Bret Bielema

Bret Bielema
Sport(s) Football
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Arkansas
Conference SEC
Record 25–25
Annual salary $4 million[1]
Biographical details
Born 13 Jan 1970
Prophetstown, Illinois
Alma mater University of Iowa
Playing career
1989–1992 Iowa
1994 Milwaukee Mustangs
Position(s) Nose guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1994–1995 Iowa (GA)
1996–2001 Iowa (LB)
2002–2003 Kansas State (Co-DC)
2004–2005 Wisconsin (DC)
2006–2012 Wisconsin
2013–present Arkansas
Head coaching record
Overall 93–49
Bowls 4–4
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 Big Ten (2010–2012)
1 Big Ten Leaders Division (2011)
Awards
Big Ten Coach of the Year (2006)

Bret Arnold Bielema (/ˈbiːləmɑː/; born January 13, 1970) is an American college football coach. He is head football coach at the University of Arkansas. Bielema served as head football coach at University of Wisconsin–Madison from 2006 to 2012, achieving a 68–24 record.

Playing career

Bielema played college football as a defensive lineman at the University of Iowa under coach Hayden Fry from 1989 to 1992, serving as team captain his senior season. Bielema graduated from Iowa with a bachelor's degree in marketing. He went on to play for the Milwaukee Mustangs, a team in the Arena Football League.

Coaching career

Assistant

Bielema then returned to the University of Iowa, serving as an assistant coach from 1993 to 2001. He then became the co-defensive coordinator for Kansas State University from 2002 to 2003. He took the same position at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2004. Barry Alvarez, in his capacity as Wisconsin's athletic director, selected Bielema to succeed him as head coach when he announced his retirement from coaching in 2005.

Wisconsin

In his first season as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers in 2006, Bielema's team ended the regular season 11–1 (7–1 in Big Ten Conference play). With a 14–0 victory over the San Diego State on September 16, 2006, Bielema became the third Wisconsin head coach to win the first three games of his career.[2] Later, with a 24–3 win over Purdue on October 21, Bielema tied the record for most wins by a first-year coach at UW with seven. The other two coaches to complete this feat were Philip King in 1896 and William Juneau in 1912.[3] A 30–24 victory over the Fighting Illini on October 28, Bielema became the first coach in Wisconsin history to win eight games in his first season.[4] He then extended the record with his ninth victory on November 4, defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions, 13–3.[5] With a 24–21 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 11, Bielema became the first head coach in Big Ten history to win ten games in his first season.[6] With the 35–3 defeat of the University at Buffalo on November 18, 2006, Bielema became the first coach in UW history to win 11 games in the regular season.[7] After a 17–14 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Capital One Bowl on January 1, 2007, he became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his rookie season, finishing 12–1.

Bielema coached Wisconsin to victories in 17 of his first 18 games. That represents the third-best start to a head coaching career in Big Ten history. Michigan's Fielding H. Yost, who went 55–0–1 from 1901 to 1905, and Ohio State's Urban Meyer, who won 24 straight games to begin his Big Ten career had better starts.

On October 16, 2010, Bielema's Badgers defeated #1-ranked Ohio State, 31–18, in Madison. It was Wisconsin's first victory over a #1-ranked team since 1981 when the Badgers upset Michigan. The victory against the Buckeyes would be his only one as he was 1-5 against Ohio State.

Bielema was named a finalist for the 2010 Bear Bryant Award which is given to college football's Coach of the Year. The other finalists are Chris Ault of Nevada, Gene Chizik of Auburn, Mark Dantonio of Michigan State, Jim Harbaugh of Stanford, Chip Kelly of Oregon, Gary Patterson of TCU, Bobby Petrino of Arkansas and Mike Sherman of Texas A&M.[8]

Arkansas

On December 4, 2012, it was announced that Bielema was leaving Wisconsin to become the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.[9][10] He left partly to play in the Southeastern Conference and partly because he felt that his assistant coaches weren't being paid enough.[11] Bielema replaced John L. Smith, who had coached Arkansas to a 4-8 record during the 2012 season after Bobby Petrino had been fired eight months earlier.[12]

Bielema's first season at Arkansas resulted in an overall record of 3-9, including 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference. It was the Razorbacks' worst SEC mark since entering the league in 1992 and their first winless in-conference season since 1942, when they were a member of the Southwest Conference.[13]

On December 17, 2013, Bielema's defensive line coach, Charlie Partridge, was hired by Florida Atlantic as its new head football coach.[14]

On January 14, 2014, Bielema's defensive coordinator, Chris Ash, was hired by the Ohio State Buckeyes as its new co-defensive coordinator.[15]

Bielema's second season saw him improve on his first season, as Arkansas finished 7-6. Bielema won his first two SEC games in dominating fashion in November, beating #17 LSU 17-0 and #8 Ole Miss 30-0 to achieve bowl eligibility, though Arkansas lost its remaining conference game against Missouri, making the Razorbacks the first unranked team in college football history to shut out two consecutive ranked opponents.

