[Austroturf]

Yikes, scary memory fail on Bielema. Thanks.

Yes, Bielema departed for Arkansas after the 2012 season.  Wisconsin was famous for underpaying their football coach, so the lure of big bucks (a shade under US$ 3M annually) with the Razorbacks was too much to resist.  Wisconsin's AD (and former football coach at the time), Barry Alvarez, almost made it a point of pride to pay his football coach a sub-market salary.  Bielema was succeeded by Gary Anderson, who lasted two seasons before departing for Oregon State.  

In 2012, Wisconsin finished 3rd in the "Leaders" Division of the Big 10 behind 1st place Ohio State and 2nd place Penn State; but since those two schools were on probation, Wisconsin got the nod to play in the Big 10 title game against Nebraska (1st place in the "Legends" Division), whom they destroyed 70-31 to earn the right to play in the Rose Bowl against the #8 Stanford Cardinal.  Three days after the Big Ten Championship game, Bielema announced his move to Arkansas.

Barry Alvarez decided to pick up the clipboard again and coach his Badgers in their Rose Bowl loss to Stanford (their 3rd in a row after losses to Oregon and TCU in the previous two years).  

Bielema's departure from Wisconsin was acrimonious, and Badger fans treated him as a turncoat.  The Bielemas, most famously Bret's new wife Jen, did their part in stirring the pot.  There was the famous #karma tweet by Jen Bielema following Wisconsin's controversial loss to Arizona State in 2013.  https://www.thesportsbank.net/college-fb...rma-tweet/

Last Saturday, Wisconsin fans got the short end of this feud when Bielema's Illini marched into Madison and squashed the Badgers 34-10.  That may have been simply too much for the current AD (Chris McIntosh), who was hired in July of 2021 when Alvarez finally retired at the age of 74.  McIntosh has been with the Badger athletic department since 2014 and was involved in the hiring of Chryst, so the relationship goes back a long way.

[Austroturf]

Yikes, scary memory fail on Bielema. Thanks.

Yes, Bielema departed for Arkansas after the 2012 season.  Wisconsin was famous for underpaying their football coach, so the lure of big bucks (a shade under US$ 3M annually) with the Razorbacks was too much to resist.  Wisconsin's AD (and former football coach at the time), Barry Alvarez, almost made it a point of pride to pay his football coach a sub-market salary.  Bielema was succeeded by Gary Anderson, who lasted two seasons before departing for Oregon State.  

In 2012, Wisconsin finished 3rd in the "Leaders" Division of the Big 10 behind 1st place Ohio State and 2nd place Penn State; but since those two schools were on probation, Wisconsin got the nod to play in the Big 10 title game against Nebraska (1st place in the "Legends" Division), whom they destroyed 70-31 to earn the right to play in the Rose Bowl against the #8 Stanford Cardinal.  Three days after the Big Ten Championship game, Bielema announced his move to Arkansas.

Barry Alvarez decided to pick up the clipboard again and coach his Badgers in their Rose Bowl loss to Stanford (their 3rd in a row after losses to Oregon and TCU in the previous two years).  

Bielema's departure from Wisconsin was acrimonious, and Badger fans treated him as a turncoat.  The Bielemas, most famously Bret's new wife Jen, did their part in stirring the pot.  There was the famous #karma tweet by Jen Bielema following Wisconsin's controversial loss to Arizona State in 2013.  https://www.thesportsbank.net/college-fb...rma-tweet/

Last Saturday, Wisconsin fans got the short end of this feud when Bielema's Illini marched into Madison and squashed the Badgers 34-10.  That may have been simply too much for the current AD (Chris McIntosh), who was hired in July of 2021 when Alvarez finally retired at the age of 74.  McIntosh has been with the Badger athletic department since 2014 and was involved in the hiring of Chryst, so the relationship goes back a long way.