“ |
This isn't about who I want to go to bed with, it's about who I want to go to bed as. |
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—Sheldon Beiste, Jagged Little Tapestry |
Sheldon Beiste, previously Shannon Beiste, is a major character on Glee. He has been a recurring character since his introduction as a female character 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.
He is played by Dot-Marie Jones.
Contents
Biography
Audition Sheldon 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" Sheldon. 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 Sheldon, by ordering a massive amounts of pizza under Beiste's name and trying to alienate

Sheldon, Sue, and Will
Sheldon allows Finn to re-join the football team with Artie.
Coach Beiste makes Finn quarterback again after Sam is injured in the game and is unable to continue playing.

Coach Beiste as a Cheerio in Sam's mind
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 Sheldon demanding he stay away from "his girl". Sheldon, confused, speaks to Will who reveals the "cool down method," prompting Beiste to quit the job due in large part to the fact Beiste can't stand how no one will give Besite a chance at the school aside from Will.

Sheldon and Will kiss

The guys make up with Sheldon.
Sheldon is seen lecturing the football team, telling them not to spray athlete's foot in their team mates eyes. Sue interrupts Sheldon and informs Beiste that she is cutting the football program. Sheldon asks her who the Cheerios are going to cheer for. Sue is left speechless and leaves after claiming that she will "answer [his] 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.
Sheldon organizes Secret Santa, but due to a diversion from Sue, Becky swaps Sheldon's tub of names with a tub with only her own name. Later on Sue's scam is revealed and Sheldon, 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,


Sheldon talking to Will
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.
Sheldon 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.
Sheldon helps Will have fun. After seeing how uptight he is, Sheldon takes him to a bar which 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. Sheldon says while they were responsible in not drinking and driving perhaps they are a bit old to be going out and partying. Sheldon advised Will to drink plenty of water and take some aspirin before going to bed. Sheldon gives Will a platonic kiss before leaving his apartment.
Sheldon 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.The Purple Piano Project Will seeks out Sheldon's advice about whether he should allow Sugar join New Directions even though she has a terrible singing voice. Sheldon tells Will if he wants the Glee club to win, he will have crush Sugar's dream. I Am Unicorn Will elects Sheldon, Emma, and Artie to be the directors of the school musical. He also tries (and fails) to hold in laughter at Kurt's second audition for Tony. Sheldon says that Rachel is perfect for Maria, because she always wants to meet its objectives, and believes that Kurt is not perfect for Tony because he's very feminine. During Blaine's audition, he cries with joy. Asian F Sheldon watches with Emma and Artie Mercedes' performance of Spotlight, which is her choice for audition song for the role of Maria. Sheldon is later seen in the locker room talking to the team and tells them he's casting them as the Jets and it is mandatory. Then in the teachers' lounge, he is present when Emma is talking to Will about how Mercedes' performance was so different, she exudes a new confidence. Emma thinks Rachel is the perfect Maria while Coach Beiste thinks Mercedes seems like the riskier choice for Maria, but could be a more exciting choice. Later, Coach Beiste, Artie, and Emma meet in Emma's office and tell Mercedes and Rachel to perform again. After both girls sing for their call back, Sheldon, Emma, and Artie tell them they're double casting the role of Maria, meaning it's being shared with between the two girls. The First Time Sheldon, Artie, and Emma are making necessary adjustments to the West Side Story. After Artie expresses concern to both Rachel and Blaine over their performance's blatant lack of sexual passion, Sheldon leaves under the pretense that he needs to inflate the school's football supply. Artie later approaches him, asking why the sex conversation made him uncomfortable. After an initial protest, Sheldon confides in Artie that he is still a virgin and that he has an (what he speculates to be) unrequited attraction to Cooter Menkins. Artie then coaxes Cooter into asking Sheldon out on a date. Sheldon is initially hesitant to accept the proposal, assuming that the date idea must be a set-up and expressing that he "[doesn't] look the way pretty girls look." Cooter eventually manages to persuade Sheldon to accept his offer, and the two later attend the opening performance of West Side Story together. I Kissed a Girl Sheldon is still supervising the school's presidential race as election day draws near, while simultaneously enjoying what he believes to be a solid relationship with Cooter. Sheldon is later shocked when he discovers Cooter on a date with Sue at Breadstix, and confronts him about the situation. Cooter reiterates that he has feelings for Sheldon, but also expresses his concern that their relationship




