CBB article

[JOKERHOG]

Man he just rubs me wrong.  Just admit you franked up and didn't get the job done.

No kidding.  He was a piece of crap from day one and stole over $30mill from us...

[rtr]

His record at Wisconsin was a mirage.

[The OTR]

Gonna miss that jelly sandwich eatin' rascal, that much I can assure you.

[jkstock04]

Co-sign.

We will have a thread in a few years where the same folks who take glee in bashing him here are proclaiming that his UA experience is the reason he is successful somewhere else.

No.

Sometimes, it is the wrong time, and sometimes it is a bad fit (regardless of timing).

Lol. Guy was and is a joke of a coach. He was here on a 30 million dollar vacation and fans bought in hook, line, and sinker because he supposedly had integrity and was uncommon...all the fluffy stuff.

I bet he didn't feel his seat was a bit hot up til the moment Jeff Long got the axe.

This team will without doubt be better coached this fall and show some signs of life. Which in point you will have Bielema homers coming on here giving him praise in some form or fashion.

[Bebop]

Co-sign.

We will have a thread in a few years where the same folks who take glee in bashing him here are proclaiming that his UA experience is the reason he is successful somewhere else.

No.

Sometimes, it is the wrong time, and sometimes it is a bad fit (regardless of timing).

Where would he be a good fit?

Coaches make the team and success regardless of where they are at. The facts are that Bielema was an underachiever at Arkansas. He relied on a weak Big 10 and Alvarez's Wisconsin system to give him the guise that he was a good coach.

Bielema is not the only one who has benefited from being a coach at Wisconsin. Paul Chryst was average at Pitt and went to Wisconsin immediately did a 180. The same could be said about Gary Anderson. I belief that Bielema will be average to poor wherever he goes and I believe that he will still make the same mistakes that he did here and at Wisconsin. 

[Bebop]

No need for a correction.  He took the wrong job at the wrong time.

Gotcha. I didn't want to equate Arkansas being a bad/wrong job with Bielema's inability as a head coach. Just wanted to make sure that it was never, ever gonna be the right job for him, regardless of time. In other words, it's due to him and not us.

[BearsBisonsBoars]

Can't just eat grapefruit. Need some protein to balance that out. A couple of eggs and a tomato would round that breakfast out nicely.

Also should vary the fruits. Oats with yogurt, cranberries, and raisins would be another great choice.

[liljo]

When he got The Big Buyout Clause, he coached to it. That is the Brett Bielema story. He couldn't wait to get fired. Worked hard at it.

Bad history. Let's make some good new history. I don't see Bielema coaching again. He is simply too rich now, and lazy to boot.

[Pigasaurus]

Dig him up. Shoot him again.

[liljo]

Dig him up. Shoot him again.

I've said it since 2016. He would have laughed all the way to the bank but, thanks to Direct Deposit, he didn't have to. He may not have been the highest paid coach in history, but he has got to be competing for Highest Paid Per Conference Win. Surely.

Very smart man, that product of the American Upper Midwest.

[MultipleScoreGasms]

There is not a direct line drawn but in the next paragraph he states he didn't understand how much depth you had to have in the O Line and D line to be competitive in the SEC. The writer then stated that might be an unsolvable problem at Arkansas because Bama, Auburn, LSU and so on were always going to get first crack at those guys.

Yes.  It went on to say "to play the style he wanted to play."  Not disagreeing with you, just felt the need to add that.  So, in my mind he should be coming away with an understanding that he will still need that depth to play his style successfully at an elite level.  Regardless of how he does in conference, he will need that when he gets out.  I would like to see him pull it off.

Don't know why we are so "thin skinned" about this.  He isn't critical of UA, and of course he will paint himself in a positive light.  This is just his "30 second elevator speech" for that next job.

[MultipleScoreGasms]

Lol. Guy was and is a joke of a coach. He was here on a 30 million dollar vacation and fans bought in hook, line, and sinker because he supposedly had integrity and was uncommon...all the fluffy stuff.

I bet he didn't feel his seat was a bit hot up til the moment Jeff Long got the axe.

This team will without doubt be better coached this fall and show some signs of life. Which in point you will have Bielema homers coming on here giving him praise in some form or fashion.

