# Can anyone explain why Bret Bielema is ditching Wisconsin for Arkansas? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 5, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095 "2012-12-05T18:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/1 "2012-12-05T18:16:52Z")
I’m not complaining. 😃 This is potentially a big hire for my beloved Razorbacks. But check out this quote from just last week. FWIW coaches don’t normally walk away from a talented team that they recruited & coached. This sounds like a really, really good team he’s walking away from. He’s just royally fucked over a talented group of juniors that have worked their butts off for him. Lets be honest. Arkansas sucked this past season. Totally sucked. It’s going to take a couple good recruiting years before this team is very competitive. This is just… strange. A major blow to the Big Ten. [http://www.katv.com/story/20263176/sully-says-bielema-and-malzahn](http://www.katv.com/story/20263176/sully-says-bielema-and-malzahn) > [@](#): > > This is the same coach who, less than a week ago, sounded so excited about next season at Wisconsin. This was Bielema after obliterating Nebraska in the Big 10 title game: > > “I’m really excited to play this game and play in our bowl game. I have 27 juniors. I believe 12 of them are probably going to be (NFL) draft-worthy. I’m very excited about the chemistry of the group that’s going to be coming back next year.” ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/2 "2012-12-05T18:25:07Z")
Because Lou Holtz’s comment about Fayetteville, Akransas not being the end of the world but that you can see it from there" still stands true, I’m thinking that the U of A just lost its mind and threw way too much money at the new coach. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/3 "2012-12-05T19:12:11Z")
Because if you want to play in the national championship game you have to be a great (undefeated with top strength of schedule and beating everyone by 21+ points) team in a BCS conference or a mediocre team in the SEC that gets lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/4 "2012-12-05T19:35:59Z")
If you want to coach the game at the highest level, you have to coach in the SEC. That’s where the toughest competition is. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/5 "2012-12-05T22:28:31Z")
I can remember when the Big 10 was an important conference. But these days the SEC seems to be the one that gets the attention. I don’t watch a lot of college football anymore. Mostly the Razorbacks for nostalgia and a few bowl games. I always watch the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl etc. There’s confusion right now whether Bret Bielema will bother sticking around three more weeks to coach Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. I hope he does. It doesn’t matter that much whether he starts now or after Jan 1 at Arkansas. Bowl games are a reward to the players for a good season. They deserve to have their coach with them at the Rose Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/6 "2012-12-05T22:30:12Z")
I would love to have been there for the interview. Arkansas: One more question, Mr. Bielema. Do you own a motorcycle? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/7 "2012-12-05T23:07:35Z")
I assume Arkansas was willing to pay Bielema much more than he was making at Wisconsin, I think the SEC allows coaches to pay their assistants much more than the Big Ten does, which makes it easier to get the staff you want and keep it, and I expect Arkansas spends more money on its sports facilities. So money, money, and money. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/8 "2012-12-06T00:19:42Z")
Have you ever been in Madison Wisconsin in February? {expecting joke on NW Arkansas coming up} ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/9 "2012-12-06T00:49:11Z")
Wisconsin was paying Bielema $2.5 million a year, and Arkansas will pay him $3.2 million a year, up to $700,000 in annual incentives, AND other incentives. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/10 "2012-12-06T07:58:14Z")
Alvarez is coaching the Rose Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/11 "2012-12-06T08:01:07Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > If you want to coach the game at the highest level, you have to coach in the SEC. That’s where the toughest competition is. Quick! Name the conference rated top by impartial computers! _sad trombone_ Sorry, homer! It’s the Big 12! Your apologias are pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/12 "2012-12-06T14:33:37Z")
The true irony of Coach Bielema’s comments after the BiG championship game can only be understood after learning that he’s been in contact with Arkansas since shortly after they knew they would be having a coaching opening at the end of the season. What a guy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/13 "2012-12-06T14:37:00Z")
This is the break Northwestern’s been waiting for. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/14 "2012-12-06T15:08:13Z")
$$$ ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/15 "2012-12-06T16:18:14Z")
I am guessing it is either fear of Rutgers or he really wants a 25-year-old girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/16 "2012-12-06T16:35:06Z")
He as sexual feelings for his sister? He enjoys eating roadkill? He doesn’t like to be bothered with dental hygiene? He wants to not be laughed at when he grows a mullet? He likes leaving his old rusty cars in the front yard? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/17 "2012-12-06T16:38:48Z")
Well this is a good reason. He lost six assistants last year. He was about to lost three more after this season. Wisconsin apparently couldn’t pay the coaching staff enough. I am curious to see if the current assistants at Ark keep their jobs. Bobby Petrino had built a solid program and most of that staff stayed. Bielema might benefit by using the best ones. But, that’s his choice. He may bring his Wisconsin staff to Arkansas. But, it sounds like three were quitting on him anyhow. > **[Assistant pay a key factor for Bielema](https://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/67356/assistant-pay-a-key-factor-for-bielema)** > > The biggest question regarding Bret Bielema's move from Wisconsin to Arkansas has been a simple one: Why?Why would Bielema leave what looked like a great situation with the Badgers for a mid-tier SEC program? > [@](#): > > “When I began to have more and more success at Wisconsin, I stayed but a lot of my coaches left,” he said. “I just wasn’t able to compensate them in the way other coaches were. I know I’m hiring the right guys, because everybody keeps taking them from me.” > > Bielema lost six assistants last year, and he noted that three of them went from salaries around $225,000 per year to over $400,000 annually. He said that hours after the Badgers won the Big Ten title game last Saturday, three of his assistants told him they’d been contacted by other schools and were offered significant raises. He said he wouldn’t have been able to match those offers. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/18 "2012-12-06T17:53:00Z")
This is a replay of Nick Saban leaving Michigan State for LSU at the end of the regular season and before their bowl game. The B1G actually likes to have a collar on the unruly dog that is the athletic dept., not that it has much effect. In the SEC the athletic dept. tells the university what to do. That’s what the fans and supporters want. Money, status and a free reign, why not go to the SEC? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/19 "2012-12-06T18:11:30Z")
The question that came to my mind instead about this hire was why Arkansas would want him. Yes, he’s been successful at Wisconsin and I’ve enjoyed watching his teams play in some fun and competitive games. But his offenses haven’t seemed overly imaginative and I wonder why Arkansas would appear to have adopted the policy that it must out-Alabama Alabama with power football. Seems that A&M demonstrated that the old guard down there can be flummoxed a little with some creative play design. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095/20 "2012-12-06T19:24:55Z")
Bielema isn’t an offensive coach, but he surely isn’t going to hire an OC who will install a spread offense at Arkansas, if he brings OC Matt Canada along with him, Canada will be less missed in Madison than Bielema. His teams have spunk and outside the awful 2008 season, they’ve rarely ever been completely uncompetitive against anyone. That’s what Arkansas wants. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-explain-why-bret-bielema-is-ditching-wisconsin-for-arkansas/643095.md?page=2)