Bret Bielema has Arkansas moving in embarrassingly wrong direction
Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema has been given a lot of leeway thus far in his Fayetteville tenure, but an embarrassing loss to South Carolina may quickly change all that.
When Bret Bielema took over as the Arkansas Razorbacks head coach in 2013, he inherited a program which – despite a one year hiccup under unofficial interim coach John L. Smith – was still loaded with a lot of talent and winning prospects.
For Bielema’s part, his resume was stuffed with lots of nice victories and accolades as Wisconsin’s head coach, including three straight Rose Bowl appearances.
The Razorbacks had been built on tough defense and a potent running attack, along with some pretty good passers to keep defenses honest. That’s practically a carbon-copy of the Wisconsin formula, so the match seemed perfect.
We know pronounce you coach and program.
Just five short years later, a divorce seems almost inevitable.
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To say that Bielema has underachieved as the Hogs’ head coach is an understatement. His .481 winning percentage is the worst by any Arkansas head coach with three or more years on the job since Danny Ford (1993-1997) and his .303 conference win percentage is the worst since Otis Douglas (1950-1952).
That is likely not what Arkansas agreed to in their vows with coach Bielema.
Week 6 of the 2017 season may have become a low-water mark for the Razorbacks under Bielema. A 48-22 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in a game where Arkansas was favored by three points may have sealed the deal on Bielema’s fate.
It took two fourth quarter scores for the Razorbacks to even make it that close. Garbage time points don’t save jobs, Bret.
Arkansas can be better than this. They should be better than this. Bobby Petrino (as horrible as it is to admit it) proved they can be better than this. Halfway through year five, when a coach has all his recruited players around him, a 2-3 (0-2 in conference) record isn’t good enough.
In fact, given what we’ve seen from Arkansas over the past four seasons, it’s regression.
Next week, Arkansas travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide. It doesn’t seem likely coach Bielema will be sleeping very well this week. The Tide will throw everything South Carolina did at the Hogs times 100.
After Alabama, the Razorbacks return home to take on No. 12 Auburn (who will probably be a top 10 team after their dismantling of Ole Miss), and then slide into what appears to be the easier part of the schedule. But by then, it may be too late.
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If you can imagine a 2-5 team with an 0-4 conference record traveling to Ole Miss with the same head coach they had during the prior week, you have a better imagination than most. It’s doubtful Bret Bielema has that kind of imagination either.