If you have watched one post game press conference, you know that isn't true.  He took it personally, and wanted to fix it.  He misjudged early, and that created the situation, but he never acted unconcerned or disconnected.  Would have taken longer to dig out and correct than we were willing to give.  It was time to move on, but he is a man of character and class.  I don't know why we can't just wish him the best of luck moving forward.  Before someone hits me back with that $30M garbage, we paid market value at the time.  We will likely continue to do so going forward.  If it's your money, you have the right to complain.  I suspect most of us don't.

[ChemEHawg]

Wasn't CBB fond of saying "you recruit your own problems"? I wish he'd have had more character and owned up to his failure.

[hogcards]

Wasn't CBB fond of saying "you recruit your own problems"? I wish he'd have had more character and owned up to his failure.

I was always puzzled by folks' inability to actually critique the guy.

[Redhogs]

Let's hope he doesn't turn us into Ok ST or TT.  We'll  get rolled in the SEC.  Happy to see Morris and staff recruiting the Deep South and not obsessing with just the B12 region.

Don't know how he is going to turn out, but one thing is already very apparent, and that is he is a thousand times harder worker than Bert EVER was....that alone will much improve the program. The rest, we will have to wait and see.

[Redhogs]

If you have watched one post game press conference, you know that isn't true.  He took it personally, and wanted to fix it.  He misjudged early, and that created the situation, but he never acted unconcerned or disconnected.  Would have taken longer to dig out and correct than we were willing to give.  It was time to move on, but he is a man of character and class.  I don't know why we can't just wish him the best of luck moving forward.  Before someone hits me back with that $30M garbage, we paid market value at the time.  We will likely continue to do so going forward.  If it's your money, you have the right to complain.  I suspect most of us don't.

No ...we did NOT pay market value for those RESULTS. We paid JLS less than #1 mil a year and got the SAME results...see how that garbage works.

[Redhogs]

When he got The Big Buyout Clause, he coached to it. That is the Brett Bielema story. He couldn't wait to get fired. Worked hard at it.

Bad history. Let's make some good new history. I don't see Bielema coaching again. He is simply too rich now, and lazy to boot.

Bingo....

[Michael D Huff AIA]

I have heard it said that a group of people will take on the personality of the person leading them. 

If that is true, and I believe it to be, then what does it say about Bielema's personality given the results he produced as coach? 

Let's look at his own words. 

"I didn't cheat."  Well congratulations.  You did what most other coaches with any sort of ethics have done.  This is not worthy of a parade.  You don't get credit for that.

The whole "landmine" quote.  I may be adding context here, but it seems like he is trying to make excuses for some events that he uncovered that were in existence prior to his arrival.  There was no friction between him and Long, Long hired him.  That's not it.  If the land mines are 'oh crap' moments he found in terms of how good other teams are versus what we put on the field, then that's just a straight up failure in Awareness 101.  Did he not realize where he was going to coach?  How many National Championships have been won in the past 15 years from the SEC West?  Regardless of what he may or may not have found, by year 2 it's his program. 

I believe the 'landmines' are holes in his 'plan' as head coach that were different than the ones that Alvarez put in place at Wisconsin.  Barry's system was better in a worse conference.  Bielema's didn't work in the SEC West.

[carolinahogger]

Let's hope he doesn't turn us into Ok ST or TT. 

Oklahoma State has has FOUR 10-win seasons in the last five years.  I would be happy with that.

[HeathWimp]

I find it hard to believe that he has had offers from NFL teams to work as an assistant....

[AirWarren]

Oklahoma State has has FOUR 10-win seasons in the last five years.  I would be happy with that.

And has been relevant nationally for some time.

[Russ22]

If you have watched one post game press conference, you know that isn't true.  He took it personally, and wanted to fix it.  He misjudged early, and that created the situation, but he never acted unconcerned or disconnected.  Would have taken longer to dig out and correct than we were willing to give.  It was time to move on, but he is a man of character and class.  I don't know why we can't just wish him the best of luck moving forward.  Before someone hits me back with that $30M garbage, we paid market value at the time.  We will likely continue to do so going forward.  If it's your money, you have the right to complain.  I suspect most of us don't.

NOOO! We overpaid for Bert. He got a big raise and extension because he humiliated a very bad Texas team. People on the Hill thought that was a turning point (and so did Bert). The name on the 'horns jersey blinded people about just how bad that team was.

No one was going to come steal him from the Hogs, but Long took that opportunity to make sure it would be difficult to get rid of his guy.

[nchogg]

Bielema is a great guy, but he's always been too confident(or, cocky) in his own abilities; too much hat, not enough cattle. He talks a better game than he plays. He'll always win the press conference, but he may not win as many games as you want.

