Bret Bielema was a head coach at Wisconsin for seven seasons before bolting for Arkansas and the Southeastern Conference. He has spent his time in the Big Ten both as a player and coach at Iowa as well, and even ventured to Kansas State for a year.
After the past 21 years coaching, Bielema talked with ESPN’s ‘Mike & Mike’ Tuesday morning about the SEC compared to other conferences. He first mentioned why the conference dominates every Saturday.
“I think two things,” said Bielema on Mike & Mike. “First, on the field, without a doubt, defensive line play. In the Big Ten, you always had a couple of guys on each team you had to be concerned with. But in the SEC, not only do you have the four guys who start the game, there’s four guys coming in behind them, and a lot of times there’s another four. There’s maybe 8, 10, 12 players who just control the game up front that’s unlike anything else. I was blown away.
“And then off the field, I always kind of say it’s like every other conference I’ve been in – I played at Iowa, coached at Wisconsin. I coached at Kansas State, part of the Big 12. It’s like every other conference, but everyone’s drinking four Red Bulls before 9 a.m. Everybody is just that much more amped up. You know you’ll have a 70-year-old lady in Monticello who is ready to tell you how to tackle. It’s just overwhelming how much passion there is in our league.”
Defensive line play and passion are two of the SEC’s calling cards, without a doubt. Bielema showed he knows what it takes to win in the Big Ten, going 68-24 overall at Wisconsin.
In the SEC, however, the former Big Ten coach of the year has gone 18-20 in his first three seasons with the Razorbacks. Bielema went 3-9 in 2013, and has made his teams better since then, posting a 7-6 record in 2014 before going 8-5 this past season.
Twitter: @KidCuni
