LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday his team has done what it could to put a horrible 2012 season behind it and is looking forward to kicking off a new season next week.
Bielema spoke to members of the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Wednesday and said it would be his final general appearance until after the season. Regular drills for the Aug. 31 opener in Fayetteville against Louisiana-Lafayette open Sunday.
The Razorbacks had two coaches in 2012.
Bobby Petrino, now at Western Kentucky, was fired after lying to school administrators about the circumstances surrounding a motorcycle accident he suffered April 1, 2012 — including that his mistress was aboard and that he had a hand in her hiring at the athletic department.
John Smith was let go after a 4-8 season that became progressively worse after a 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe early in the season. The next week, Arkansas lost to Alabama 52-0 and Smith told reporters two days later that they needed to "Smile!"
"No one in college football has been through what you've been through, but you've lived through it," Bielema said, recounting what he told his players last winter. "That year may not have been that much fun."
But the coach said that, after coming to Arkansas from Wisconsin, the players haven't complained about doing things differently.
"They're excited to show you what we have built," the coach said.