Cold Receptions, Heated Seats: Bret Bielema

 

Bret Bielema is third on a list on a site dedicated to the “hot seat watch.” He falls after UCLA’s Jim Mora and before Tennessee’s Butch Jones. The hottest seat in all of college football is in Nebraska.

Of Bret Bielema the site says… “It’s going to be interesting to see how the program views [the Alabama] game. If they do soon decide to make the move to go in a [new] direction, it won’t be because of this one game and rather a cumulative total of his entire tenure.

“The only question is when do they get to that point? Up next is a home game against Auburn and that could be the one. After LSU managed to come back and get them on the road, Bielema might get his chance at home to see if he can pull out a win as well.

“Arkansas was always going to lose to Alabama, so it’s hard to see them making the move now. If the school was willing to keep him around to get blown out by the Crimson Tide, it makes sense he’ll be able to coach [against Auburn] at home.

“If he drops that one, then it’s anyone guess, and his time could certainly be up.

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For the second time this year, Bret Bielema faces a coach (Kevin Sumlin was the first) who is also said to be “on the hot seat” – Gus Malzahn.

“In the SEC West, there are few coaches on the hot seat. After his performance last week and the last three years, coach Guz Malzahn’s seat has now gotten a tad hot.

“Since his 2013 National Championship appearance, Malzahn has been very average. There is also a trend to all of seasons from 2014-2016 and it might be in effect this year.

“In 2014, he started 5-1 and was ranked No. 2 in the nation in the AP Week 7 rankings. He finished the season on a 3-4 skid. In the final AP ranking, the Auburn Tigers were No. 19.

“In 2015, the Tigers started 4-2 and were not ranked. The Tigers final record was 7-6. They finished the season unranked.

“Last season, they started 4-2 again. In the AP Poll Week 7 rankings, Auburn was 23rd in the nation. The Tigers ended the season with a 8-5 record, but lost three of the last four games. The one win was against Alabama A&M. They ended the season ranked No. 24.

“This season is following the same format. Start out 5-1 and then lose game seven.

“For most of his tenure at Auburn, Malzahn has gotten the hopes up of the fans and then let them down right around Week 7. To put this in perceptive, from 2014-2016, Kevin Sumlin has more wins and more SEC wins than Malzahn.

“So if you think a coach like Sumlin should be on the hot seat, Malzahn’s seat is heating up as well.”

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Clay Travis weighs in:

“Given the revelation that Arkansas might only owe Bret Bielema $5.9 million instead of $15.4 million — the contract seems drafted in an odd way with conflicting provisions — it seems likely Bielema is on his last leg at Arkansas.
 
“But it would be just like Bielema to beat Auburn this weekend and throw the entire SEC West into a messy clusterfuck of angry fan bases. Lacking that, I think Bielema gets fired sometime in early November.”
 

How much longer does Bret Bielema keep his job as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks?

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