Bret Bielema, Paid 320k A Month To Not Coach Arkansas, Prefers Life In The NFL

Jack Mac7/17/2018 1:30 PM

Oh, buddy, Bert is BACK baby!

Bill Belichick took a page out of Nick Saban’s book this offseason and started his own “Failed College Coaches Rehab Center.” His first patient? BERT!

Bill even took Bret with him to the Preakness, a true father-son bonding experience betting the horses:

(3 good looking fellas there)

It seems Bret is enjoying his time at the NFL level:

SOURCE-“The thing I love about football in the NFL is you go to work at 6 a.m. and you leave at 9 [p.m.] and it’s nothing but football,” Bielema told CBS Sports. “It’s just purely football.”

No shock here. Who wouldn’t enjoy getting paid $320,000 a month until 2021 to not coach a team? I know, for sure, I wouldn’t. Doing nothing but coaching football without having to worry about football doesn’t sound too bad, huh?

“It’s a whole different way to coach [in the NFL],” Bielema said. “I understand once they go to that level, coaches don’t ever go back.
“One of the most ‘a-ha’ moments was one of the first drills I did during OTAs,” he added. “I had 11 [defensive] guys go through the drills. ‘Holy cow, these guys are good.’ These are the elite of your elite.”

Well, this problem could’ve been the case at Arkansas, but when you bring in the 9th, 11th, 11th, 9th, and 10th ranked SEC recruiting classes in your five years, you don’t have “the elite of your elite.”

In all seriousness, how Bret feels is not out of the norm. For guys who strictly love football, the NFL is a better place for them. In college, you have to deal with a billion things at once: recruiting, boosters, academics, etc.. There is a lot more football going on in the NFL compared to college. I’m glad Bret has found his place. Hopefully, the end to his NFL journey won’t be similar to his end as a college coach:

P.s. Maybe Bret actually enjoys the NFL a bit better because of the increased time he gets to spend with his wife? I don’t blame him.