3 reasons Bret Bielema should start eyeing a return to the Big Ten
By John Buhler
After seeing his Arkansas Razorbacks lose to the Texas A&M Aggies in overtime again, it might be time for Bret Bielema to eye a return to the Big Ten.
With the Arkansas Razorbacks losing the Southwest Classic to the rival Texas A&M Aggies again in overtime, it might be the writing on the wall for head coach Bret Bielema in Fayetteville. The former three-time Big Ten champion head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers just cannot get it done in the ultra-competitive SEC West.
With Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin on the hot seat as well, this rivalry game at AT&T Stadium felt like a loser leaves town matchup in neutral site Arlington. This was the fifth game in a row Bielema failed to beat Texas A&M. It was the third time in four years the Razorbacks came up short in overtime. Arkansas has dropped six straight games to its major SEC West rival.
Bielema might still be a good head coach, but his time in the SEC might be coming to an end here very soon. Arkansas and coincidentally Texas A&M are the only two teams in the SEC West to not have a 10-win season since Bielema’s arrival in 2013. Texas A&M went 11-2 in its first year in the SEC in 2012.
With Bielema falling to a rancid 10-23 in four plus years as Arkansas’ head coach, here are three reasons he should be eying a return to the Big Ten here very soon. When something doesn’t work, it’s obvious.
3. Maybe he’ll find a better situation to rebuild in Big Ten?
Let’s be real. Arkansas was not a winnable situation for Bielema to enter in the first place. He essentially had to replace one of the best coaches in Arkansas history in Bobby Petrino. Yes, John L. Smith kept the seat warm, but Arkansas hired Bielema to win like Petrino did.
Under Petrino, Arkansas was a top-15 team in the country, routinely one of the three best teams in the insanely competitive SEC West with the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers. The problem with taking this job was that Nick Saban was still coaching at an elite level in Tuscaloosa. It only added pressure to Bielema to hasten a rebuild in Arkansas that would take some time.
Had Bielema taken an SEC East gig back in 2013, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. He’d like have led one of those teams to Atlanta for an SEC Championship. Instead, it seems like his SEC tenure is coming to an end.
Though the coaches in the Big Ten are better than in the SEC, Bielema is more likely to find a job in the Big Ten that will allow him to appropriately rebuild. His success at Wisconsin and being a former Iowa Hawkeyes defensive lineman carries a ton of clout in the Midwest, more than what it does in the Southeastern United States.
Bielema might get a phone call should the Nebraska Cornhuskers job open up. However, it might be in his best interest to take a coordinator gig and wait for other Big Ten jobs to open up. Rebuilding at an Indiana or Rutgers won’t be easy, but it won’t be as impossible of a task as what he took on in Arkansas.