SI.com story updates on Bielema job prospects

Andy Hodges
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Considering his name didn’t pop up in any of the coaching carousel this time around, you got the idea Bret Bielema either isn’t working too hard to find another gig or just wasn’t that desirable.

Sports Illustrated was obviously wondering the same thing when Andy Staples did a story on what Arkansas’ former coach is up to these days.

As it turns out, he’s not doing a whole lot.

“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.’”

According to the story, Bielema has been offered assistant coaching jobs in the NFL and television analyst positions.

It doesn’t appear he’s that anxious to get back into the college game, though, as the growing social media trend is something he’s not really that fond of.

Bielema said “about a half dozen” NFL teams have reached out to him about coaching at that level next season. He’s thinking about it, too. He realizes he wouldn’t be able to walk into a head coaching job, but he’s intrigued by the idea of coaching the best players without dealing with some of the more annoying aspects of recruiting. “I don’t mind Twitter,” Bielema said. “But when a kid makes a decision based on how many Twitter followers he gets, that’s when I’m about ready to tap out.”

In the article, he does lament that he made mistakes with the Razorbacks, particularly in understanding the depth necessary to compete for championships in the SEC.

He admitted in the story he didn’t do enough homework. It was obvious halfway through his first season to some that he was completely out of his element in Arkansas and the SEC.

After getting a ridiculous new contract from former athletics director Jeff Long after a 7-6 season his second year that featured a ridiculously high buyout, he thought he had more time than he obviously had.

“I just wish I’d had a little bit more time, but the powers that be made that decision,” he said in the story.

He also realized he’d put on a little weight in his time at Arkansas and claims to be working on that, too.

“In the morning, I start off with one grapefruit. I’ve had 14 days of that now,” he said in the story. “I loved grapefruit 14 days ago. I don’t know about that now.”

 

Cosper scores 17, but Kentucky rolls over Razorbacks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEIVLLE — Devin Cosper scored 17 points on Monday night, but Arkansas fell, 76-65, to Kentucky in Southeastern Conference action in Bud Walton Arena.

The game was even in the opening minutes, with Kentucky up one, 13-12, at the 5:08 mark of the first frame.

The Wildcats moved into a zone defense and finished the first quarter on 6-2 run. They extended the margin with a double-digit scoring run in the second quarter to lead by 17 at the half.

The Razorbacks (11-11, 2-7 SEC) struggled with several long scoring lapses and never seemed to get in sync offensively. The Wildcats (11-11, 3-5 SEC) shot better than 50% for the first half opening a big lead that Arkansas was unable to overcome.

Jailyn Mason and Malica Monk also scored in double figures. Mason had 13 points and three rebounds while Monk added 11 points and six assists for Arkansas

The Razorbacks made four more 3-point field goals (9-5) than the Wildcats and the rebounds were nearly even with Kentucky finishing with a 35-33 advantage.

Notes

• Malica Monk scored 11 points, scoring in double figures for the 21st time in 22 games this season.

• Devin Cosper led the team in scoring with 17 points. It is Cosper’s 16th double-digit points game and it is the sixth time she has paced the team this year.

• Jailyn Mason added 13 points, scoring in double figures for the 14th time this year.

• Malica Monk dished out six assists. It is the seventh game of the year she has had five or more assists and it is the 14th game of her career with five or more assists.

Up Next

Arkansas plays four of its final seven games in Bud Walton Arena.

The Razorbacks also host No. 10 Tennessee, No. 11 Missouri, LSU and No. 15 Texas A&M.

Arkansas sprinkles in road trips to Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt before the SEC Tournament.

Spring football practice starts March 1 for Hogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas will start spring practice under new coach Chad Morris on March 1 and will practice at least once after the April 7 Red-White game.

The Razorbacks released practice dates Monday via its football recruiting website. The spring football calendar featured 14 practice dates, leaving one open practice open to reach the allowable 15 workouts during the period.

The Twitter post with the spring schedule featured a line saying that all practices will be open to high school coaches and prospects and extending an invitation to them.

The scheduled practice days are March 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 prior to the UA’s spring break, then on March 26, 28, 29 and April 3 and 5 prior to the Red-White game on April 7 at 1 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

The final practice day is scheduled for April 9, two days after the Red-White game, which is not ordinary, but nobody said you have to hold a spring game on the final day of practice.

Hogs set to have 11 games on national television

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arkansas will make at least 11 national television appearances on an ESPN affiliated network in 2018, the league office announced Monday.

Now in its fourth full year of covering the Southeastern Conference, the SEC Network will feature the Razorbacks for eight of its 11 television games with ESPN2 picking up the remaining three. There will be a potential for more nationally televised games as the season progresses.