The Role You Were Born to Play Sheldon counsels Will and Emma after they have a fight. His words convince Emma to go to Washington with Will. Sheldon appears unconvinced about Emma's decision, however. Sheldon is next seen on the football field talking to Finn about his new recruits. Sheldon begins to tell Finn about Ryder Lynn, a recruit for the football team. He then yells at the recruits to huddle up. He later appears in Emma's office and gives her relationship advice - not to lie and be dishonest. Sheldon knows Emma does not really want to go to Washington with Will. It is later revealed that Emma takes Sheldon's advice. Dynamic Duets Sheldon is first seen talking to Finn about his costume, The Beiste Master. He tells him that as he is the faculty advisor for the club, he must dress up once a week. He says dressing up as a superhero is like being the person you aspire to be. In the teachers lounge, Sheldon tells Finn to become the New Directions hero. Glee, Actually


The Quarterback Sheldon is sitting at a table in the teacher’s lounge with Will and Emma. They discuss the recent events of Finn’s death and how surreal it all seems still, even weeks after his passing. Sue interjects with comments about how everyone is free to go out and express their feelings of sadness at the tree out by the football field she had erected at the exact same spot she had once caught Finn and Quinn making out. Sheldon calls Sue out, asking her how she can possibly say such things under such serious circumstances, but Sue tells him that insulting those who mean the most to her is simply how she mourns.





Sheldon's original promotional picture for the sixth season
Dot-Marie Jones, who plays Sheldon Beiste, was promoted to series regular in Season Six after four years as a recurring star.
Beiste is seen still at McKinley, coaching the Titans. He now has Sam as his Assistant Coach.
Beiste doesn't appear in this episode, but is mentioned twice; firstly by Spencer who tells Kurt, that he kicked the only two people who had a problem with him being gay off the football team and secondly by Sue who says she would even drug "awful coach Beiste" in order to make Spencer a quarterback.
Beiste enters the choir room, and tells Sam that he's ill. Sam asks if he's okay, since he has been skipping football practice, and informs him that he has a sore knee, however he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. Spencer enters, and asks Beiste to be the Quarterback for the next game, to which he denies his request. Spencer reports Beiste to Sue, and tells him about how he's constantly yelling at him, and he tells Sue about how he has been spotted by him after practice, wearing "men's" clothes. Sue confronts Beiste, and asks him what has been wrong with him lately. She tells him that she has seen him acting strangely, and that she has noticed the large amount of prescription medication that he has been possessing. This leads to Sue asking Beiste if he has cancer, to which he confirms that he does. Beiste tells Sam that he knows he has been acting strange lately, and that he has been seeing some doctors, and confirms that he lied about having cancer. It's then confirmed that he has Gender Dysphoria, and that it will be Beiste's first step of a gender transition. Beiste asks Sam to take over as the Coach of the Titans, and he will be going through procedures to have his breasts removed, and will be taking testosterone pills from the following week. Sue assures Beiste that his job is safe while he undergoes this process.
Beiste is seen driving to McKinley while doing a voiceover (we do not yet see his face). He says he’s nervous of what people will say, but he’s living the way he wants. He continues, stating that he took some time off so he could become comfortable. We learn that he has changed his name to Sheldon and he is welcomed by Sue and Sam. He is shown grown a beard. Sam is excited of all the "guy talk" they will catch up and Sue informs that she has been doing everything to make McKinley a gender-fluid school. Sheldon is happy for both of them. He is later seen walking back to his car and sees that his car has been covered with toilet paper and jockstraps with "COACH TRANNY" written in it by VA students who drive away shouting to him. He is later seen eating in the staff room, when Sam and Spencer run in and ask him who were