It wasn’t that long ago that Bret Bielema’s hire at Arkansas was viewed by some as a monumental move that displayed how powerful a force the SEC proved to be in the college football landscape.

Just a few years later and Bielema had to work two years just to land a position role in the NFL.

That’s a far fall for the former Arkansas and Wisconsin head coach but no need to feel too bad for Bielema, Arkansas is still paying him handsomely not to coach the Razorbacks — the school is paying him over $300,000 a month through 2020 for a grand total of $11.935 million after releasing him at the end of the 2017 season.

After working a season as a special assistant to Bill Belichick, Bielema announced on Friday that he will be coaching the defensive line for the Patriots in 2019. While it may not be the job he envisioned for himself just a few years ago, he’s making a ton doing it and learning from arguably the greatest football coach in NFL history in the process.