In your opinion, what went wrong?

[Temprees]

You may be right. However, those last 6 games of 2015, we were pretty decent offensively. Granted it took us 6 games to get going but once it clicked, we were on fire offensively.

He utilized his fastest/most talented receiver. The. Very next year, that receiver played, but was rarely utilized, other than as a decoy.  That's another example of Bielema having talent, but not using it. 

[Bacons Rebellion]

We can combine a lot of these into one:

The level of assistant coaching decreased rapidly.

Bielema assembled a truly impressive coaching staff for his 1st year. Pittman, Shannon at linebackers, Ash as DC, Cheney as OC,  Partridge on the defensive line. Michael Smith at wide receivers didn't have the wide reputation but you look at how our 2015 receivers stepped up after all the injuries and you can see his is good.

But most quickly left and their replacements, with the possible exception of Enos for Cheney, were big steps down -- Partridge to Secrest? Pittman to Anderson? Bielema has little to offer on Saturdays, so the most important thing he does is hire assistant coaches and in this he failed.

[East TN HAWG]

There were a number of mistakes over his tenure.  The three biggest issues 1) Poor hiring 2) Poor recruiting out of state  3) Under recruiting (Numbers) of OL.   


Partridge was the first big domino.  CBB had south FL recruiting rolling (Collins and Kirkland) when Partridge was here.  Then a good hire in Randy Shannon, but CBB screwed up my not naming Shannon DC, and hiring Smith. 

CBB hired several assts, but really only one great recruiter (outside state of AR).  Hires like Anderson, Segrest, Scott, Walker, Thomas have turned out disastrous for CBB.  These asst coaches can't coach and can't recruit.  I will give him credit for hiring Enos and Rhodes.  I think those two are winners, but can't do it all by themselves.   

The next big mistake was the lack of slots for OL.  Although never stated, I personally believe this is why Pittman left.  Pittman wanted 4-5 more OL on the roster, but we signed TEs instead.  I think the performance of the OL is due to the lack of number OL slots on the team.  I think Pittman saw this, and bailed when his buddy offered him a job.   

[snoblind]

I’ll commnet next week.  Mark out some time.  It will be a long post.

Looking forward to it.

[Mo_Better_Hogs]

If there's ONE surprise over all others regarding the Bielema era, it would be how he could not build and sustain dominant lines. Both offense and defense.

He wasn't a sexy former quarterback like Mike Gundy. Or a former defensive back like Saban, giving him insight into how a great defense works. Bielema was a lineman, so he could identify with those types, speak their language, give that somewhat faceless position some moxy. And consequently, I thought being dominant in the trenches—which is what you want first—would always allow us to have a shot at some great skill guys. This was going to be a great way to build the thing.

The decline, year by year, of the offensive line was easy to see but hard to understand.

This is an excellent summary, and I agree that I never in a million years thought this would be a problem area. But this is partly a result of something else--hiring / keeping assistant coaches. Starting with Pittman (who has been mentioned 50 times here in this thread, and 5,000 times in the past couple seasons.)

What I remember is an early BB press conference where he talked about the importance of having / paying assistant coaches. The coaching "unit" is as important as the team on the field, the offensive unit, etc. Especially when you are not big on talent (depth) to begin with. The coaching staff isn't thought about because it's not visible like what the players do on the field.

[MJ2]

Besides losing too many games, what went wrong with Brett?  He seemed to be on the right track until the last 2 games of last year.  This year has been a train wreck.  I understand that we have experienced an inordinate of injuries to key players.  However, we looked bad at the very beginning of the season.  What do you think happened that caused us to spiral downward?

After year 3 it finally occurred to him that he could make more by losing than winning so he adjusted accordingly.    Need to move on.

[HognotinMemphis]

How about the Rutgers game in 2013?

That too.

[hawg IQ]

Besides losing too many games, what went wrong with Brett?  He seemed to be on the right track until the last 2 games of last year.  This year has been a train wreck.  I understand that we have experienced an inordinate of injuries to key players.  However, we looked bad at the very beginning of the season.  What do you think happened that caused us to spiral downward?

