OT: Bret Bielema publicly slams his OL and puts blame squarely on everyone else.
He may be right but if I'm a player, I steer clear of the coach who throws players under the bus to protect himself. Maybe that's just me but the thing is, if he'll do it to one guy, or an entire position group, he'll do it to anyone.
https://www.yahoo.com/now/bret-bielema-shredded-predecessor-lack-092305423.html
October 19th, 2021 at 2:27 PM ^
It's always someone else's fault
October 19th, 2021 at 5:14 PM ^
That's my experience (lol)
October 19th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
I wonder how much he regrets leaving Wisconsin all those years ago.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^
I thought he was pushed out? Or both parties were sick of each other. I didn't think he had a choice to stay.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:16 PM ^
I think he was peeved by low assistant pay and higher than B1G standard admissions policies, on top of him always being an Iowa guy he was just looking to make a move.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:51 PM ^
He was tired of Barry Alvarez wiping his bottom and making his bed.
Turns out that without Alvarez, he didn’t know how to do either.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^
double post
October 19th, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
Don't think he regrets leaving as much as he regrets going to Arkansas. He really didn't calculate how hard it would be to recruit the kinds of big uglies he needed to do what he wanted to do on offense to Arkansas.
I think if Bielema had ended up at, say, Arizona State or some school in the Pac 12 in general, he could have pulled it off.
October 19th, 2021 at 10:37 PM ^
Current coach at Arkansas seem to be doing fine.
October 26th, 2021 at 2:53 PM ^
He's not trying to run a Stanford/Wisconsin offense either. You can't go big and burly playing against teams that recruit the kind of defensive line talent Alabama/Georgia/Auburn/LSU recruit. It's just a recipe for a lot of 2 yard losses and three-and-outs.
In the Big 10 West against the guppies in that division or in the Pac 12 where DL talent stinks? Yeah, you can do some stuff, especially since Harbaugh and Cristobal have proven you can convince top end OL recruits to go west for prettier weather and good academics.
October 19th, 2021 at 10:37 PM ^
Current coach at Arkansas seem to be doing fine.
October 19th, 2021 at 10:37 PM ^
Current coach at Arkansas seem to be doing fine.
October 20th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^
But, how's the current Arkansas coach doing?
October 19th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
Yeah he’s not wrong, but you definitely can’t say that. That’s a quick way to lose the locker room as you’re trying to rebuild a program.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:35 PM ^
The split second a leader, and I dont care if it's in sports, business or politics, takes command everyone under their leadership is "their guy". I dont care if you recruited them or not, hired them or not or if they voted for you or not. EVERYONE is "your guy" and it's your job as their leader to get them to accomplish more than they themselves thought possible before you arrived.
This is a horrible message to send IMO and one that Bert I'm sure will regret saying sooner rather than later.
He's no leader.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:55 PM ^
I keep reading as Bert will regert and I much prefer it that way.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:58 PM ^
I think you perfer it that way.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:02 PM ^
This is surprising as Bert always seems to have his players backs. He certainly had the back of that Badger player who tried to snap Steve Breaston's leg off at the bottom of the pile when he gave him NO punishment.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:25 PM ^
But that's kinda my point WH. Bert doesnt view players he didnt (and apparently wouldnt) recruit as "his players". Hence the comments disparaging the abilities of his current team.
If i was the Illinois AD I'd haul his fat ass into my office and would inform him that ALL players on his roster are "his players" and it's his God Damn job to coach them up and get them to perform at levels beyond their current ability. Not to publicly shame them for being worthless no-talent turds.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:39 PM ^
The Illinois AD is in fact hard at work drafting a strongly worded letter to the Big Ten entreating that those previous three underperforming recruiting classes be replaced with players who performed commensurate with their rankings (no disrespect intended to their current schools, of course) since that was what was agreed to at the time.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:47 PM ^
It's easy to rip Bert. He brings it on himself. Juuuuussssstttt a bit of a dick.
That said, he inherited a team that was bereft of talent and lacking motivation under the previous regime of an over the hill NFL coach (with an epic beard, however). Gotta kick some ass and get through to some players. Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son. And Bert should know.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:56 PM ^
Hey, he got a signature win over Scott Frost and Nebra—sorry, I can’t finish that sentence without laughing.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:03 PM ^
We barely won against Scott Frost and Nebraska.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:54 PM ^
I agree with you completely MGrow but Bielema’s is entirely common place. This way he (thinks) he can get more credit for the turn around and he can recruit by selling immediate playing time. “I’m on record as saying the current guy is no good. Come play for me and I can see you maybe starting day one. Would you like that? Would you like to be the catalyst that changes the direction of the whole program for the next 20 years?”
October 19th, 2021 at 4:11 PM ^
Recruits will spend time with current players. The current players sell the program in concert with the coaches.
October 19th, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
Looking at it through a football specific lense, you don’t have the time to alienate the guys already there and bring your guys in and start building. Even at a place like Illinois, the time frame to start winning is too short. And if you don’t start get results in the first year or two, you’re going to have trouble getting “your guys” to buy in too and recruiting just gets more and more difficult.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:44 PM ^
I regret I have but one upvote to give this post.
October 20th, 2021 at 5:26 AM ^
He's no leader.
True. And yet, isn't it amazing how many people just like this guy end up in leadership positions?
October 19th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
Yikes...that was a pretty brutal public assessment of his players
October 19th, 2021 at 2:31 PM ^
I think I’d rather have a bus drive over me than him.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:31 PM ^
No matter how bad I feel for Bret's players, it pales by comparison to how badly I feel for the woman on the left. FYI, this was Bret during his "skinny years"...
October 19th, 2021 at 2:38 PM ^
The amount of weight he put on is impressive, not in a good way.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^
Probably didn’t happen at Camp Sanderson.......
October 19th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^
So in other words, Bert didn't just throw his players under the bus, Bert is the bus.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:54 PM ^
Bert, you crush your wife during sex. Boom. Roasted.
October 19th, 2021 at 2:55 PM ^
She must like him for his sense of humor and personality.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
“My name’s Bert and I came to…”
October 19th, 2021 at 8:47 PM ^
....Cayman Nebraska also???
October 19th, 2021 at 3:55 PM ^
Amazing what that multi-million dollar salary will get people to forgive.
October 19th, 2021 at 3:27 PM ^
Nobody forced her to marry him.
October 19th, 2021 at 5:08 PM ^
Never, ever forget that Bert also had sex with Erin Andrews.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:32 PM ^
I need to make more money.
A lot more money.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:10 PM ^
Bert's just looking forward to hopping on his wife.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:49 PM ^
....TBH, wouldn't we all....
October 19th, 2021 at 2:32 PM ^
way to be Bert
October 19th, 2021 at 2:33 PM ^
bert is a clown
October 19th, 2021 at 2:39 PM ^
Tom Izzo says hold my beer
October 19th, 2021 at 3:26 PM ^
That is awesome. I wish I could up vote it more than once!!!