GatewayRedbirds.com

Here's the question. Will Wisconsin improve from Bielema? It seems like there is quite a bit of room to improve?

I guess it depends on what's available. Although I'd bet they'll just hire whoever Grampa Barry tells them to hire. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing.

pioneer98 wrote:

slide_into_first wrote:That's why I'm happy today.

It's going to be very hard for anyone going into Wisconsin to top what Bielema accomplished. I don't know. I'm fairly young, but I'm old enough to recall how Wisconsin football barely even existed before Barry Alvarez.

You're talking about 20+ years ago. They've been a very solid, occasionally top 10 program for two decades now. Or put another way, they've been a perennial top 25 team for every bit as long as recruits and their older brothers have been alive.

When I started college wisconsin had not won a game in three years. Alvarez brought them to respectability plus three rose bowl wins and several other fine years. Bielema has had his triumphs and some big disapointments. They may not get someone as good, everything is a risk, but they are in a division with a perennial power and need to commit to competing for league championships every year. Bielema's win percentage was probably better than Alvarez's but Barry won three rose bowls, Brett lost two- I don't think they could have played any better against Oregon but they stopped running against TCU when that was working. Point being, Bielema's game has some flaws, I'm not afraid to try to take it up a notch with a new coach.

http://m.host.madison.com/ct/news/local ... f887a.html

".......
I lack an insider’s perspective into the offices at 1440 Monroe St., but as a 30-year season ticket holder, I probably have company in the view that Bielema should be thanked for his performance, yet consider news of his exit to be welcome.
Consider this contrast: Former coach and current Athletic Director Barry Alvarez not only resurrected an awful program two decades ago, but he routinely seemed to make excellent adjustments during games and excelled, when given time to prepare, at winning the biggest games, as he did in three Rose Bowls.
Not so Bielema.
His in-game decisions often seemed to perplex many fans I know. It is not just the fact that he lost the last two Rose Bowl games, but that he seemed to be outcoached each time.
To wit:
In the Rose Bowl against TCU two years ago, the Badgers reached about the 30-yard-line with a half minute left in the first half and, instead of taking a shot to get it deeper or even score a touchdown, Bielema inexplicably let the clock run down and UW missed a long field goal attempt.
Then, late in the game, down by 8 points, he seemed in no rush to get his offense down the field. UW eventually scored, but consumed most of the clock. When the 2-point conversion failed, they were left to try a futile onside kick.
Last season, there was the sense among some fans that the Badgers underperformed with a once-in-a-lifetime talent at quarterback in Russell Wilson. UW lost two Big Ten games on late-game Hail Mary passes (Michigan State and Ohio State), possibly costing Wisconsin a shot at a national title.
Later, in the rematch against Michigan State in the Big Ten title game at Indianapolis, the Badgers could have sealed the victory with a late first down. Instead of trusting Wilson, now an emerging NFL star, to roll out and either run or pass, the Badgers tried a slow-developing sweep, came up short, and were forced to punt.
UW was saved from heartbreaking defeat when a punt return to nearly the goal line was called back because a Michigan State player ran into the punter.
And then there are the three losses in overtime this season.
If you think about it, the Alvarez knack for winning the close ones has been pretty much the opposite under Bielema.
That said, Bielema has a gaudy win-loss record, appears to have been able to recruit decent talent and, as they say, “coach them up” in excellent fashion (think NFL star and former Badger J.J. Watt).
And getting to three consecutive Rose Bowls is hard to argue with.
But still.
I am not sure how many fans agree with this analysis, but I know I am not alone."

http://m.host.madison.com/sports/colleg ... f887a.html

"Most of the immediate speculation went to former UW offensive coordinator Paul Chryst, who is finishing up his first season as the head coach at Pittsburgh. Alvarez did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
All of this came together in less than 24 hours, according to multiple sources. One source said a couple people close to Bielema knew about the contact from Arkansas on Monday night.
It's unclear what the driving forces were behind Bielema's decision to leave, although money likely played a role. Multiple sources speculated Bielema could make more than $4 million a year from Arkansas, which is desperate to repair the damage done from the last couple hires.
Bielema's contract made him more than $2.6 million annually at UW.
Arkansas fired Bobby Petrino in April for misconduct. He made $3.56 million annually as part of a seven-year contract signed in 2010, according to reports.
John L. Smith was hired to succeed Petrino and the Razorbacks, who had won a combined 21 games the previous two years, finished with a 4-8 record in 2012.
A UW source quoted an influential Arkansas booster as saying, "We're going to steal your head coach, the sky's the limit and we're going to do everything he wants for facilities  This place is going to spend more money than anyone ever dreamed of."'

Good luck with this Auburn.

http://deadspin.com/5868492/heres-the-b ... socialflow

So odd that some Wisconsin fans are glad he's one. I will never get it. 68 wins in 7 seasons. Not bad.

Also, the new coach sure as [expletive] better not be Paul Chryst.

Wisconsin to Arkansas is at best a lateral move. Was Wisconsin unwilling to give him a raise?

He was making 2.6 mill through 2016 and I've seen two figures at Arkansas, 3.2 and 4 million- it is not clear why he left. If he thought he was unfairly criticized it is not going to disappear in the sec and if he thought he wouldn't be able to compete with ohio st he is now in a division with alabama and lsu.makes no sense. I wonder if Alvarez warned him about losing too many close games and he thought his days were numbered.