I think early on, he got some good coaches on offense and defense.  I believe in third year, he had his best team here. B Allen was senior and we had an attacking defense and the hogs won the cotton bowl I think.         Then he took his eye off the sparrow ! From there we should have improved, we didn't , he started to look lost .  It was like he saw how hard it was to play in Sec and had no clue . He quit getting Florida recruits and quit recruiting / evaluating proper o- linemen, he also missed on receivers and quality running backs. After that he had to know hogs would struggle, and felt J Long would keep him on board until he  could right the wrongs  His biggest failing was not realizing how hard it is in sec ,and the difficulty in getting top coaches and players.

[Wildhog]

I think early on, he got some good coaches on offense and defense.  I believe in third year, he had his best team here. B Allen was senior and we had an attacking defense and the hogs won the cotton bowl I think.         Then he took his eye off the sparrow ! From there we should have improved, we didn't , he started to look lost .  It was like he saw how hard it was to play in Sec and had no clue . He quit getting Florida recruits and quit recruiting / evaluating proper o- linemen, he also missed on receivers and quality running backs. After that he had to know hogs would struggle, and felt J Long would keep him on board until he  could right the wrongs  His biggest failing was not realizing how hard it is in sec ,and the difficulty in getting top coaches and players.

You think Bielema won the Cotton Bowl at Arkansas?

[Uncommon]

I believe in third year, he had his best team here.

The 2014 team was without a doubt his best team.  2015 was alright but didn't have that dominate defense.  I'd rank them:
1. 2014
2. 2015
3. 2016
4. 2013
5. 2017

[tbhogfan]

Besides losing too many games, what went wrong with Brett?  He seemed to be on the right track until the last 2 games of last year.  This year has been a train wreck.  I understand that we have experienced an inordinate of injuries to key players.  However, we looked bad at the very beginning of the season.  What do you think happened that caused us to spiral downward?

1) The OL started regressing.  Went from a dominant group to one that consistently got stuffed at the LOS.  You cannot be a running team without a dominant OL.
2) Conditioning.  Too busy trying to look good in a Twitter picture, and not doing the hard work to be strong in the second half.
3) Field turf/shoes.  Way too many broken feet in practices.   
4) Execution.  Offense, Defense and Special Teams simply failed to execute the fundamentals.

[hawg IQ]

The 2014 team was without a doubt his best team.  2015 was alright but didn't have that dominate defense.  I'd rank them:
1. 2014
2. 2015
3. 2016
4. 2013
5. 2017

okay I remember his first year we didn't win a sec game in 13 . I thought it was '15, it could have  been '14 !

[hawg IQ]

You think Bielema won the Cotton Bowl at Arkansas?

hogs beat k state in cotton, yes !

[Science Fiction Greg]

hogs beat k state in cotton, yes !

Yeah, that was Petrino.

[razorsharptusk]

Bielema got away from his style of smash mouth football.  Completely.  Went so far the other direction, now he can't get back.  Lost some great position coaches over it..i.e. Pitman. 

[hogrocker]

Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

[hog.goblin]

hogs beat k state in cotton, yes !

With Bret that was the mighty Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

[hogcards]

He did not have anyone overseeing his work as he did at Wisconsin.

Good point.  He should have never been hired here.

In a sense Jeff Long is "what went wrong".

[hawg IQ]

Good point.  He should have never been hired here.

In a sense Jeff Long is "what went wrong".

I stand corrected- right team, wrong bowl

[jvanhorn]

It might be quicker and easier to just list what went right.

[titsonboar]

Ego and stubberness.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

He's made so many mistakes in so many areas that they are hard to count.

-not landing George McDonald as a receivers coach

-not telling his little lady to stay off Twitter

-hiring Rory Segrest

-not evolving his "system" year to year to keep opposing defenses confused

-not developing offensive linemen or save that, recruiting more if you aren't gonna develop them

-parting with Jim Chaney under bad terms which led to.........