The 'landmines' are that he discovered that Arkansas is a tougher place to win than Wisconsin.
He found out the hard way.
And he's damaged his career because now everyone knows Wisconsin's success under him was not really due to him, seeing that each coach who followed him has duplicated the same success, including last year when they were 12-0 at one point.

It also needs to be pointed out that his predecessor, Petrino(I don't count John L. Smith), managed to win 10 and 11 games in back-to-back years. Petrino was in the same job, same conference, as Bielema, facing the same challenges, and he managed to excel.

Bielema's excuses are just that...excuses.

Sounds about right. The comments about Petrino losses to LSM and Bama by 24 were ridiculous. He would have beat with a little more time. Can't live in the past only the future. I bet Coach Morris has already done his research on the SEC West and after his first season he will make the changes and have success. I could be wrong but hope I am right.

[Hog N Bama]

Don't know how he is going to turn out, but one thing is already very apparent, and that is he is a thousand times harder worker than Bert EVER was....that alone will much improve the program. The rest, we will have to wait and see.

You sir, have hit the nail right smack on the head +1

[Iwastherein1969]

Take any of the WISKY teams he coached and put them in the SEC West and the very best he does is what he did in 2015 with the Hogs. And maybe not even that well. So I don't care to hear about any of his 'land mines' that somehow jumped up and bit him in his huge, phat asss. He's the one who came in blowing smoke about "giving you Arkansas fans something you've never had". Basically he set himself up to be the UA's "deliverer". To helll with him.

ad: and by the way, Bret, when you set up 'recruiting central' at Fayetteville High School, depth is ALWAYS going to be a problem

[Cure]

I find it hard to believe that he has had offers from NFL teams to work as an assistant....

The man can coach defense.

[jkstock04]

If you have watched one post game press conference, you know that isn't true.  He took it personally, and wanted to fix it.  He misjudged early, and that created the situation, but he never acted unconcerned or disconnected.  Would have taken longer to dig out and correct than we were willing to give.  It was time to move on, but he is a man of character and class.  I don't know why we can't just wish him the best of luck moving forward.  Before someone hits me back with that $30M garbage, we paid market value at the time.  We will likely continue to do so going forward.  If it's your money, you have the right to complain.  I suspect most of us don't.

I can't remember exactly when it was but there was a point this past season where I firmly decided that would be the absolute last press conference/interview I ever watched that guy speak in again. You realize he is better than this program regardless of the results, and he was done wrong....right? That's what he thinks anyways. Should've been given more time lol. That would've been really neat considering the crowd size towards the end of the season and how that and ticket sales would've transitioned into 2018.

I guess his job now is to get on a treadmill at Fville athletic club, eat grapefruit, and play with dogs...good for him. I know you guys think he will be head coach at another major power 5 football school within no time...lol I'm doubting it but we will see.

Going clear back to the end of 2013 when we went 0-8 in conference...should have beat LSU to end the season on a positive note, and the guy sits there afterwards saying it was better that we lost the game. That's not taking it personally as you say. That's arrogance...combined with little or no drive to perform because he was on a vacation with Jeff Long giving him a smile and pat on the butt.

This has been an awful stretch for the football program...6 years straight now. In that time we have been scarcely much in the way of competitive. I'm happy now for the change in direction and culture. Some how they are going to have to undo the damage that has been done and get us back in the same conversation with the South Carolina's and Mississippi States of the conference....because our perception and reality is no longer a middle of the pack SEC program thanks to Bielema and his uncommon campaign.

[Atlhogfan1]

Bielema overestimated the roster he was going to get based on the 2010 and 11 results and 12 preseason predictions.  He thought the program was built much more than it was.  He underestimated what it is to recruit in this part of the country.  The I didn't cheat comments are related to this.  He left the big just as SEC/Big 12/ACC style recruiting got to the B1G with Meyer and then Harbaugh and Franklin came in.  Bending the rules, not honoring verbal commitments, negative recruiting etc were things the B1G (outside of OSU and few other instances) didn't supposedly do.   It's the way you do it in this part of the country.  Bielema took a job with two of the biggest cheaters in the history of college football next door in Oklahoma plus Ole Miss, Auburn, all the programs who recruit Texas.  Then you have the culture you have to recruit in in the South with the poverty and poor public educational systems.  He wasn't accustomed to this outside of recruiting Florida some.  He didn't know what he was getting himself into.  I also don't believed he realized how bad Arkansas high school football is comparatively till he took the job. 

