USA TODAY International Edition
Hogs tab Bielema to key turnaround
and fan base that has been battered and bruised — “scarred,” Bielema put it — by the fallout from Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle crash.
Long had installed interim coach John L. Smith after firing Petrino a few months earlier for misconduct — thus, the news conference Bielema referenced — but he was already searching for a permanent replacement. Bielema was on a very long list of potential candidates, but Long says he was in a long- shot category: “Why would they leave where they are?”
In his seventh year as coach at Wisconsin, Bielema was coming off consecutive Rose Bowl appearances and was headed for another. His brash confidence, combined with a passionate, hardnosed personal and professional philosophy, seemed to fit the Big Ten and, more specifically, the Badgers. Why would he leave — especially for Arkansas?
But here was Bielema, a few days ago, on the practice field, sharply admonishing a running back for fumbling — “The ball is ( expletive) everything! It’s all you’ve ( expletive) got!” — and getting really animated later during full- contact drills featuring power running plays. And an hour or so later, here was Bielema in a new office inside a new football operations building — the Razorbacks moved in as preseason practices started — explaining that he’d had conversations with Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez about “the seven- year rule,” the idea that people and organizations get stagnant after seven years, and saying, “I was looking for the right situation.”
Bielema was also frustrated by difficulty retaining assistants at Wisconsin; he had to replace six after the 2011 season, and his total salary pool in 2012 was $ 1.97 million. ( Alvarez recently told USA TODAY Sports, “Bret thought if you just throw a pile of money at them, they stay. I can’t do that. We have to work on a budget. You don’t just keep throwing money, because then everybody has leverage on you.”) It’s not an issue at Arkansas. Long opened up the checkbook for Bielema, who is making $ 3.2 million ( a $ 600,000 raise), and his assistants, too. Arkansas’ assistant salary pool in 2012 was $ 2.6 million, and Long provided even more funding.
Arkansas seemed like a fit because Bielema had seen how Petrino pushed the program briefly into the Southeastern Conference and national title conversation. Even after Petrino crashed and the Hogs cratered, going from No. 10 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll to a 4- 8 record under Smith, Bielema figured there was talent and potential for more success. Being the only BCS school in a state with no competition from professional franchises was intriguing. So was the competition with the SEC’s monster franchises — which is interesting, because he had taken several public shots at the league during his time at Wisconsin.
Bielema says now he had a vested interest in defending and promoting the Big Ten and that even then he was a “closet SEC fan. ... If you’re involved in the world of college football, you realize how good the SEC has been.” A GOOD MATCH
For a moment, Arkansas seemed on the cusp of joining the SEC’s elite. That ended April 1, 2012, when Petrino wrecked his Harley and then lied to Long about it, saying he was alone. When Long learned Petrino was accompanied by a 25- year- old woman with whom Petrino had been having an affair — and whom he’d just hired for an administrative position — Long fired the successful coach.
Bielema says he watched Long’s emotional news conference to announce Petrino’s dismissal and immediately added an item to his list of “things to do today.” That he didn’t get it done for months isn’t unusual; he routinely carries tasks over, updating lists until completing them. One evening in late August or early September, he said, he “finally got to it.” A few days after that, he carried it with a stack of other personal notes from his home to the office, mailed it and checked it off the list.
“There was no ( ulterior) message or thought. What I appreciated was, I’m a big guy, but I do let my emotions go. I think when a man shows his true emotions, it’s a really good indicator off what he is. And I know that press conference was a really difficult press conference for him. You could see the emotion. That’s what motivated me,” Bielema says.
The note motivated Long to move Bielema to a shorter list. He called Bielema after the Badgers’ victory against Nebraska in the Big Ten title game. Two days later, they met in New York. A couple of days after that, Bielema was being introduced to the Hog call in Fayetteville.
It’s never that simple, of course. Long chased other candidates, including Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy. But it’s just possible that what seemed an odd move could work out pretty well.
Bielema is a former Iowa defensive lineman, and he talks, acts and coaches like one. A disciple of a smash- mouth game he calls “Normal American Football,” he hopes to mine Arkansas’ traditional recruiting area of northeast Texas and to expand into his former environs in the Midwest. What does he hope foes take away from games? Bruises.
“I want to bring a style to Arkansas where you feel us play on Saturday and then Sunday — and then still on Monday and Tuesday,” he says. “If your offensive and defensive lines are speaking and people are listening, you’ve got a very good chance of success.”
“I want to bring a style to Arkansas where you feel us play on Saturday and then Sunday — and then still on Monday and Tuesday.” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema
BIELEMA’S BELIEVERS
Whether it will work in the rugged SEC West is anyone’s guess. As Arkansas opened Saturday with a 34- 14 win against Louisiana- Lafayette, expectations are low, except perhaps inside the program. In his first team meeting, Bielema told the Hogs he didn’t have a rebuilding plan but expected to win right away. He expected “a wounded dog” but instead says he found “a stray dog. Everybody’s looking for their next meal. They’re very hungry.” Whether that will be enough might depend on developing depth.
“We have a chip on our shoulder,” senior fullback Kiero Small says. “When nobody gives you a chance and you haven’t even played a game? We believe in this program.”
Adds senior center Travis Swanson, “I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
Likewise, Bielema didn’t need long to win over Arkansas fans, who were as surprised as anyone by his hiring. It’s not unusual for new coaches, but as he crisscrossed the state for fish fries and Razorback Club meetings, he spoke bluntly and passionately about winning in the SEC. For hungry Hogs fans who, like the players, had been scarred by the events of the last 17 months, it was red meat.
“He’s a guy that you believe in from the start,” Long says, drawing a contrast without mentioning Petrino. “That’s what great programs have, stability in their head coach. We have a better chance to do what we’re setting out to do, and that’s win a national championship, when we have a coach who’s stable and committed.
“We feel like we have that with ‘ Coach B.’ ”
It’s a tiny detail, but Bielema doesn’t ride a motorcycle. At Wisconsin, he had a Corvette. In Fayetteville, he drives a Jeep — “And he wears a seat belt,” Long says. But just for fun, Bielema has taken the doors off of the vehicle. And he blasts country music or reggae on his early- morning commute. He has grown used to exchanging greetings and making small talk with fans who recognize the new coach along the way. He has only one standing request:
“Dude,” he keeps telling them, “I’ll talk with you at the light — not when we’re going 35.”
It seems like exactly the right call. No one wants another crash.