Wasting no time, Arkansas fires Bielema after latest loss
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fired coach Bret Bielema after five disappointing seasons, moments after a seasonending 48-45 loss to Missouri on Friday.
The defeat left Arkansas with a 4-8 record, capping only the second losing season of Bielema’s 12-year career. It also left him 29-34 in his five seasons with the Razorbacks, including 11-29 in the SEC.
It was a shockingly poor performance from a coach who led Wisconsin to three Rose Bowl appearances before being hired at Arkansas after the 2012 season.
Interim athletic director Julie Cromer Peoples, who is serving as AD after Jeff Long was fired two weeks ago, said it was important for her to tell Bielema of the change quickly after the game so he could talk to the team before the players left campus.
Cromer Peoples said she plans to start a search immediately and that she’s not concerned about possibly hiring a coach while a seven-person search committee aids Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz in the pursuit of a new AD.
“I don’t think you need a permanent AD in order to make an offer,” Cromer Peoples said. “I think you need an AD, and we have one.”
Bielema was signed through the 2020 season, thanks to an extension he got after his second season in 2014, when Arkansas improved to 7-6 after going 3-9 in his first year.
“I definitely want to coach again,” he said. “I don’t know (what’s next); I’ve never been in this situation.”
Bielema’s final loss with the Razorbacks came courtesy of Tucker McCann’s 19-yard field goal with five seconds left. It was the sixth consecutive victory for Missouri (7-5, 4-4) after a 1-5 start.
Arkansas surrendered five touchdown passes to junior Missouri quarterback Drew Lock. He now has 43 TD passes this season, topping the previous SEC best of 40 set by Kentucky’s Andre Woodson in 2007.