I don't mind Fat Bastard running his pie hole. He actually hasn't run it much this year, so far. He's just like most of this board--talking big. While Gus is a lot like me. Chilling in the background. Knowing he's all that and then more. Not calling attention to himself, just doing his job.
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/08/arkansas_head_coach_bret_biele_1.html#incart_2boxBehind Hogs' 'momma's boys,' Bielema confident of an upset on Saturday at Auburn
Print
Lars Anderson By Lars Anderson
on August 27, 2014 at 9:40 AM, updated August 27, 2014 at 9:59
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.-- The coach strolled into his office in Fayetteville, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, like he was heading for the beach. In the Arkansas football offices it's causal day every day. On a recent tar-bubbling summer afternoon Bret Bielema--wearing a golf shirt, shorts and loafers with no socks--plopped down on a sofa and spoke about his wonderful life: how he met his traffic-stopping wife, Jen, at a blackjack table in Las Vegas in 2008; how he loves nothing more than hanging out by his backyard pool with his teacup Yorkies, Lucy and Ricky; how he enjoys listening to Bob Marley, whose music poured out of overhead speakers, enhancing the carefree, laid-back vibe.
Then the subject switched to Auburn. Bielema, 44, leaned forward. His eyes narrowed. His pulse quickened. "I love the fact that we play Auburn to start the season," he said. "We're coming off a three-win season, OK. We've needed to focus on something positive all offseason, and this game against Auburn is that. We get a chance to show who we are in their home environment. I love it that we get them first. Love it. There's nothing more enjoyable when you see two different philosophies clash."
Indeed, Auburn's 2014 season opener on Saturday at Jordan-Hare can be distilled into a battle of a new-school offense versus an old-school attack, a hurry-up against huddle-up, basketball on grass facing three-yards and a cloud of dust. The Razorbacks, winless last year in the SEC (0-8) for the first time since 1942, may be a 20-point underdog against the defending SEC champions, but Bielema sure is acting like a coach who genuinely believes he can engineer an upset. Before a recent scrimmage open to the public, the second-year Arkansas head coach told the fans, "If you see someone videotaping, tell them that ain't right. Especially if they're wearing an Auburn shirt, knock the (expletive) out of them!"
Bielema relishes the game of verbal sparring--last year he poked fun at Nick Saban's mediocre Big-10 record (Saban went 23-16-1 in Big-10 play at Michigan State while Bielema was 37-19 at Wisconsin). But Gus Malzahn isn't taking the bait. Auburn beat Arkansas 35-17 last November in Fayetteville. Malzahn expects an improved Razorback team--as well he should--and he points to the fact that Arkansas nearly beat LSU in the Razorbacks' final game of 2013 as evidence of the Arkansas' growth. "It's a team that went into LSU and really should have won that game last year," Malzahn said of Razorbacks' 31-27 loss to the Tigers last Nov. 29. "We know we're going to get their best."
Bielema's loose tongue reinforces the same perception he gives off in person: This is an abundantly confident coach, past record be damned. Here are the statistics that Bielema can point to when discussing Saturday's matchup: last year Auburn's rush defense was ranked 97th in the nation, surrendering 197.58 yards per game; the Razorbacks rushing offense, meanwhile, was 21st best in the country, averaging 208.7 yards.
Bielema believes that you begin building a team with the offensive line. Once the pipeline of talented O-linemen has been laid and is pumping out All-Americans, his theory goes, the skill players will come to you faster than you can find and recruit them. (Case in point: quarterback Russell Wilson, who once seemed destined to sign with Auburn in June 2011, enrolled at Wisconsin shortly after seeing the corn-fed Badger O-linemen lifting the equivalent of small families in the weight room.) And here is the No. 1 reason for optimism in Fayetteville: Sophomore offensive linemen Denver Kirkland and Dan Skipper were named to various freshmen All-American teams last December, as was tight end Hunter Henry. The foundation is being set.
We're not just getting kids off the street. We're getting high quality players. This is the core of how we're building the program.
"We're not to the level we were at Wisconsin yet with our offensive line, but we're getting there," Bielema says. "I go back to the philosophy that the group that can be recruited the fastest and make a difference in your program in the shortest amount of time is offensive linemen. Usually they are the kids that have been kind of ignored, usually a little heavy, usually a momma's boy because no else loved him. Now all the sudden you recruit him and you treat him like a princess. And you put him on a pedestal, which no one has ever done to him. And you build his confidence. That's what we're doing with our guys. And then when you put them together in the same room, they realize they aren't alone, that there are other guys in the world who are just like them. Then they bond and play like hell for each other.
"There is no position on the football field that has been better affected by recruiting since I arrived than our offensive line. We had two freshmen come in and make a big impact last year and I suspect we'll have two more this year, if not three or four. We've got a kid who was a three-year starter at UNLV who transferred in [senior Cameron Jefferson] who knew our history in developing linemen and wanted to be a part of it. We're not just getting kids off the street. We're getting high quality players. This is the core of how we're building the program. I don't care if it doesn't sound sexy. This is what works."
Of all the recruits he signed in February, Bielema is perhaps most proud of landing 6'6'', 290-pound offensive lineman Frank Ragnow from Chanhassen (Mn.) High. Ragnow had 17 offers--including ones from Wisconsin and Florida State--but ultimately chose Arkansas. Why? Bielema's astounding track record of producing NFL players; last year alone there were 17 of his former offensive linemen, tight ends and running backs on NFL rosters.
To have a shot at the upset on Saturday, Arkansas will need to control the ball with long, clock-draining, run-heavy drives. Junior quarterback Brandon Allen, who was positively dreadful last year (he failed to complete half of his passes), will need to play the game of his life and the Hog defense will need to create multiple turnovers. This, in his wildest dreams, is how Bielema sees the game unfolding.
Bielema was raised on an 80-acre hog farm in Illinois. Every morning as a kid he was up at 4:30 bailing hay and tending to the hogs in the pre-dawn darkness. So he knows hard work. He also knows this: He's currently in the throes of the toughest job of his professional life. What the scoreboard reveals late on Saturday, after the fans and players have long since disappeared into the night, may also reveal weather the Bielema Plan is starting to take root in Fayetteville.
4 Replies
1028 Views