly reveals to his friends the new car his father just bought him. Unfortunately, after the window was smashed by Mercedes and Burt finds Kurt's collection of tiaras in the trunk, he takes the car back from Kurt as apparent punishment. Later on, Kurt mentions that Burt is replacing the car.
Burt catches Kurt, along with Brittany and Tina dancing to Single Ladies in his bedroom in spandex costumes. Brittany attempts to explain it with a lie that Kurt is on the football team. Kurt then tells his father that Tina is his girlfriend. He tries to explain to his father that the two girls are helping him with an exercise. Burt seems to believe this and decides to buy a ticket for the big game and seems happy he is on the football team. After Kurt gets Finn to pull some strings and get him on the football team, it is demonstrated that Kurt is a surprisingly good kicker when he wins the deciding point for the team, making Burt proud and euphoric, remarking to Kurt afterward that he wishes his mother were there alive, and that she would have been proud of him. After the football game, Kurt admits that he is gay, but Burt says he already knows and accepts Kurt.
Burt complains to Principal Figgins about Kurt not being able to sing Defying Gravity in Glee Club. Figgins is persuaded by Burt to let Kurt and Rachel go head to head. Just before the "diva-off," Burt gets an anonymous phone call, with the caller making homophobic comments. Kurt finds out and purposefully blows the audition for the song. When Burt finds out he becomes furious that his son threw his chance, especially after he went up to bat for him with the Principal and Will. Kurt, however, tells Burt that he did it so he wouldn't be emotionally hurt by the fact that his son is not only gay, but also doing a girl song. Burt is still disappointed that his son gave up his chance, but proud of his son's strength to give up something he loved for his father, telling Kurt that he is a lot like his mother.
During a Parent-Teacher conference, Kurt introduced Burt to Carole Hudson, who lost her own husband during the Gulf War, in the hopes that it would spark romance, and thus hoping that would result in him and Finn (who Kurt had a crush on) to grow closer. The plan works spectacularly as Burt and Carole fall in love with each other fast and hard. However, when Finn discovers the romance he is not pleased, afraid that Burt is erasing his deceased father's memory. Finn is initially cold towards Burt when the two families sit down for a 'family' dinner of sorts. However, he begins to warm up to Burt when they talk about sports. While Carole is pleased about this, Kurt feels left out and hurt by his father's new friendship with Finn. That night Burt confronts Kurt about his behavior. Kurt responds he couldn't remember the last time his father was that open with him. Burt tells Kurt that he would never change who he is, and that he expects Kurt to do the same for him. Kurt dismisses him with tears in his eyes, and as he leaves, Burt asks whether Kurt introduced him to Carole for their sake, or for his own (implying that he is aware of Kurt's feelings for Finn). Kurt suggests that he and Finn break Burt and Carole up, but Finn's attempt fails when his mother tells him that she is happy with Burt. When she later invites Burt over, Burt tells Finn that he really does love Carole and that he will do everything he can to make her happy. Accepting the relationship, Finn invites Burt to watch a basketball game, and sit in his deceased father's chair. Unknown to Finn and Burt, Kurt watches the father/son-like interaction, with tears in his eyes, apparently feeling as if he's lost his father.
Kurt is upset when Burt takes Finn to a baseball game. He then starts going out with Brittany, dressing like Burt, speaking in a lower voice, and sings Pink Houses by John Mellencamp in Glee club in order to impress him. However, Kurt soon realizes that it doesn't get him any closer to his father. Out of worry for Kurt, Burt cancels some bonding time with Finn to find Kurt doing a spectacular rendition of Rose's Turn where he remarks that Kurt is an amazing singer and promises he'll try to spend more time with his son.
Carole and Finn move in with Kurt and Burt. After Kurt and Finn argue over the intimacy and decor in their room, Finn uses homophobic language to describe Kurt's furnishing choices. Burt overhears this and is furious. He aggressively tears into Finn for his behavior, refusing to listen to his protestations and tells him that Kurt will always come first to him. He then decides it was a bad idea to have Finn and his mother living with them and kicks Finn out of the house.
Personality
Like his son, Burt is a very caring individual and above all, loving towards his son who he treasures above all else. Having lost the love of his life when their son was young, Burt has never quite gotten over the loss. As such he has done his best to be a good father, perhaps to the point of spoiling Kurt such as buying him expensive designer clothing and a very impressive car (a Lincoln Navigator) for his sweet 16.
While Burt does not pretend to fully understand Kurt, he is very accepting of his gay son. However, Burt fears for how Kurt might suffer because of his sexuality. As such, he is immensely proud of Kurt for being as resilient and strong as he is, which Burt says he gets from his mother. He also says that even though he wished he could take him out to games, he is still proud of him and for being in the glee club.
While Burt is generally fair-minded and reasonable, he is quick to anger when Kurt is victimized in any way, and is fiercely protective of him. When Kurt was denied the chance to sing Defying Gravity, Burt angrily confronted Mr. Schuester and the principal for discrimination against his son. When Finn, in a moment of anger, raged at Kurt and called his choices of decoration "faggy," Burt exploded in anger, throwing Finn out of his home for his homophobic behavior. Burt showed a similar reaction to when Dave Karofsky insulted Kurt with a limp-wrist hand gesture, going so far as to throwing the teenage boy against a wall and threatening to hurt him for his transgressions against Kurt. This violent behavior appears to stem partly from a feeling of guilt for not protecting his son earlier in life, as alluded to in his confrontation with Finn in Theatricality. Although Burt does his best to be a good father to Kurt, there is no doubt there they are very different people, making the things they have in common rare.