-pissing off Sam Pittman

-bringing the OL to Pittman's house after he resigned

-attempting to be a finesse power run team

-hired Kurt Anderson

-actually letting the media department do that stupid mic drop thing with a pen instead of an actual microphone


I could keep going for days.

[twistitup]

The current OL coach for Penn State, Matt Limegrover, was interested in our job after Pittman left.

Common

[Großer Kriegschwein]

The current OL coach for Penn State, Matt Limegrover, was interested in our job after Pittman left.

That makes me feel much better

[Hogsolo]

Poor results from year 2 & 3 recruting led to a lack of leadership, too little speed, and stubbornness in adjusting his plan after contact with the enemy.

[PorkRinds]

I'll commnet next week.  Mark out some time.  It will be a long post.

FOTH knows what's coming...

[twistitup]

Tito's

[Nashville Fan]

First few years he was trying to prove Alvarez wrong. When they got back together, he started having regrets.

[DeltaBoy]

Losing Pittman
Recruiting Bust
Playing favorites
Failure to adjust at half time!

[dfwalumdad]

here's what went wrong. long fired a successful head coach for something non football related. which put a tremendous amount of pressure on long to get his replacement right. bert comes in his first year looks great on paper but then turns in the razorbacks first season ever without a conference win since joining the sec.

in year two things get off to another abysmal start, but the team rallies and makes a bowl show's genuine improvement so long gives bert a huge extension.

and that's where it went wrong.

at that point long and beilema's interest where aligned. the relationship between AD and coach should be an adversarial one. ie the coaches job is to win games, the AD's job is to hold the coach accountable for winning games.

after the contract extension with the buyout longs interest was in seeing bert simply survive long term.

bert's problem is he had no incentive to win. he had a long term contract which was paying him as if he where winning.

which how we came up the AGR rates and we're not a win at all cost program etc.

there's no way long could admit that bert was failing and clearly with last season's slide it wasn't working.

to admit bert was failing would be to admit long was failing.

at the end of the day it cost both men their jobs.

[Hugo Bezdek]

I think the program was in shambles after the Petrino/Smith fallout. Bielema was not an experienced program builder and tried to come in with a Big Ten strategy built on size and power that underestimated the speed and athleticism of SEC football. I think he's tried to adapt but it was too little too late for a program that was in need of an overhaul when he got here.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

FOTH knows what's coming...

Yep. And there will be no coach to complain about the post.

Probably will be his most informative yet and that is saying something because usually he is an awesome barometer.

[ICEman]

Asymmetry. The same level of preparation that went into creating his team in Wisconsin was not transferrable here in the SEC.

[Batesville Hogfan]

No defense in 4 of his 5 years.

[menehune]

Bielema over-estimated his ability to conquer the SEC and as a result has been humbled greatly.  He totally underestimated the speed and talent in the SEC.  To be fair, his first experience with Arkansas when Wisconsin beat us 17-14 probably contributed to his coming here!  He likely saw a team in Arkansas that was primed to bust loose and fell in love with the passion of the fans and the uniqueness of the program.  Add in the fact that the SEC West was experiencing its peak in strength. When he tried to adapt to fit into the SEC and tweaked his offensive philosophy, he sacrificed the O-Line recruiting which led to disastrous results. 

[Hog 48]

Like all "BIG TEN" coaches, Bret did not realize that real football is played in the SEC. He was sure he could out SEC the SEC.

[HHH]

Barry Alverez nailed it in his speech at the LRTD.  Bret is best suited in the Big Ten where 6 ft 7 inch, 300 pound offensive linemen are plentiful.  He gave up on his offensive philosophy when Sam Pittman left and Dan Enos started calling too many screen passes.  Loss of talent from last years class in the receiver slot hit us the hardest.

[ChitownHawg]

You think Bielema won the Cotton Bowl at Arkansas?