I don't believe the bad fit was his system.  It would have been fine had he understood from the start he had to stockpile linemen.  Something he didn't have to start doing at Wisconsin as the pipeline was already set.  The bad fit was you can't be completely Uncommon in the South and win.  Just can't have a roster full of the same type of student and student athlete you had in the B1G pre-Meyer-Harbaugh-Franklin and win in the SEC.  Got to get a little dirty and let some things slide perhaps with players who can help(see Arkansas basketball). 

Bielema had never built a program and took a tough job in a rebuild situation.  I don't believe he is a good coach from an in game x's and o's standpoint.  I do believe he can have success again as a head coach somewhere.  He needs to stop the taking of chances on asst's like he did with Segrest and Anderson.  Let talented asst's like Enos completely do their thing.  Be the face of the program, recruit, handle all of the media commitments and oversee the coordinators and staff and hold them accountable. 

I think he left the program better off than he got it in Dec 2012.  Morris has some roster holes especially in the lines.  But he also has some depth at positions Bielema didn't and a rare for Arkansas recruiting cycle coming up. 

[Atlhogfan1]

Sounds about right. The comments about Petrino losses to LSM and Bama by 24 were ridiculous. He would have beat with a little more time. Can't live in the past only the future. I bet Coach Morris has already done his research on the SEC West and after his first season he will make the changes and have success. I could be wrong but hope I am right.

Petrino did beat LSU and would have again just as Bielema did.

No sign Petrino was beating Bama anytime soon.  He had one great half against them in 4 games.  Otherwise, Saban's defense closed down the field, punished our receivers on the short crossing routes we ran because we couldn't protect the qb to the point our wr's had alligator arms and shut down our offense.  We didn't threaten them vertically whatsover. 

[jkstock04]

The man can coach defense.

In what alternate reality?

[hogsanity]

It's hard to argue that you get to 8-5 and 5-3 in year 3 and then discover the land mines.  The more likely explanation is complacency.

Not really. That 8-5 record was made on his 1st recruiting class, much of which he made off players he was on for Wisc, and got them to come here in stead. When he had to start recruiting players to play for Arkansas, he never was able to duplicate that 1st class. That 1st class had some very good OL players, the type he has to have, and that 8-5 team also had Tretola, in addition to Skipper and Kirkland. If he could have continued to have those type of OL players his tenure here would not have ended like it did.

Much like when the Hogs joined the SEC, with no idea how hard it was going to be to recruit, BB joined the SEc with no idea how hard it was going to be to recruit.

[Pig in the Pokey]

The Irony of this all is talking about uncovering land mines from the previous coaches and then taking credit for a player the previous coach left him in the same article.

this gem here show how LITTLE work he ever did. He is a lazy person.

"I had a morning last week where I had to drop the dogs off to get groomed, pick up a UPS package, make a stop at the pharmacist to pick up a prescription for my daughter and pick the dogs back up," said Bielema, who became a dad for the first time in July and who was fired in November after five seasons at Arkansas. "I said 'I need to get back into coaching pretty quick. This is getting to be too much.'"

[hogsanity]

this gem here show how LITTLE work he ever did. He is a lazy person.

"I had a morning last week where I had to drop the dogs off to get groomed, pick up a UPS package, make a stop at the pharmacist to pick up a prescription for my daughter and pick the dogs back up," said Bielema, who became a dad for the first time in July and who was fired in November after five seasons at Arkansas. "I said 'I need to get back into coaching pretty quick. This is getting to be too much.'"

Umm, that was pretty much just parental joking. I cant count how many times I have said, on a Sunday night, after a weekend of running kids to practices, parties, doing yard work, going to church, etc, " Man, I am going to have to go to work Monday just to get some rest.".

[The NewEra]

A book could be written on all of the errors Bielema made while coaching here.  I'm not going to write that book here.  A good many posters have already outlined some of the most glaring deficiencies of this coach.

What I will say is, the only true "Land Mines" Bielema faced at Arkansas was believing that Jeff Long could protect him forever.  Not understanding that winning SEC games was critical.  Not realizing that 20-30 point beat downs would humiliate the fans and boosters to no end.  Not realizing that his excuses, despite personal charm in press conferences would start eroding his support.  Not realizing that power brokers would actually give him the boot and pay that obscene buyout he was gifted by Long in order to get rid of him and start a new chapter.  Bielema thought his relationship with Long and the SEC Network crew and his snake oil salesman skills would buy him a few more years here.  He overestimated the fan bases willingness to tolerate incompetence and poor decision making.

