Paging Jeff Long … give Bret Bielema and his staff raises. It’s warranted and is the next step in the building process.

The Razorbacks’ second-year head coach has cleaned up a program ran amuck by former coaches Bobby Petrino and John L. Smith, and has backed the off-field success up with late-season, on-field heroics getting his team to a bowl game a year earlier than anticipated.

Your head coach has already expressed he likes continuity on staff. It’s one of the reasons he left Wisconsin and took the Arkansas job.

Continuity comes with money, and being competitive in the ever-climbing arms race.

Entering the 2014 season, Bielema was the sixth-highest paid head coach in the SEC.

A number of coaches have since been given raises. Hugh Freeze joined the $4 million club, while his in-state counterpart Dan Mullen is expected to earn a hefty raise following a 10-win campaign.

Bielema brings in $3.2 million annually, while his staff of nine assistants earned a reported $3 million during the 2013-14 season.

If Long is as smart as he appears, those figures will increase this offseason.

Cleaned up program

From day one, Bielema has exerted his vision for his program. He’s dismissed numerous players, some of whom held key roles on the field. Bielema has gotten players to buy in, and has disciplined those who put self before team.

He announced last week sophomore running back and kick returner Korliss Marshall would not return to the program due to one too many transgressions. Bielema suspended defensive backs Rohan Gaines and Carroll Washington for the Texas Bowl. Washington’s a senior, thus ending his career as a Razorback. Gaines is the quarterback of the secondary, and while he can return next season, Bielema implied that’s not a guarantee.

Junior tailback Jonathan Williams made a celebration gesture after scoring a touchdown in the season finale against Missouri. The Razorbacks’ CEO subsequently sat Williams down and explained that he’s a Hog first.

It’s those types of decisions, not always easy ones, that lay the foundation for long-term success within football programs.

It’s those types of decisions that had been forsaken under previous regimes, and though Arkansas was successful for a short time, the fall down was rapid and messy.

On-field success

Sure, the wins came slowly under Bielema for the first season-and-a-half. However, the Razorbacks made strides during 2014 with results beginning to come to fruition during the final month of the regular season.

There was the 17-0 shutout of then-No. 17 LSU as the Hogs reclaimed the Golden Boot. There was the 30-0 rout of then-No. 8 Ole Miss, capping the first back-to-back shutouts of conference opponents since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992.

As good as those wins were, they validated previous outings of the season.

Arkansas probably impressed opponents in its losses this season more than any other team in the country.

Consider the Hogs lost three games by a combined 14 points. In each of the games, Bielema’s team held leads or was tied in the second half. A frantic fourth-quarter and overtime comeback won it for Texas A&M in Dallas. A botched extra point cost the Hogs against Alabama. A plethora of missed opportunities served as a roadblock against then-No. 1 Mississippi State in Starkville.

In each of those wins, pundits saw improvement in Arkansas. Perhaps belief began to waver as the Razorbacks just couldn’t find ways to win ballgames. Not outside the walls of the program, however.

Bielema kept preaching to his team, and his players continued to buy in, perhaps only due to the leadership of guys such as senior defensive end Trey Flowers.

Then came the wins, and along with it, the validation that its performances in those three losses was a matter of bad luck and not a lack of talent.

Continuity

Bielema had trouble retaining assistant coaches at Wisconsin due to the inability to be competitive in the landscape of assistant pay.

He came to Arkansas seeking more resources with which to pay his assistant coaches, and his wish was granted. The $3 million doled out by Arkansas in 2013 was the most in school history. Still, Bielema was able to retain his entire staff last offseason, and he’s in position to keep everyone again this offseason.

Continuity such as that not only benefits the on-field performance, but impacts recruiting and the culture Bielema is sowing inside the Arkansas football program.

Bielema has been successful in the most important areas, and Long recognizes such.

Let’s just hope he does the right thing and gives him a raise.