Nearly 100 SEC baseball games are slated to air across ESPN networks, including 76 on the SEC Network beginning on March 13, the opening week of conference play.

The schedule finishes the year with the SEC Network airing the entirety of the SEC Baseball Tournament, with the championship game on ESPN2.

The first chance fans will have to watch the Razorbacks on network television will be on Tuesday, March 13, when they face former Southwest Conference rival Texas at Baum Stadium at 7 p.m.

The Razorback-Longhorn matchup will be the first SEC baseball game televised nationally for the 2018 season.

Later that weekend, Arkansas will host the eighth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats for a three-game set starting on Friday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Game one between the Hogs and Wildcats is part of the SEC Network’s four-hour Bases Loaded special.

The show will feature a live compilation of seven games — all 14 teams — taking place that evening across the conference.

Every Bases Loaded game will also be available in its entirety, streaming live via SEC Network+ on Watch ESPN and the ESPN app.

The SEC will continue its Thursday Night Baseball tradition throughout the season on ESPNU and the SEC Network, featuring a preseason Top 25 team nearly every week of the regular season.

After the opening night of conference play, Arkansas will have six more home games televised nationally throughout the season including games against Auburn (April 8), South Carolina (April 12), Texas Tech (April 25), and the entire Texas A&M series (May 11-13).

2018 Arkansas Baseball Television Schedule

Date Time (CT) Game Network
Tues, March 13 7 p.m. Texas at Arkansas SEC Network
Fri, March 16 6:30 p.m. Kentucky at Arkansas SECN+ (Bases Loaded)
Sat, March 24 11 a.m. Arkansas at Florida ESPN2
Sun, March 25 11 a.m. Arkansas at Florida SEC Network
Sun, April 8 4 p.m. Auburn at Arkansas SEC Network
Thurs, April 12 6 p.m. South Carolina at Arkansas SEC Network
Wed, April 25 6 p.m. Texas Tech at Arkansas SEC Network
Sat, May 5 7 p.m. Arkansas at LSU SEC Network
Fri, May 11 6 p.m. Texas A&M at Arkansas SEC Network
Sat, May 12 1 p.m. Texas A&M at Arkansas ESPN2
Sun, May 13 Noon Texas A&M at Arkansas ESPN2

Anderson talks about matchup with Texas A&M

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs coach Mike Anderson met with the media Monday afternoon before the team left for College Station and Tuesday night’s matchup with Texas A&M.

Razorbacks’ rally downs Iowa at ITA Kickoff in Georgia

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ATHENS, Ga. — Down 3-2, Arkansas closed out the final two matches in three sets Monday to rally over Iowa, defeating the Hawkeyes 4-3.

After freshman Alex Reco defeated Iowa’s Jonas Larsen 7-6, 6-1 on court five to tie the match 3-3, everything came down to the sixth spot.

Freshman Jose Alonso found himself down 3-0 early in the first set to Will Davies. Alonso was able to rally over the Hawkeye, winning the first set 7-5, before Davies tied matched him with a 7-5 win of his own in the second set to force the decisive set.

In the third set, Alonso was able to put away Davies 6-4 to clinch the win for the Razorbacks.

Senior Jose Salazar won his second straight singles match of the season, improving his overall record to 4-1 in dual matches this spring. Salazar was able to handle Iowa’s Josh Silverstein 6-1, 6-2 at the top spot.

Arkansas’ other victory came on court four, as freshman Josh Howard-Tripp improved to 3-2 this spring with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over Kareem Allaf.

The Razorbacks fell on courts two and three, as juniors Adam Sanjurjo and Oscar Mesquida each dropped their matches to Piotr Smietana (6-4, 6-4) and Joe Tyler (7-6, 7-6), respectively.

Iowa was able to take the early lead, claiming the doubles points with a 6-1 win on court one and a 6-3 win on court two.

Arkansas 4, Iowa 3

Singles Results – Order of finish (1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6)
1. #113 Jose Salazar (AR) def. Josh Silverstein (IOWA) 6-1, 6-2
2. Piotr Smietana (IOWA) def. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-4, 6-4
3. Joe Tyler (IOWA) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5)
4. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) def. Kareem Allaf (IOWA) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
5. Alex Reco (AR) def. Jonas Larsen (IOWA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
6. J. Alonso (AR) def. Will Davies (IOWA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4

Doubles – Order of Finish (1, 2)
1. Larsen/Allaf (IOWA) def. Sanjurjo/Mesquida (AR) 6-1
2. Davies/Smietana (IOWA) def. Salazar/Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-3
3. Tyler/Jacoby (IOWA) vs. Terrell/Reco (AR) 5-4, uf

Arkansas returns to action this weekend, as the Razorbacks host Wichita State on Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a doubleheader against Saint Louis.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday

Macon becomes first Hog with three SEC honors

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Following two 20-point performances in comeback wins for Arkansas, senior guard Daryl Macon has been named SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career.

