At the time, it felt and it looked right.

Bret Bielema’s departure to the SEC was stunning, but it seemed like a match made in heaven. His larger-than-life personality made perfect sense in the conference known for its brash, confident personalities. By all accounts, Bielema looked and felt like the ideal SEC transplant after he spent his playing and coaching career in the Midwest.

It even sounded just right when Bielema would sign off with a “Woo Pig.” I swear he added a slight Southern drawl to try and shed his Midwest roots.

The Hogs’ new coach fit the bill. He was going to come into Fayetteville and establish a tradition of power football and stout defenses, much like the teams he had at Wisconsin. It seemed like a matter of “when” not “if” he would turn around a 4-win program.

Five years after he migrated south, Bielema will leave the program exactly the way he found it. The Arkansas coach was fired immediately after capping a 4-win season with a loss to Missouri. Bielema’s SEC record finished at 11-29, which was a far cry from what was expected of him upon arrival.

Bielema was supposed to lead Arkansas to SEC Championships. Instead, he lead the Hogs to 1 finish better than 5th place in the SEC West. His 5 years were not filled with as many viral moments after big-time Arkansas victories as they could’ve been.

In the end, Bielema wasn’t quite as built for the nation’s toughest division as we thought he was.

 

Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Bielema didn’t totally deviate from the ground-and-pound brand of football that made him one of the nation’s top coaches at Wisconsin. Arkansas did produce 5 1,000-yard backs during Bielema’s tenure. In fact, 2017 marked the first of Bielema’s Arkansas teams that failed to produce a 1,000-yard rusher.

Part of that was bad luck. Losing Rawleigh Williams III to an injury-related retirement from football hurt.

It still didn’t cover up the fact that contrary to Bielema’s run of All-American offensive linemen at Wisconsin (he had 8 in 7 seasons in Madison), he couldn’t consistently find those guys at Arkansas. Was that his lack of recruiting roots in the region? Perhaps. That wasn’t a legitimate excuse in Year 5, especially after his team struggled so much just to protect the quarterback in his final 2 seasons.

Through all of those well-documented offensive line issues, his defenses never quite had “SEC speed,” which was reflected in the scoreboard. Bielema’s defenses finished better than 13th in the SEC in scoring (in conference play) once in 5 seasons.

Some Wisconsin fans would tell you it was separation from Barry Alvarez that cost Bielema his identity. Away from the Wisconsin athletic director for the first time as a head coach, Bielema did have a bit of an identity crisis. Arkansas won games in spite of its offensive line, not because of it. Did Bielema’s relationship with Jeff Long cost the Hogs wins? There’s no proof of that.

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Now, the question for Bielema is obvious. What’s next? He’s still a 47-year-old guy with 12 years of head coaching experience, 7 of which were seasons of 8-plus wins. That doesn’t sound like a guy who’s content to go the broadcast route for the rest of his career. He said Friday night he wants to coach again.

One has to think that Bielema’s days in the South are all but over. Maybe he gets interest as an SEC defensive coordinator, but the ideal fit for him is back in the Midwest, and preferably as a head coach.

Speculation will continue to build about Bielema as a fit at Nebraska, especially as Florida ramps up its pursuit of Scott Frost. Would the Huskers try and become Wisconsin 2.0 by getting the guy who helped build the Badgers into what they are today? They certainly could, though Frost is still going to be priority No. 1.

It’ll be interesting to see if there’s a program that makes Bielema its priority No. 1. There aren’t exactly any foreseeable openings at Iowa or Wisconsin, where Bielema got his start in the coaching business.

Maybe Bielema’s next step is off the radar. Arkansas certainly was off everyone’s radar. When he made the move, it seemed surprising that a guy coming off three straight Rose Bowl berths would sign up for what was perceived as a lateral move at best. Bielema had the personality and the brand of football that was supposed to turn Arkansas into a contender.

Instead, Arkansas and Wisconsin basically continued on their respective paths.

Bielema is going to get another crack to get this thing right. He isn’t Brady Hoke or Jim McElwain. He also isn’t Nick Saban (obviously), who transitioned from the B1G to LSU in somewhat seamless fashion.

After five roller-coaster years in Fayetteville, Bielema will get a chance to reinvent himself at a new home and likely in a new conference.

But man, am I going to miss hearing Bielema’s “Woo Pig.”