Great article on Bielema and his process

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Bret Bielema doesn't want you to feel comfortable. Never mind that Arkansas' coach favors sandals in the office and reggae flowing from a Bluetooth speaker -- all day long.

Yeah, Bielema does things differently. He wants you off balance whether you're playing/evaluating/watching his team. His recruiting coordinator not too long ago was selling insurance. His offensive coordinator left a job as a head coach -- and got a pay raise to come to Fayetteville.

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Arkansas' coach employs a staff of analysts who do nothing but scour social media, checking on the character of recruits' one text at a time.

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Amid the post-Bobby Petrino apocalypse, it's suddenly good to be a Hog.

“We're underdogs and we want to knock off the best,” said Arkansas' Jeff Long, recently named national athletic director of the year. “When we do it here, it's even more of an accomplishment.”

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Bielema sells everything kids want to hear. The facilities have been upgraded to SEC standards. He gets players to the NFL. In his nine years as head coach, Bielema has had 34 players drafted. That's the most of any active coach with 10 or fewer years of experience.

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No other coach can sell this fact: Bielema has more former players in the last two Super Bowls than any college coach.

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“That brings me to my overall theme,” Bielema began. “You can't learn to play us in a week. I think we're such a unique animal now … Good luck, brother. You can't get tough in a week.”

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Allen returns as the SEC's most experienced signal caller (24 starts). He should flourish with a former quarterback as his coordinator but need to improve on his accuracy (only 52.4 percent for his career). If Allen steps up his game just a little bit, the Hogs won't be so ground and pound.

“It's kind of like a Georgia Tech-type of thing,” Williams said of his offense's physicality. “You have to get ready for something different in one week.”

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For all that's been written about the offense, let's not forget Bielema ascended at Wisconsin from being a defensive coordinator. This is a guy who will pour over game film to determine whether it means anything whether a lineman has two or three fingers on the ground.

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The staff is high on early enrollee Hjalte Froholdt, a Denmark native who came from the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and fell in love with the Hogs. “No doubt he is going to play and play a lot,” Bielema said.

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“We look for a little intriguing quality that separates him from the normal guy,” Bielema said. “To me, the words undersized, underrecruited, underdeveloped are three great words because they can be changed overnight.”

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Arkansas may have landed a gem in Dallas standout Rawleigh Williams, who ran for 2,814 yards as a senior. “He's a freak show,” Bielema said of the three-star prospect. “He reminds so much of Montee Ball.”

Wideout Dominique Reed, at 6-foot-4, might be the home-run threat the offense desperately needs. On a shelf in Bielema's office is a picture of “The Fro.” That's what massive offensive lineman Jalen Merrick calls himself.

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Bielema was a linebackers coach at Iowa in 2000 when he noticed on film a wild and crazy guy waving a towel on the Kansas State sideline.“I am a super freak, into analytical numbers,” Bielema said. “To me everything is Moneyball. I'm convinced this guy is giving signals to the field based on how many times he flaps the towel.”

Bielema then broke down film for two days trying to figure out what Towel Guy was signaling.

“After two days, I'm convinced this guy is just a moron,” he said.

Fast forward a couple of years: Bielema is at Kansas State. Into Bill Snyder's office walks Towel Guy. At the time, Franks was nothing more than a Wildcats' strength coach and running-around guy.

Towel Guy, it turns out, is just that -- a staff member waving a towel. After much laughing and back-slapping, Bielema and Franks became fast friends on that K-State staff.

The much-traveled Franks -- a former Oklahoma wrestler -- coached Wes Welker in high school. He had stops at Texas State, Southeastern Louisiana, Wisconsin and -- for a time -- sold insurance. Bielema hired him as recruiting coordinator last year.

“E.K. can walk into any room of any social dynamic, of any race, religion, faith or belief and everybody in the room is going to love him,” Bielema noted.

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Bielema left Madison for Fayetteville because he wanted recreate Wisconsin in the SEC. You have to admire a guy who challenges himself at the height of his career. It's hard to imagine what it might look like if he pulls it off: Arkansas will be more physical than Alabama, LSU or anyone else you can name.

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