Bielema led Arkansas to a Texas Bowl victory in the postseason, defeating Texas handily, 31-7.

In Bielema's third season, the Razorbacks got off to a slow start, losing to Toledo and Texas Tech in the non-conference and started 2-4 before catching fire in the second half of the season, going 5-1 over the final six games. Bielema ended the year by defeating one of his former mentors, Bill Snyder, in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, as Arkansas dispatched Kansas State, 45-23, to finish the season with a record of 8-5.

Bielema is the highest paid state employee in Arkansas with a salary reported at $4,100,000.[16] He is represented by Neil Cornrich.[17]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (2006–2012)
2006 Wisconsin 12–1 7–1 T–2nd W Capital One 5 7
2007 Wisconsin 9–4 5–3 4th L Outback 21 24
2008 Wisconsin 7–6 3–5 T–6th L Champs Sports
2009 Wisconsin 10–3 5–3 T–4th W Champs Sports 16 16
2010 Wisconsin 11–2 7–1 T–1st L Rose† 8 7
2011 Wisconsin 11–3 6–2 1st (Leaders) L Rose† 11 10
2012 Wisconsin 8–5 4–4 3rd (Leaders)* Rose† 23‡
Wisconsin: 68–24 37–19 ‡Did not coach bowl game.
Arkansas Razorbacks (Southeastern Conference) (2013–present)
2013 Arkansas 3–9 0–8 7th (Western)
2014 Arkansas 7–6 2–6 7th (Western) W Texas
2015 Arkansas 8–5 5–3 T–3rd (Western) W Liberty
2016 Arkansas 7–5 3–5 T–5th (Western)
Arkansas: 25–25 10–22
Total: 93–49
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl.
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll.
°Rankings from final AP Poll.

*Ohio State was the Big Ten Leaders Division champion, but third place Wisconsin represented the division in the Big Ten Championship Game due to the fact that Ohio State and second place Penn State were both ineligible from post-season play by the NCAA.
‡Bielema left for Arkansas before the bowl game and the ranking reflects the team's ranking at the time of Bielema's departure.

Personal life

Bielema announced on April 1, 2011 that he was engaged to his girlfriend, Jen Hielsberg. They were married March 11, 2012 in Madison.[18][19]

Arkansas sports radio personality Bo Mattingly debuted a series featuring Bielema entitled 'Being Bret Bielema' on February 25, 2016.[20]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/arkansas-gives-bret-bielema-raise-extension-through-2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070313001612/http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=9148. Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010058/http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=9455. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010518/http://uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportid=111&storyid=9525. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20061214042311/http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/fb/headlines/story.html?sportID=111&storyID=9606. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved November 6, 2006. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "BIG TEN NOTEBOOK; Bielema quietly has superb first year". Minneapolis Star-Tribune  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . November 17, 2006. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  7. ↑ UW Earns First-Ever 11-Win Regular Season
  8. ↑ Archived December 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Bret Bielema, head coach of Wisconsin Badgers, accepts position to coach Arkansas Razorbacks - source - ESPN
  10. ↑ University To Introduce New Coach Bielema Wednesday | 5NEWSOnline.com — Ft. Smith, Fayetteville, Bentonville News & Weather from KFSM and KXNW Television
  11. ↑ http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/182275441.html
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  13. ↑ http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=333330099
  14. ↑ http://college-football.si.com/2013/12/17/fau-hires-charlie-partridge/
  15. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  16. ↑ "College and university employee salaries". Arkansas Online. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  17. ↑ Steve Eder (2014-09-01). "On Sidelines, Researchers See C.E.O.s". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  18. ↑ Mulhern, Tom (April 1, 2011). "UW football: Bielema announces engagement". Host.madison.com. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  19. ↑ "For Bielema family, toughness a trait passed from mother to son". UWBadgers.com. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  20. ↑ http://www.beingbretbielema.com/

External links

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