Good longform profile on Bert and our program's last few years on SB Nation

Inb4LR>NWA

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Inb4LR>NWA

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Damn. So close.

Youse guys

Some snippets I enjoyed:

On his perception in the media:

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Or maybe Bielema's history of attention-grabbing quotes means the media will rarely presume his innocence.

"I'm not afraid of [media]. I'm not scared. Everybody around me asks, 'Are you nervous?' and I say like, 'No, why?' I mean, what is there to get nervous about?"

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Really enjoyed this quote about Long from an anonymous LR booster:

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"You hear the word 'carpetbagger' a lot, which is stupid," one Central Arkansas area booster said. "Broyles had built himself a protective layer of ex-players who wouldn't disagree with him, and Long's had to come in and reevaluate almost everything. Now you've got people using 'carpetbagger' to describe Long when their ticket prices go up because he's finding every way possible to bring in money and sustain the kind of national program people here expect."

"The coaching tree at Arkansas is so crazy when you get into the trickle-down from Broyles and his assistants or guys like Jerry Jones having his way with so many things. Bielema was a way for [Long] to bring his guy in, a guy with no connection to anything other than Jeff. A guy who can ride or die with Long. And when you fire Bobby Petrino, you have to start the 'integrity' chant. And what Bret's doing behind the scenes is impressive to us. He's said some things he probably wish he'd phrased better, but it really is hard to go into the SEC and turn bad issues upside down and fix them. It's easier to say 'f--- it,' bring guys in to win immediately, and then move on."

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I like the guy, but I thought this quote from PA HC Kevin Kelley about power rushing v. spread was pretty dumb:

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"I think if you polled fans and said, 'Hey, you’re not going to win the national championship. Only one team can, and your team is gonna lose at least one ball game. You’re sitting in the stands. Do you want them to lose 14-6 or do you want them to lose 50-42?' I think they’re going to pick the 50-42," Kelley says.

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On linemen riding first class on all away game flights:

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Arkansas' offensive linemen, the unit Bielema prided himself on at Wisconsin, will be in first-class seating for all flights to away games. Under Petrino, linemen were three-wide in the back of the plane.

"We love him for it. I mean, God bless [quarterback] Brandon Allen, but I'm a little bit bigger than he is," 322-pound tackle Brey Cook says.

"My feeling is, they're usually the guys with the most bravado, the most willing to work and willing to buy in without question," Bielema says. "So when they speak, people should listen. And when it comes time to fly, it's a simple reward. Instead of jamming them into a three-seat exit row or anything else, put them up on first class and let them enjoy the benefit of being big."

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On advanced metrics at Wisconsin and recruiting:

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Linemen typify the everyman rhetoric Bielema wants to sell, especially when faced with any kind of talk about recruiting rankings. By outside metrics, Wisconsin was pedestrian on Signing Day, but successful in placing big men in the NFL. When I explain the Football Outsiders stat Adjusted Line Yards, which attempts to qualify rushing yards created by the work of linemen, Bielema perks up -- "Sounds interesting," he says -- especially when he finds out his Wisconsin lines were usually in the top 20 nationally.

"One of the most successful patterns we saw for us was taking undersized linemen, the 250-pound guy that was looking to get to the 320, rather than the 340, 320 that's already made who gets a lot of hype because of the size. With every one of those guys, there was a ranking next to their name, but you couldn't measure their heart or their head. That's what I get excited about. Right now we just keep recruiting more and more guys who think right, act right, and can play right once you get their name."

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On misconceptions about our offensive philosophy:

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Under offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, once a spread coordinator, any fear of Arkansas being a Maryland-I regime is far from founded. Arkansas ran 775 plays from scrimmage last season, favoring 61 percent run to pass. There's an argument to be made that recent history is coloring Bielema's brand of football long before it has a reasonable chance to present its best self. Had Allen remained healthy at quarterback or if Arkansas had been able to hang on in close, late losses to Mississippi State, or even Rutgers ...

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On bravado:

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As conversation wanes Bielema’s eyes drift towards the TV hanging on his wall, where "SportsCenter" is muted. Somewhere on the screen a mention of the New York Jets crawls by.

"Man, I love what he said the other day, talking about the Patriots. What’s his name ..."

Rex Ryan?

"Yeah, Ryan. Rex Ryan. Someone asked him if he was worried about New England this year, and he told them, ‘they better be worried about us.’"

"They better be worried about us. Man, I love that."

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And my favorite quote:

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"You don't have to believe me, but I just don't care. I know what I'm doing, I know that it will bring success, and I know how to go about it. I'm not searching for answers, I know the answers.

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