I've had brain farts but nothing like "IQ" had with that post. 

[ChitownHawg]

hogs beat k state in cotton, yes !

Double down! 

[hawg IQ]

Double down! 

well I should have researched first. I sometime forget that on HV you better get it right first- hogs did play in cotton brown, but it was BP, Not BB !?  So you guys busted me out and I deserved it ! Doesn't change the fact you both are know-it-all wanna be's , beside being complete jerks. Wish you had a life !!

[Pig In The City]

Also, don't underestimate the effect playing favorites has on the morale of a team.

This is what I think happened. Playing favorites who are less talented is a morale killer. He lost the team or portions of it with his BS.

[gawntrail]

It all started to go down hill when a young man decided to pen a handwritten note of admiration.

Yep.  The genesis of it all.

[hogcards]

I mean, HORRIBLE position coach hires.

^this

[IronHog]

Bielema over-estimated his ability to conquer the SEC and as a result has been humbled greatly.  He totally underestimated the speed and talent in the SEC.  To be fair, his first experience with Arkansas when Wisconsin beat us 17-14 probably contributed to his coming here!  He likely saw a team in Arkansas that was primed to bust loose and fell in love with the passion of the fans and the uniqueness of the program.  Add in the fact that the SEC West was experiencing its peak in strength. When he tried to adapt to fit into the SEC and tweaked his offensive philosophy, he sacrificed the O-Line recruiting which led to disastrous results. 

You'd think his 6 yards rushing AND 5 sacks given up in that game would have tipped someone off that his OL wasn't gonna work in the SEC

[rude1]

What went wrong was hiring him in the first place. No experience building a program, no ties to the region, playing a 3 yards and a cloud of dust football, benefited from the top programs in his conference being down or on probation but swaggered around talking about his Rose Bowl appearances (he lost them) never taking the reality into context.

[The NewEra]

I'll commnet next week.  Mark out some time.  It will be a long post.

This is the post I'm hoping Fan has come up with and will share with us.

[hogsanity]

What went wrong was hiring him in the first place. No experience building a program, no ties to the region, playing a 3 yards and a cloud of dust football, benefited from the top programs in his conference being down or on probation but swaggered around talking about his Rose Bowl appearances (he lost them) never taking the reality into context.

But hiring a guy with only 2 yrs HC experience in a non p5 league where only one team even tries to play defense is a grand idea?

[HognotinMemphis]

But hiring a guy with only 2 yrs HC experience in a non p5 league where only one team even tries to play defense is a grand idea?

I've said from get-go that hiring Norvell is a huge roll of the dice. Bigger gamble than any other candidate that is on the list. Could be a home run but likely will be a disappointment. You saw what happened to Bielema. SEC is as big-boy as it gets. The AAC is about as low as it gets in Div 1.

[LJHOG]

poor recruiting

[hawg IQ]

There were a number of mistakes over his tenure.  The three biggest issues 1) Poor hiring 2) Poor recruiting out of state  3) Under recruiting (Numbers) of OL.   


Partridge was the first big domino.  CBB had south FL recruiting rolling (Collins and Kirkland) when Partridge was here.  Then a good hire in Randy Shannon, but CBB screwed up my not naming Shannon DC, and hiring Smith. 

CBB hired several assts, but really only one great recruiter (outside state of AR).  Hires like Anderson, Segrest, Scott, Walker, Thomas have turned out disastrous for CBB.  These asst coaches can't coach and can't recruit.  I will give him credit for hiring Enos and Rhodes.  I think those two are winners, but can't do it all by themselves.   

The next big mistake was the lack of slots for OL.  Although never stated, I personally believe this is why Pittman left.  Pittman wanted 4-5 more OL on the roster, but we signed TEs instead.  I think the performance of the OL is due to the lack of number OL slots on the team.  I think Pittman saw this, and bailed when his buddy offered him a job.   

you saw/ or seen the same thing I did. The only other thing I would add is he didn't recruit enough speed at skilled positions .