HOOVER, Ala. – There were no more shots at Alabama coach Nick Saban, but new Arkansas coach Bret Bielema fired a few one-liners in his inaugural appearance at the Southeastern Conference Media Days Wednesday afternoon at the Wynfrey Hotel.
“One thing that jumps out about the SEC is the defensive line talent, the speed everywhere, the size, the ability that they bring I think is a little bit more up than the previous league I was in,” said Bielema, who criticized recruiting practices by SEC coaches not much more than a year ago when he was Wisconsin’s coach.
He caught his own duplicity – as did some of those snickering in the audience – and smiled.
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“See, the problem you guys got me in,” he said. “The good things I say about the SEC, everybody else gets pissed and vice versa. I’m in a quandry here. It’s just reality.”
Bielema was referring to a statement he made early in 2012 while still at Wisconsin that was aimed at new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who took the SEC practice of continuing to recruit players who are already committed to other schools. In the Big Ten, there is a gentlemen’s agreement not to do that.
“We at the Big Ten don’t want to be like the SEC — in any way, shape or form,” Bielema famously said in January of 2012 before taking more money to become Arkansas’ coach less than a year later. “There’s a common thread in this league. Every time we walk into a coaches meeting in the offseason, there’s a mutual sign of respect.”
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Perhaps the SEC is not the league of extraordinary gentlemen, but there are things about it that tend to garner respect – things like national championships. The SEC has won seven straight with four schools contributing – Meyer’s Florida, LSU, Auburn and Alabama. On Wednesday, Bielema gushed over the fruits of SEC recruiting harvests – no matter how rudely they may have been gathered.
“As I watch film, on both sides of the football, there are guys that are very gifted in ways that are very unique to them,” he said. “There are players that have unique abilities that make it very difficult to defend certain players in certain situations. A lot of really good players.”
Later, Bielema was asked about the SEC’s preseason sports-apalooza known as Media Days.
“Just this engaging crowd,” he said and poked fun at himself as not all in the audience were listening intently to him, “besides a couple guys sleeping in the front row.”
At Wisconsin, Bielema engaged his fan base with nearly 10 wins a season for seven years, which was better than Saban’s average of under seven wins a year at Michigan State from 1995-99. Bielema told Hog fans at an event last spring that his Big Ten record was better than that of Saban’s. Now, though, he inherits a program that went 4-8 last season and is Arkansas’ third coach in as many years.
“When I took over, the one thing I didn’t do is I didn’t watch a lot of film of our players currently,” he said. “First impressions last a lifetime. I believe that with all my heart.”
Then Bielema practiced the Hogs like dogs.
“Our first spring practice in full pads, we had a middle drill that I think everybody felt like it was Ground-hog Day,” he said. “They never knew when it was going to end.”
Bielema was the second of two first-year coaches to speak Wednesday. The other was Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who has never been a head coach before. He previously was defensive coordinator at Florida State and at Arizona. His brother Bob Stoops, who is Oklahoma’s head coach, recently said the bottom half of the SEC is not so super.
“That’s got to be my first question,” Mark Stoops said. “I don’t think any of us need to defend what’s going on here in the SEC.”
Glenn Guilbeau also writes for the Shreveport Times (LA), a Gannett Property
VIDEO: Bielema at SEC Media Days
SEC newcomer Bret Bielema discusses his problem with hurry-up offenses.
Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2013/07/17/sec-media-days-arkansas-bret-bielema/2537091/