Inside the Numbers: Bret Bielema
Advertisement
Bielema went 68-24 in seven seasons at Wisconsin.
In seven seasons as Wisconsin's head coach, Bielema compiled a .739 winning
percentage, significantly higher than his three-year winning percentage at
Arkansas, which has been bolstered by the recent run of success for the
Razorbacks over the last six games. Bielema also got off to a better start in
Madison than he did in Fayetteville, compiling 28 wins against 11 losses over
his first three seasons as Wisconsin's head coach.
Bielema came into a program at Arkansas that had gone 4-8 the year previous
under John L. Smith, but the Hogs' 2010 and 2011 seasons saw them compile 10-3
and 11-2 records, respectively, under Bobby Petrino. Comparing the two
programs from strictly a numbers standpoint, Bielema inherited a Wisconsin team
that had a .684 winning percentage in the three years prior to his start, and an
Arkansas team that had a .658 winning percentage in the three years prior.
3 |
| ||
Paul Chryst has the Badgers 8-2 and ranked No. 21 in the AP Top 25. | |||
Right off the top we should note that one of those three was former head coach and current Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, who stepped in to coach bowl games after both the 2012 and 2014 seasons. Alvarez went 1-1 in those contests. Gary Andersen was tabbed to take over permanent head coaching duties following Bielema's departure in Dec. 2012, and Paul Chryst succeeded him when Andersen left to take the Oregon State job last winter. Wisconsin has not missed a beat since Bielema left, compiling a .737 winning percentage over the last three seasons, almost identical to the .739 win percentage Bielema posted during his tenure in Madison. In his first season as head coach, Chryst has led the Badgers to an 8-2 record and a second place standing in the Big Ten's West division, with upcoming games against Northwestern and Minnesota to round out their 2015 regular season. | |||
27 |
| ||||
New senior highlights of Rivals250 Arkansas commit Briston Guidry From 2013-15, Bielema's classes at Arkansas ranked 27th, 29th and 25th in the Rivals.com team recruiting rankings. Even though he did not start the 2013 class, Bielema steered it to National Signing Day and over half of the Razorbacks' signees in that class committed after he took over the program on Dec. 4, 2012, including three of their four four-star prospects. Arkansas' 2016 class is currently ranked 40th in the country, which if it were to hold up would be Bielema's lowest-ranked class during his tenure in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks, however, only have 15 commits and an average star rating of 3.0, better than 10 teams ranked above them, so there is definitely opportunity to move higher before National Signing Day. By comparison, the classes signed by Bielema's predecessors in the five years before he took over the program had an average class ranking of 31.8. | |||||
42.3 |
| ||
Wisconsin's 2017 class is off to a nice start thanks to Kayden Lyles. | |||
This number is higher than Bielema's recruiting class average of 49 over the seven seasons he signed prospects at Wisconsin. In the immediate aftermath of his departure from Madison, Wisconsin limped to the 57th-ranked class in 2013. They rebounded with the No. 33-ranked class in 2014 and the No. 37th-ranked class last February, however, despite the turnover at the head coaching position. That 2014 class that came in 33rd nationally is the best Wisconsin has signed in the Rivals.com era, but they are on pace to break that record in 2016. The Badgers currently have the nation's No. 24-ranked recruiting class with 21 commits, three of whom are rated four-stars. They are also out early in the 2017 class, with a commitment from four-star offensive guard Kayden Lyles, the No. 86 ranked player in that class. Wisconsin may have been surprised by Bielema's departure three years ago, but they have fared well in the win column and recruiting in his absence. | |||
| Josh Helmholdt Midwest Recruiting Analyst |
Click Here to view this Link.
