Okay, I know there are a lot of Arkansas fans out there who will refuse to believe Bret Bielema would be wanted by a DII school, much less another Power 5 team.
But they would, apparently, be incorrect. At least based on rumblings as the coaching carousel continues to pick up speed going in circles.
While Bielema still has a job, even Jen probably doesn’t expect him to keep it for much more than a week or so.
Now his name is being linked to coaching searches at two Big 10 schools. Naturally, both of those schools still have coaches, but if you wait until you get rid of your current coach before you start looking then you might as well wait until the next season.
Nebraska’s Mike Riley is expected to be cut loose shortly after Bielema at Arkansas and Lovie Smith at Illinois, with just two wins, is likely to gone, too.
Bielema’s name has been mentioned in both cases.
In 2014, Bielema was approached about the Nebraska job before Riley was hired. He still had Jeff Long running interference for him here at Akansas and getting a raise for going 6-6 (okay, 7-6 with a bowl win over a terrible Texas team). The timing wasn’t good for the Huskers.
Now it couldn’t be a better time.
As we’ve said many times over the previous three months, fit is THE most important aspect in picking a coach.
Bielema was never a good fit at Arkansas and I didn’t care what the so-called experts said when he was hired in 2012 and I was ultimately proven correct.
Nebraska made a similar bad hire choosing Riley. That was never going to work. In fact, it would have worked out better at both Arkansas and Nebraska if they’d just switched coaches right then.
Bielema is a Big 10 guy. His slow-motion style of football works better in that league. Riley is an SEC guy that has had success on the Left Coast and had some okay years in the NFL and at Oregon State, but is a former SEC player (he won four SEC titles and a national championship playing for Bear Bryant in the early 1970’s).
If Nick Saban hadn’t backed out of going to Tuscaloosa, Riley very likely could have been the coach.
That isn’t to suggest he’s a candidate at Arkansas, but simply points out how looking at the fit is more important than what the record is to a certain extent.
What Nebraska fans want to do is run the football. They think all this spread offense stuff is some sort of new-fangled invention that should be ignored. Sort of the way Bob Devaney and Tom Osbourne felt about the Wishbone in its heyday.
Now the Huskers are probably going to fire Riley and the same fate awaits Bielema at Arkansas.
The Huskers’ first choice is Scott Frost, but it appears he’s going to be the top candidate at Florida and Tennessee. The guess here is whichever one Chip Kelly chooses, Frost gets the other one.
That leaves Nebraska looking and apparently they’re thinking the same thing I am. Even Adam Rittenberg at ESPN mentioned last week Bielema’s name being mentioned already.
Other places have mentioned Bielema’s name being thrown around when Smith is asked to leave Illinois after going 5-18 over two years and 2-15 in the Big 10.
Bielema is a native of Illinois. It’s home for him.
And a fan base that doesn’t expect much. Let’s face it, when’s the last time Illinois really mattered in the Big 10, much less nationally?
For Arkansas, though, it does help them on at least one front to hope he lands one of them.
It mitigates — and would likely eliminate — the buyout he’s due from Arkansas when he’s fired.
Which is also going to happen with Long, who is likely to be mentioned in any athletic director openings.
