Bielema To Arkansas, Malzahn To Auburn
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (CBSMiami) – The coaching carousel spun at breakneck speed Tuesday in college football as the nation's most powerful conference welcomed in two new head coaches.
The University of Arkansas tapped current Wisconsin University head coach Bret Bielema as the team's new head coach starting next season. The story was first reported by Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde.
Bielema has been at Wisconsin since 2004 and been to three straight Rose Bowl's. He was the hand selected successor to Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, who went on to become Wisconsin's athletic director.
Overall, Bielema has a 68-24 record as head coach of the Badgers, including four seasons with at least 10 victories. But, Bielema, who famously complained about Urban Meyer's recruiting tactics is about to have to deal with an entire conference of aggressive recruiters, especially in Alabama and LSU.
Within minutes of the news breaking that Bielema was heading to Arkansas, word broke that Auburn University had selected Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn as the Tigers' next head coach. Malzahn replaces the recently fired Gene Chizik, who won a national championship two years ago.
Malzahn has widely been credited with having one of the more dynamic offenses in college football. He was the coordinator of Auburn's national championship team and returns to a team that was uninspired and awful this year.
Malzahn spent one season as the head coach at Arkansas State and finished with a 9-3 record. He led the Red Wolves to a conference championship in 2012 as well.
The two schools in the state of Alabama couldn't be more polar opposite at this point. Alabama is headed by Nick Saban, who is about running the football, strong defense, and controlling the clock. Auburn will now have a spread offense looking to put up points in bunches.
The SEC still has one school looking for a head coach, the University of Tennessee. The Volunteers haven't made a move yet or tipped their hand at who they are looking at as a replacement for Derek Dooley.
