Arkansas coaching search ends with Bret Bielema

Late Wednesday evening, newly-minted Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema -- already prone to engaging in interesting conversation on Twitter -- tweeted out a picture of his dog in the family’s new kitchen:

I’m going to ignore for a second Bielema’s “spoiled” dog, which is clearly his wife’s. No man who grew up on a hog farm and played defensive end for Hayden Fry would have a nine-pound dog with its own bathrobe, and I’m not going to join the chorus of people questioning his choice of canine companion.

Two.

That’s the number of recruits on any given top 200 list hailing from the state of Arkansas in the 2013 recruiting cycle. It’s the lowest number of stud recruits of any state in the SEC. Nearby Kentucky has three, and Tennessee has seven. And it’s a number that underscores just how tough of a job Arkansas really is.

That quote’s from this message board, and hey it’s a message board. Who knows whether he actually said that? But it feels real, and that’s all that matters. If he hasn’t already, Barry Switzer should be commenting on Bret Bielema’s 27 year-old wife. Right? ROLL TIDE.

(HT: @DanWetzel)

Arkansas snatching Bielema away from the Badgers was a surprising development in the Razorbacks search for a new coach to replace the departed Bobby Petrino, who hired his mistress to work in the athletic department and was subsequently fired.

Bielema left Wisconsin with a 68-24 career record and takes over a program that finished last season ranked in the top five in the country, only to stumble out of the gate this year and finish a disappointing 4-8.

Welcome.

You’re home.

Arkansas has now hired Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to coach their football team. That is as weird as it sounds in every respect: an SEC school grabbing a Big Ten coach with no experience in the conference relatively late in the hiring process just days after his team won a surprising Big Ten championship in an otherwise down year for their program. Prior to today, Bielema had not appeared in rumors surrounding the Arkansas coaching search, and he has no historical ties to the Razorbacks’ football program.

There is plenty of sense to be found here. Bielema has a 68-24 record as a head coach at Wisconsin, shared one Big Ten title in his tenure, and did what great Big Ten coaches traditionally do: lose multiple Rose Bowls. He ran a clean program, did a pretty good job keeping the small pool of talent native to Wisconsin in state, and once coached a team that scored 83 points on Indiana. Historically, he stands behind only Barry Alvarez--his predecessor--in terms of wins in Madison.

“The card said leave in the middle of your third straight Rose Bowl trip,” might be how Bret Bielema explains his move from Wisconsin to Arkansas, if Pat Forde’s report is accurate. Forde also reports the announcement will come Tuesday. (UPDATE: The report was indeed accurate: Arkansas made it official with a release Tuesday evening.)

Update: Bruce Feldman confirms, and Mark Schlabach reports Bielema wants to coach the Rose Bowl.

Update: The denials are beating back the initial reports now, with authoritative names weighing in, including a report that conflicts with another report from the same outlet. At this point, here’s all you really need to know:

Outlets all across Arkansas are reporting Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy is close to becoming Bobby Petrino’s full-time replacement -- even John Daly’s calling for Gundy.

Look through SB Nation’s many excellent college football blogs to find your team’s community.

Les Miles and LSU have agreed on a new contract that will give him a raise and an extension on his deal, keeping him in Baton Rouge and away from Arkansas, the school announced.

Miles was being pursued by Arkansas and was reportedly offered a mega deal. The possibility of leaving Baton Rouge for Arkansas allowed Miles leverage to work on a new deal to extend his contract. How much is he making now?

After an 8-4 regular season, Vanderbilt head football coach James Franklin’s name has been mentioned in association with almost every major job opening in the country, but specifically with each of the three current SEC openings at Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn. How serious a candidate Franklin is for each job might depend solely on Vanderbilt’s next move.

When contacted for comment on Tuesday while recruiting in Memphis, Franklin declined to discuss any matter specific to SEC openings or his future at Vanderbilt. Sources close to the program indicated that while Franklin is in heavy demand at the moment, there have been indications that Franklin and his staff want to stay with the Commodores in 2013.