the VA students who did it, that they can teach them a lesson. Beiste asks them both to sit down and he tells that although he would appreciate it, he doesn't want anything to be done, as it wouldn't teach them anything. Spencer tells it would, but Beiste argues, that he has dealt with ignorant people, who couldn't understand him and is happy that Spencer is one of them that do. Sam apologizes, saying that he can't stand him getting hurt. Beiste states that he knows and sends them to football practice looking happy. Beiste is later seen walking on the boys locker room hearing foot steps, who is revealed to Unique Adams and they share a hug. Unique asks him, when he had his transition, having found out by Will. Beiste apologizes to her, saying it's been overwhelming to fit in and that nobody has treated him as normal. Unique says he's not normal, but special. He states that he doesn’t want to feel special all the time, but wants to be like every other guy. Unique asks if the procedure hurt and he says yes, but he has no regrets and it's the best thing that has ever happened to him. He wishes that he would not be alone and Unique says, that he's not. In the auditorium, where Will has tricked Vocal Adrenaline, the VA students who trashed Beistes car, Unique starts singing I Know Where I've Been with Sheldon coming to watch with the others. Behind Unique sings a choir full of transgender people. Sheldon comes up on stage and joins the chorus and sings back up with tears of joy coming from his eyes. After the performance Will tells to Beiste that he gathered around this 200-300 people choir with Unique to make him feel welcome and home.
Beiste is seen in Santana's, Brittany's, Blaine's and Kurt's wedding. He is seen dancing with Sue to Our Day Will Come.
Beiste is first seen with Sue when boys are seen doing their fitness test, and when Roderick fails to climb the rope, he notes that he should rest, but Sue disagrees. He is later seen eating lunch and states the best thing about being a dude, is that it isn’t lunch, but when she licks her lips, she can taste it all day, while other look disgusted. Sue informs that she blew the budget for getting new dancers for Myron's bar mitzvah, so he wants Sue, Will, Sam, Rachel and Sheldon to perform, so he reluctantly agrees. He is seen been choreographed by Will, before Will get's into a small argument and fight with Sue. He later performs Break Free with them.
The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester
Sheldon first appears during Geraldo Rivera's documental feature about Sue's life and lies. Sheldon, alongside Will, is one of the two people who defend Sue for her actions, saying that Sue was there for him when he was going through a difficult marriage with Cooter Menkins and his transition to male.
Sheldon appears when the Warblers and the New Directions are arguing whether to use a uniform at Sectionals or not, to inform them that they have a bigger problem than that: Sue has been hired as the new coach of Vocal Adrenaline.
He first appears when Spencer gets injured while in a dance practice. Later, he catches Sue and Vocal Adrenaline in the locker room. After he gets insulted by Sue and laughed at by Vocal Adrenaline, he sends them all off. Sheldon is later seen watching Sectionals, cheering and supporting the New Directions. At the end of the episode, he is seen celebrating New Directions' win at Sectionals in the choir room.
Sheldon was first seen in the auditorium, sitting with the grown-ups, as Sue gives a speech about how Will and his glee club's efforts changed her perspective about show choir, and generally, life. As Terri arrives, Sheldon shares the same feeling with the other grown-ups, surprised. He applauds as Sue renames the April Rhodes Civic Pavilion as Finn Hudson Auditorium. The New Directions, both old and new, are then introduced by Sue and starts to sing I Lived. Sheldon and the other grown-ups later on join the performance, which they all enjoy. At the end of the song, they all bow their heads, as a shot of the three plaques in the auditorium is shown, and the whole cast are heard laughing and cheering.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 his 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 father 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
- Main article: Shannon-Will Relationship (Willbeiste)