Macon becomes the first Razorback in program history to earn the honor three times in a single season and four times in a career.

He averaged 23.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in two wins this week for Arkansas at Georgia and against Oklahoma State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Macon went 14-of-27 (.519) from the floor, 9-of-17 (.529) from deep and a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line.

His two 20-point efforts bring his season total to eight this year, giving him 11 in his career, including each of the last three games, all off the bench.

Down by as many as 16 at Georgia, Macon helped Arkansas force overtime, where the Razorbacks and Bulldogs would need two extra periods to decide the outcome. Macon scored 25 of Arkansas’ last 41 points, including 16-of-17 in the two overtimes.

After going 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the two overtimes at Georgia, Daryl Macon is a perfect 19-of-19 from the free throw line in the final minute and overtime of games this season. In his career, he is 49-of-53 (.925).

He followed that performance with another 20-point effort against Oklahoma State, where he was the lone Razorback to score in double figures, shooting 7-of-13 (.538) from the field, 4-of-7 (.571) from behind the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

This season, Macon is the only player in the SEC to rank in the top 10 in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (2nd – .431), scoring (4th – 16.6 point per game), free throw percentage (5th – .860), assists (8th – 4.0) and field goal percentage (9th – .457).

Record night against Georgia pushes Hogs to No. 8 ranking

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Following Arkansas’ record night last Friday against Georgia, the Razorbacks moved up to No. 8 in this week’s Road To Nationals weekly rankings, its highest ranking since Feb. 1, 2016.

With one of the nation’s youngest rosters, that includes 10 underclassmen, the Razorbacks secured its seventh score over 197 in school history last Friday against the Bulldogs. It’s just the second time in program history, and first since 2012, that Arkansas has posted a 197 in the month of January.

Freshman Sophia Carter secured the nations third best beam score of the season with a 9.975 against the Bulldogs, making her the 10th-ranked gymnasts in the nation in the event.

The Razorbacks upped its average on the beam to 49.256, giving it the fourth-best beam team in the nation for the third-consecutive week.

Four gymnasts hold spots in the top-60 of the individual rankings, including sophomores Jessica Yamzon and Michaela Burton who are tied for 22nd and 27th, respectively.

Vault remained the Razorbacks second-best event, jumping two spots to No. 9 in this week’s rankings with an average of 49.044.

Senior Braie Speed is the highest ranked individual on the event, coming in at No. 22, while junior Sydney McGlone and senior Amanda Wellick come in at No. 50 and No. 56, respectively.

Arkansas made huge strides on bars and on the floor against Georgia, moving them up six spots to No. 13 on bars and up 10 spots to No. 19 on the floor.

On bars, the Razorbacks had their best performance of the season against Georgia with a score of 49.175. Individually, Wellick and Speed lead the way, both placing in the top-60 with Wellick at No. 34 and Speed at No. 54.

The Razorbacks were assisted on the floor by five scores over 9.875 against Georgia, including a 9.950 by Carter and a 9.900 by fellow freshman Sarah Shaffer.

Shaffer is the highest ranked Razorback coming in at No. 74, while Yamzon is the 78th best gymnasts on the floor.

Arkansas has matchups with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Florida, No. 10 Alabama, and No. 13 Denver left this season, along with the Mardi Gras Invitational meet in St. Louis that includes rematches against No. 2 LSU and No. 23 Missouri on Feb. 16, 2018.

The Razorbacks began the year as the preseason 19th-ranked team, and moved up to No. 11 following its week one score of 195.350 at LSU.

It’s the first time the Razorbacks have been in the top 10 in three straight weeks since 2016, and the first time that Arkansas has held a top-10 ranking for three weeks in the first month of the season since 2014.

The Razorbacks travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this Friday for a Top-10 Southeastern Conference showdown against the Crimson Tide.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app.

Was Bielema’s ignoring assistants his downfall?

Andy Hodges
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Several wise (and winning) head football coaches over the years have told me they are only as good as their assistants.

Frank Broyles was the first I heard say it. The fact the annual aware to the top assistant coach in the country is named after him is testament to how much he believed that axiom.

Among the many things former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema didn’t get, that one may have been his ultimate undoing.

Not that you’ll get him to admit it. Bielema hasn’t spoken publicly since his firing the day after Thanksgiving, but his name didn’t surface much in the many coaching vacancies. Nothing was really his fault anyway and they were always close.

Several people have pointed out that the rap on Bielema now is his success at Wisconsin was due more to following Barry Alavarez’ instructions than anything he did.

