re: The Bielema Dilemma

Been said 100 times but you still don't get it. Most folks that are observant enough see what is going on around them.

Bielema inherited a hot mess. Period. Worse than he realized. Yes, there were some good players, but not enough and certainly not the kind to fit his philosophy.

So, he starts pretty much from scratch, knowing he had to build up the O and D lines above all else, knowing he had to recruit 'uncommon' (i.e. high character and ability) players. He has gone from having a so so O and D line in his first year to one of the top O lines (if not the top) in the SEC and country. D line is not far behind.

He knew he had to hire some outstanding assistants. With a sputter here and there, he has accomplished that. Sam Pittman and Rob Smith are two of the better assistants in the country. The others are very good as well.

Depth is still not totally where it needs to be, but we are much deeper than we have been in my recent memory.

Although the W-L numbers are the significant ones, Arkansas fans can see the building in progress. Sure, we only won two conference games last year. Two that were weren't supposed to at the end of the year. Then just made Texas look totally overmatched (which they were.)

Who knows what this season brings, but the trend has been nothing but up over the last 3 years. It's not unreasonable to expect a little improvement over last year. That would mean 8 to possibly 10 wins.

One thing for certain, Bielema has a plan, told us his plan, has worked his plan, and we are seeing results of the plan coming to fruition.

Bielema has earned his money thus far.

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LurkingEmbraer

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All that money and he still dresses on game day like he's going to WalMart to pick up some TV dinners and RC Cola.

Bert and Arkansas were made for eachother.

He comes to the sideline to work, not to be a fashion statement on TV.

Bielema is damn good coach.

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He is rewarded by joining the $4 million club along with Nick Saban, Les Miles, Kevin Sumlin, Steve Spurrier, Gus Malzahn, Hugh Freeze and Mark Richt.

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If Kevin Sumlin is making $4mil then $4mil isn't that much.

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Yeah I agree, the man has a plan, and if one comes at it from an unbiased viewpoint, it's a good one. If he keeps building that mammoth OL with the type of players he wants and needs, they will be hell to deal with in the future.

The defense, while good last year, will get better from what I can see. I will admit, I'm not following your recruiting but feel pretty confident Bret knows what he is doing and putting the right pieces in place.

I like his tough, no nonsense, smash the shite out of the opponent type football. I think you guys made the right hire and can see and understand what he is getting paid. As a Mizzou fan, I hope I am wrong and he is an utter failure..lol. However, I think he breeds success and his teams will be a force to be reckoned with.

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Yeah I agree, the man has a plan, and if one comes at it from an unbiased viewpoint, it's a good one. If he keeps building that mammoth OL with the type of players he wants and needs, they will be hell to deal with in the future. The defense, while good last year, will get better from what I can see. I will admit, I'm not following your recruiting but feel pretty confident Bret knows what he is doing and putting the right pieces in place. I like his tough, no nonsense, smash the shite out of the opponent type football. I think you guys made the right hire and can see and understand what he is getting paid. As a Mizzou fan, I hope I am wrong and he is an utter failure..lol. However, I think he breeds success and his teams will be a force to be reckoned with.

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+1

As an outsider, I like what I see from BB & what he's doing at Arky.

Bielema is a good coach and produces very tough teams.

It's laughable that an a&m fan would try to call out another school's coach for being overpaid.

If I was an arky fan, and had to choose between Bret and Petrino (even if he had no character issues, the key) I would pick Bret every day of the week. Petrino ran a high octane offense, but that's the only side of the ball he gave a shite about.

Bret prefers a balanced team on both sides of the ball. Petrino is pass happy like most of college and pro is today, but I'm a firm believer in a powerful, devastating running attack like Bret. He just needs to balance that offense out some so he has the ability to come back in a game if his team needs to.

Is it more like 3rd tier players at best? He sure as hell doesn't have first tier player like the elite programs in the conference . You can tell from his recruiting ranking and the future drafts.