- Main article: Cooter-Sheldon Relationship (Shooter)
Songs
- Solos
- Duets
- Back-up singing
Season One | |||
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Song | Episode | Sung by | Back-up with |
Wedding Bell Blues | Yes/No | Emma | Sue |
- Solos (In a Group Number)
Season Six | ||
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Song | Episode | Solos with |
Break Free | Child Star | Rachel, Myron, Sam, Sue and Will |
Appearances
Glee: Season 2 | |||||||||||
"Audition" Appears |
"Britney/Brittany" Appears |
"Grilled Cheesus" Appears |
"Duets" Absent |
"The Rocky Horror Glee Show" Absent |
"Never Been Kissed" Appears |
"The Substitute" Appears |
"Furt" Appears |
"Special Education" Absent |
"A Very Glee Christmas" Appears |
"The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" Appears | |
"Silly Love Songs" Appears |
"Comeback" Absent |
"Blame It on the Alcohol" Appears |
"Sexy" Appears |
"Original Song" Absent |
"A Night of Neglect" Absent |
"Born This Way" Absent |
"Rumours" Absent |
"Prom Queen" Absent |
"Funeral" Absent |
"New York" Absent |
Glee: Season 3 | |||||||||||
"The Purple Piano Project" Appears |
"I Am Unicorn" Appears |
"Asian F" Appears |
"Pot o' Gold" Absent |
"The First Time" Appears |
"Mash Off" Appears |
"I Kissed a Girl" Appears |
"Hold on to Sixteen" Absent |
"Extraordinary Merry Christmas" Appears |
"Yes/No" Appears |
"Michael" Absent | |
"The Spanish Teacher" Appears |
"Heart" Absent |
"On My Way" Appears |
"Big Brother" Absent |
"Saturday Night Glee-ver" Absent |
"Dance With Somebody" Absent |
"Choke" Appears |
"Prom-asaurus" Absent |
"Props" Appears |
"Nationals" Appears |
"Goodbye" Appears |
Glee: Season 4 | |||||||||||
"The New Rachel" Absent |
"Britney 2.0" Absent |
"Makeover" Absent |
"The Break-Up" Absent |
"The Role You Were Born to Play" Appears |
"Glease" Absent |
"Dynamic Duets" Appears |
"Thanksgiving" Absent |
"Swan Song" Absent |
"Glee, Actually" Appears |
"Sadie Hawkins" Appears | |
"Naked" Absent |
"Diva" Absent |
"I Do" Absent |
"Girls (and Boys) on Film" Absent |
"Feud" Absent |
"Guilty Pleasures" Absent |
"Shooting Star" Appears |
"Sweet Dreams" Appears |
"Lights Out" Absent |
"Wonder-ful" Absent |
"All or Nothing" Absent |
Glee: Season 5 | |||||||||||
"Love, Love, Love" Absent |
"Tina in the Sky with Diamonds" Absent |
"The Quarterback" Appears |
"A Katy or A Gaga" Absent |
"The End of Twerk" Absent |
"Movin' Out" Absent |
"Puppet Master" Absent |
"Previously Unaired Christmas" Appears |
"Frenemies" Appears |
"Trio" Appears | ||
"City of Angels" Absent |
"100" Absent |
"New Directions" Absent |
"New New York" Absent |
"Bash" Absent |
"Tested" Absent |
"Opening Night" Absent |
"The Back-Up Plan" Absent |
"Old Dog, New Tricks" Absent |
"The Untitled Rachel Berry Project" Absent |
Glee: Season 6 | |||||||||||
"Loser Like Me" Appears |
"Homecoming" Credit Only |
"Jagged Little Tapestry" Appears |
"The Hurt Locker, Part One" Credit Only |
"The Hurt Locker, Part Two" Credit Only |
"What the World Needs Now" Credit Only | ||||||
"Transitioning" Appears |
"A Wedding" Appears |
"Child Star" Appears |
"The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester" Appears |
"We Built This Glee Club" Appears |
"2009" Credit Only |
"Dreams Come True" Appears |
Trivia
- His favorite kind of pizza is Hawaiian. (Props)
- His favorite food is everything and his favourite Beatle is George. (Shooting Star)
- He has a sister named Denise.
- In college, he was in a production of A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. He was the forum.
- He had two prized donkeys named Kim and Khloe, though he ended up selling Kim. Their names are a possible reference to Kim and Khloe Kardashian.
- He is often seen eating a whole chicken whenever he had a scene eating.
- His first kiss was Will Schuester. (Never Been Kissed)
- Unlike Ken, Sheldon actually loves football and is very committed to it.
- He has a "little bit" of Jamaican in him. (Previously Unaired Christmas)
- Beiste is one of two transgender characters on the show. The other is Unique Adams.
- He is the only female-to-male transgender character.
- In the original script for Dreams Come True, he became the assistant defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns. Source
- His last nam is from French descent.
Gallery
Quotes
“ |
Do not get up in The Panther's business, lady. You're all coffee and no omelette. |
” |
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The Glee Club?! You came in third last year and you're asking for more money? That's a steer with six teats and no oink! [makes squealing noise] |
” |
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My name's Shannon Beiste, I'm the new football coach. Spelled B-E-I-S-T-E. It's French. |
” |
—Sheldon Beiste, Audition |
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Hand them out, Wayne Newton. |
” |
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All right boys its a pizza party. Dig in. Everyone has to eat four slices. Let's go! And when you're done, full pads out on the field. We're doing wind sprints. First 10 to puke are off the team. |
” |
—Sheldon Beiste to Football Team, Audition |
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I run the S.S Kick-ass, not the S.S Backtalk |
” |
—Sheldon Beiste, Audition |
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It's in your hands now, Lurch. |
” |
—Sheldon Beiste to Finn, Grilled Cheesus |
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I said say my name! |
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—Sheldon Beiste, Never Been Kissed |
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Watch your tone with me missy! You crap on my leg, I'll cut it off! |
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—Sheldon Beiste to Quinn, Never Been Kissed |
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You guys have got to find a way to come together or we're gonna get our asses kicked from here until Tuesday finds a saddleback full of buckwheat! |
” |
—Sheldon Beiste to the Football Team, The Sue Sylvester Shuffle |
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Cooter: Who's gonna love you now? |
” |
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Sheldon: He's dead. And all we've got left is his voice in our head. I'm sorry, but it's time. You've gotta be your own quarterback.
|
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—Sheldon Beiste to Puck, The Quarterback |