[Atlhogfan1]

A book could be written on all of the errors Bielema made while coaching here.  I'm not going to write that book here.  A good many posters have already outlined some of the most glaring deficiencies of this coach.

What I will say is, the only true "Land Mines" Bielema faced at Arkansas was believing that Jeff Long could protect him forever.  Not understanding that winning SEC games was critical.  Not realizing that 20-30 point beat downs would humiliate the fans and boosters to no end.  Not realizing that his excuses, despite personal charm in press conferences would start eroding his support.  Not realizing that power brokers would actually give him the boot and pay that obscene buyout he was gifted by Long in order to get rid of him and start a new chapter.  Bielema thought his relationship with Long and the SEC Network crew and his snake oil salesman skills would buy him a few more years here.  He overestimated the fan bases willingness to tolerate incompetence and poor decision making.

None of that may be true. 

I'm sure he thought he would get a 6th season till October of this past season. 

[Redhogs]

The man can coach defense.

That's a joke...right??

[Redhogs]

None of that may be true. 

I'm sure he thought he would get a 6th season till October of this past season.

He was......until jeffie was fired.

[Hogarusa]

Tough bitter crowd

[AirWarren]

Tough bitter crowd

Exactly.


Well into our new coach regime and the Bielema tears are still flowing.

[hawgon]

So, if he has already been offered other jobs and has not taken them, is he not in breach of his contract?

[HeathWimp]

That's a joke...right??

That one made me chuckle.  Auburn 2016 anyone?

[RME]

So, if he has already been offered other jobs and has not taken them, is he not in breach of his contract?

So if he's offered a janitor job at Greenwood High School, is he supposed to take it or else be in breach of his contract?

[Pig in the Pokey]

Umm, that was pretty much just parental joking. I cant count how many times I have said, on a Sunday night, after a weekend of running kids to practices, parties, doing yard work, going to church, etc, " Man, I am going to have to go to work Monday just to get some rest.".

Well, as a single father of three teenagers, I'd say, that was a stupidly easy day. Bad joke. I WISH I had easy days like that.

[hogcards]

I find it hard to believe that he has had offers from NFL teams to work as an assistant....

If true, the foundation owes him far less than originally reported.

[Vantage 8 dude]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/lessons-learned-from-his-arkansas-tenure-bret-bielema-has-a-decision-to-make/ar-BBIpzVe

Article full of excuses on why he failed including this lil gem:

"The biggest difference between the two, he believes, was how well he understood the Badgers' program before he took over as the head coach after spending two years as Barry Alvarez's defensive coordinator. "I want to go into a situation where you know everything that's going on," Bielema said. "I didn't have to worry about uncovering land mines halfway into the job."

Poor, pitiful excuse(s). Okay, even if one "buys" the fact the CBB didn't INITIALLY understand/prepare for the speed and style play by the SEC, we're to believe that he was still searching and trying to figure it out after five years If that's indeed the case then I'm not sure which is more embarrassing/condemning: his continued inability to understand the different environment and challenges presented by the league or his apparent unwillingness or inability to recruit, coach, and otherwise deal with those issues. In either case he's NOT presented his own case in the best of light(s). Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to refrain from opening your mouth and causing your own ignorance/shortcomings to show through for all the world to see. 

[Pig in the Pokey]

So if he's offered a janitor job at Greenwood High School, is he supposed to take it or else be in breach of his contract?

Janitor's job? It said he was offered a half dozen jobs in the NFL. Dude, your false equivalencies are next level.

[Pig in the Pokey]

I said 5 years ago that he was a garbage coach as well as a guy with a very questionable character. I was correct. He's the worst coach we've ever had.

rightest you've ever been. You are wrong a lot, lol, but by God you nailed that one. Sir.

[hogcards]

So if he's offered a janitor job at Greenwood High School, is he supposed to take it or else be in breach of his contract?

Not qualified.

[Pig in the Pokey]

I've said it since 2016. He would have laughed all the way to the bank but, thanks to Direct Deposit, he didn't have to. He may not have been the highest paid coach in history, but he has got to be competing for Highest Paid Per Conference Win. Surely.

Very smart man, that product of the American Upper Midwest.

over a million dollars per win. Unbelievable.

[RME]

Janitor's job? It said he was offered a half dozen jobs in the NFL. Dude, your false equivalencies are next level.

So is your ability to miss the point.