Earlier, Bruce Feldman weighed in:

Look through SB Nation’s many excellent college football blogs to find your team’s community.

Smith:

Franklin took over as Vanderbilt’s head coach in 2011, after serving as Maryland’s offensive coordinator between 2008 and 2010. Franklin led the Commodores to a 6-6 regular season record in 2011, and a berth in the Liberty Bowl. So far in 2012, Vanderbilt is 7-4, and once again bowl eligible.

Arkansas’ disaster season began in April, when then-head coach Bobby Petrino was involved in a motorcycle accident, which spawned a web of lies and scandal that ultimately cost Petrino his job.

One Arkansas television station says that Jon Gruden has been offered the head coaching job of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Although if their reporting is correct, we’ll never know, as the station says that Gruden is an extreme long shot to accept the position.

Jim Harris of Little Rock CBS affiliate KTHV says that three sources confirmed to him that the university has put out an offer to the Monday Night Football analyst in hopes of finding a replacement for interim coach John L. Smith, who has been in charge at Arkansas since the April firing of Bobby Petrino. There was no indication of the length or terms of the potential deal. This follows up on Jason La Canfora and others reporting interest.

Although he’s been out of coaching since 2008, when he was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaners, Jon Gruden’s name continues to come up whenever college or NFL teams are looking for a new head coach. He’s been with ESPN since 2009, and now rumors surrounding his return to coaching seem to be swirling more than ever, so his current employer has responded.

Gregg Rosenthal reports Gruden is likely keeping his options open as he could still return to the NFL or stay at ESPN.

How can you turn this down, Grudes? And whatcha got, Vols fans? I’d go with Rihanna’s “Grude Boy” if I were you.

ht Chris Bahn

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy declined to comment on the vacant Arkansas job, according to the Tulsa World’s Jimmie Tramel. Gundy said he does “not want to talk about speculative reports or other jobs.”

Arkansas is 4-6 overall this season and 2-4 in the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks started the season 1-4 but have won three of their last five games. Arkansas is coming off of a 38-20 loss to No. 8 South Carolina on Saturday.

Patterson did his best to deny the rumor on Monday, saying that he doesn’t “think there’s anything to” the rumors that link him to Arkansas.

Gary Patterson’s piloted the TCU football program from obscurity in the WAC to the national spotlight in the Rose Bowl and back to the power table, with his current depleted roster competing in the thick of the Big 12. But what’s next for him? Continue building the Frogs, or turn that success into a bigger job?

According to one report*, Arkansas hopes it’s the latter. Pete Roussel of CoachingSearch.com reports Patterson is “the leading candidate” for the Razorbacks job, which will come open as soon as the season ends and John L. Smith can be whisked away to some sort of old coach’s ranch out west. However, Jeremy Fowler reports there’s been no contact at this point.

Long says Smith is still a candidate at this point, but also wants to consider others who exhibit “honesty and integrity on and off the field.” Smith is currently filing for a $40.7 million personal bankruptcy over failed land deals.

The AD made it clear he’s looking for someone who won’t be intimidated by the SEC and who believes he can build a perennial national contender.

Arkansas native Charlie Strong was already expected to be on athletic director Jeff Long’s short list during Round 2 of the great Replacing Bobby Petrino saga, having entered 2012 two-for-two in winning seasons after the Cardinals suffered three years in a different kind of post-Petrino lurch.

And with Louisville ranked No. 19 and knocking on the door of 6-0 (and Arkansas crossing John L. Smith’s name off its list nearly a month ago), chatter will intensify, as chatter does. He’s already consistently one of the highest-handicapped potential hires, and the former Florida DC’s frequently alleged desire to return to the SEC as a head coach makes for an easy story line.

Related: Why I’m Giving John L. Smith A “Pass”

Athletic director Jeff Long, to the Arkansas News Bureau:

That same list of potential hires we’d been working with? Let’s continue with that for the time being. Names like Gus Malzahn and Charlie Strong become much, much more feasible with a longer timetable.