Bret Bielema set to collect nice buyout from Arkansas
Being a fired college football coach can be a lucrative situation, and Bret Bielema is the latest example.
Practically before the clock hit zeroes on a season-ending loss to Missouri on Nov. 25, clinching a dismal 4-8 season, Bret Bielema was fired as head coach at Arkansas. A significant buyout was coming his way since there was a lot of time remaining on his contract, and now the details have finally come out.
On Tuesday, The Razorback Foundation went public with an announcement of an $11.935 million buyout agreement for Bielema, to be paid out in monthly installments through 2020.
Kyle Deckelbaum of KATV in Little Rock tweeted out a copy of the release outlining the details of the agreement. The most notable thing is the $11.9 million being subject to offset, based on any salary Bielema would draw in a new job, so Arkansas is surely hoping Bielema finds another coaching job before too long. He recently told Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated that he has gotten coaching interest from NFL teams and is also considering a role in television.
Just in: Razorback Foundation says Bret Bielema is eligible to be paid $11.935 million pic.twitter.com/NxmcXSTQ1f
— Kyle Deckelbaum (@KyleDeckelbaum) January 30, 2018
Bielema had a 29-34 record with three bowl appearances in five seasons at Arkansas, and he’s 97-58 over 12 total seasons as a head coach. In seven seasons at Wisconsin (2006-2012), he won at least 10 games four times. Each of his final three seasons in Madison yielded a Big Ten title (2010-2012), with a Rose Bowl appearance after each one. Then Arkansas came calling, and the Razorbacks followed with two or fewer SEC wins three times in Bielema’s five seasons (4-12 in conference play in 2016 and 2017 combined).
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Bielema will now be sitting out of coaching for a year unless he somehow lands with an NFL team as an assistant or a college head coaching job comes open remarkably late. A good faith effort to find a new job is being presumed by Arkansas, and it’s been put in writing to possibly prevent the full payout of close to $12 million. But Bielema can be very selective in choosing his next job, and he’ll probably be in some sort of television role on Saturdays next season.