That, plus, some are saying he doesn’t listen to his assistants.

And in looking back over his five years with the Razorbacks, you have to wonder if there’s some validity to that.

His first staff with the Hogs, combined with more talent than anyone wanted to admit, should have been considerably better than the 3-8 mark they posted (0-8 in SEC games). That team wasn’t going to challenge for any division titles, but it was considerably better than what it finished.

Just look at the staff:

• Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney: He stayed for two years and was shoved out the door by Bielema, then he went to Pittsburgh for a year before landing at Georgia doing the same job for Kirby Smart. They played for the national championship less than a month ago.

• Offensive line coach Sam Pittman: One of the best recruiters in college football, he left following the 2015 season to join Chaney in Athens. In two years he put together an offensive line that played for a national title.

• Defensive coordinator Chris Ash: Stayed one season, then left for Ohio State, where he was co-defensive coordinator on the national championship team in 2014.

• Associate head coach, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge: Lasted one season before jumping off the ship for the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic where he put together the players Lane Kiffin won 10 games with this past season. He wasn’t a head coach, though, winning just nine games over three seasons.

Off that first staff, there is one national championship and a championship game appearance on the staff.

Following that, you got the impression something was up. The guys he was bringing in were good guys that reportedly knew a better way to do some things, but were basically ignored.

The latest is Dan Enos, who was Bielema’s offensive coordinator. Some have said he wanted to do some different things with the offense, but was limited by Bielema, who was simply too stubborn or (more likely) didn’t know enough to change and adapt.

Now Enos is going to be associate head coach and quarterbacks coach at Alabama.

Nick Saban has never been accused of hiring bad assistants. There may be some he disagrees with and they are gone soon, but they are usually winners wherever they go.

Since hindsight is usually 20/20 looking back over these things, we see now Bielema was pretty good in hiring assistants. When he came to Arkansas he said one of the reasons he wanted to leave Wisconsin was to stop the revolving door of good assistants leaving.

Now we know money wasn’t why they were leaving the Badgers.

Or so it seems.

 

Hogs fall to Tigers in Sunday morning marathon match

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ATHENS, Ga. — In a match that lasted four and a half hours, Arkansas fell in an early Sunday morning match to the Memphis Tigers 4-3.

In doubles, Arkansas came from behind to steal the point from Memphis, as the Tigers took an early advantage with a win on court three, 6-4.

Tied 6-6 on both court one and two, Arkansas was able to squeak by the Tigers to take the doubles point with 7-6 wins on both courts.

The duo of Jose Salazar and Josh Howard-Tripp defeated Andrew Watson and Ryan Peniston 7-6 to improve to 3-1 this season in doubles, while Adam Sanjurjo and Oscar Mesquida earned their first victory together this season with a 7-6 win over Kai Lemke and Matt Story.

In singles, the Tigers quickly evened things with a win on court two, as junior Sanjurjo fell to Peniston 6-1, 6-2.

Howard-Tripp would drop his second match of the season, falling to Pallares 6-4, 6-3 to give the Tigers the lead at 2-0.

Arkansas would respond with a win at the top spot, as No. 113 Salazar defeated Watson 6-4, 6-4, to improve to 3-1 in dual matches this season, 9-5 overall.

Mesquida would fall 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Lemke after taking the first set, to give the Tigers the 3-2 lead.

The Razorbacks would pick up a win on court five, as freshman Alex Reco defeated Chris Patzanovsky 6-4, 6-3 to knot the match up at 3-3.

On the decisive court, P. Alonso would fall 6-7 in the first set then drop 6-3 in the second to give the Tigers the victory.

Arkansas will return to the court Monday morning to face the loser of the Georgia/Iowa match at 9 a.m. in the consolation match.

Memphis 4, Arkansas 3

Singles Results – Order of finish (2,4,1,3,5,6)
1. No. 113 Jose Salazar (AR) def. Andrew Watson (MEM) 6-4, 6-1
2. Ryan Peniston (MEM) def. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-1, 6-2
3. Kai Lemke (MEM) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Jan Palleres (MEM) def. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-4, 6-3
5. Alex Reco (AR) def. Chris Patzonovsky (MEM) 6-4, 6-3
6. Felix Rauch (MEM) def. Pedro Alonso (AR) 7-6, 6-3

Doubles Results – Order of finish (3,1,2)
1. Adam Sanjurjo/Oscar Mesquida (AR) def. Kai Lemke/Matt Story 7-6
2. Jose Salazar/Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) def. Andrew Watson/Ryan Peniston (MEM) 7-6
3. No. 58 Jan Pallares/Felix Rauch (MEM) def. Branch Terrell/Alex Reco (AR) 6-4

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