FAYETTEVILLE -Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema exuded good cheer Friday during his first news conference since spring football practices began earlier this week, expressing enthusiasm about what transpired on the field and that his excitement about taking over as head coach has “probably multiplied by 1,000” since he took the job in December.
“It’s just all been awesome,” he said, describing the support he’s received at Razorback Club functions and from the Arkansas administration and from meeting random fans at various places. “The only thing that’s made me mad, I got a parking ticket the other day. My left front tire was over a white line, which I really don’t understand.
“I’ll just pay it willingly, but I will file a claim.”
Bielema kept his comments about three days of spring practices general, saying he “couldn’t be more excited” after three practices.
“We did a little bit of good on those first two days, but[Thursday] was the first day in big-boy pads,” Bielema said. “We were in full pads, head to toe. Kids got excited, our coaches got excited, everything kind of got amplified by quite a bit. Got a little bit sloppy in the details, but the effort, the enthusiasm, the intensity was unwavering.”
The big-boy references speak to Bielema’s beliefs about the type of team he wants.
“I don’t think you can tap someone on the head to make them go play physical,” he said. “You have to teach them on a daily basis what that means. As coaches, we even just discussed … we went through a high-intensity, full-padded practice for over two hours and as a result of that some of our players started to break down and wear down.
“We have to push them through that barrier, but at the same time, as coaches, we can’t put our head in the sand and act like we’re not oblivious to what’s going on around us. We have to gradually build this into where we want it to be.
“I told our guys this the other day, I’m not going to necessarily say we’re the most talented football team on the field every game next year, but I’ll guarantee you this: Our effort and our coaching technique will try to prepare you to be the most physical team on the field every day in the fall. That’s not talent driven,that’s want-to driven. I think our players are beginning to understand that.”
Bielema said quarterbacks Brandon Allen and Brandon Mitchell have been “a little bit ahead of the curve” and that transfer A.J. Derby “has shown some things that he’s definitely a guy that can manage a game.”
Bielema said the complete installation of schemes would not take place in the 15 spring workouts and that the pace of installation had slowed during the three days of practice.
“We backed off our install a little bit, just to get our guys a little comfortable in what they’re doing,” he said. “As a head coach, my philosophy is that we will be really, really good at fewer things, as opposed to being mediocre at a lot of things. … At quarterback, that has to be the overriding philosophy.”
As for the defense, Bielema said he didn’t believe the Razorbacks are deficient in any area but that they want to be deeper.
“Do we want more or want better? Absolutely,” Bielema said. “But that’s our job as coaches, to make them better, and as recruiters, to recruit better.”
Bielema said only tight end Austin Tate, who had off season shoulder surgery, and running back Kody Walker, who is recovering from a broken leg, have been limited in the first week of spring.
The Razorbacks have an off week for spring practices next week, then resume with their fourth workout of spring March 26.
Sports, Pages 19 on 03/16/2013