3 reasons Bret Bielema should start eyeing a return to the Big Ten
By John Buhler
1. Rise to up to the level of coaching competition in Big Ten
We’ll call it the Saban Effect. Since Nick Saban came back to the SEC in 2007, the Power 5 conference has cycled through head coaches at an alarming rate. Even excellent coaches like Mark Richt and Les Miles couldn’t survive the entirety of Saban’s tenure at Alabama.
This turnover of coaches has led to weird hire after weird hire. Dan Mullen has been outstanding for Mississippi State and we’ll see what Kirby Smart does at his alma mater at Georgia, but the SEC has quickly become the worst coached conference in the Power 5. The ACC and the Big Ten crush the SEC in this department.
In a weird way, coaching in the SEC has brought out the worst in Bielema. His teams often fall apart late games. At least once a year, the Hogs simply don’t show up. Do you remember last year’s embarrassment against Auburn? Is Bielema coaching down with the competition in the SEC? It seems so.
By getting back into the Big Ten, Bielema will have to up his ante, as the Big Ten coaches are outstanding. This is the Power 5 conference that has James Franklin, Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer humming at traditional power. Paul Chryst has Wisconsin as a top-10 program in the country.
Next: 50 best college football programs of all time
Nobody questions the jobs that Mark Dantonio and Pat Fitzgerald have done at Michigan State and Northwestern, respectively. Even schools like Illinois and Minnesota have made high-profile hires of late in landing Lovie Smith and P.J. Fleck. Getting back into the Big Ten in any capacity will help set the new standard for Bielema. The sloppiness in Fayetteville cannot continue.