FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema expressed no preference for a bowl destination but made it clear how the Razorbacks can benefit from more practices during a teleconference with the media Wednesday.
Bielema, who is out of town during a live recruiting period this week along with his assistant coaches, said this bowl season, the first under the new College Football Playoff system, is a "brand-new world" for everybody.
"I don't think they're asking any football coaches their opinions," Bielema said. "They're just kind of slotting people. I think obviously a lot depends on what happens this weekend with the championship game and where teams go.
"I learned this saying a long time ago: There's no bad bowls. Everybody has an opportunity to get better. It's an opportunity for us to play one more game together and get a lot of practice time in."
Arkansas has a chance to make the "Pool of 6" tier of SEC bowls, which includes the Liberty Bowl and the Texas Bowl, but could also be chosen to play in the Birmingham Bowl or the Independence Bowl.
Ponying up
Bret Bielema said some of his assistant coaches will be in line to receive raises, multi-year agreements and other perks in an effort to keep them on staff. Bielema said he approached Athletic Director Jeff Long with a couple of weeks left in the season to discuss upping the packages to keep certain coaches.
"They've given me some great support and ... made some adjustments to coaches and what they're going to be receiving here at Arkansas," Bielema said. "I think proactive is so much better than reactive. That's the part that excites me a lot here."
Bielema did not mention coaches by name, but the defensive staff, starting with coordinator Robb Smith, has been lauded after putting up consecutive shutouts in victories over ranked opponents LSU and Ole Miss.
Injury update
Quarterback Brandon Allen and defensive end Deatrich Wise should be ready to start practicing with the team when bowl preparations start Sunday, Coach Bret Bielema said.
"I actually saw B.A. the day after the [Missouri] game and he felt pretty good," Bielema said. "He'll be good to go. I think [tight end] AJ [Derby] has a very good chance of joining us at some point during bowl preparations.
"Deatrich Wise is back with us full go when we start on Sunday."
Wise had a knee injury that slowed him early in the season, then after a strong performance against LSU, the sophomore suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of the last two games.
Derby, who received an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game this week, has undergone an arthroscopic procedure to clean up his left knee and could be available in a couple of weeks.
"But with AJ and his future too, I'm not going to push that thing at all," Bielema said. "We'll definitely take our time with it."
Williams' gesture
Bret Bielema said Jonathan Williams' decision to give a "hands up, don't shoot" gesture after scoring a touchdown at Missouri was an individual move that didn't take into consideration the best interest of the team.
Bielema said neither he nor his coaches had any knowledge Williams was planning to make the gesture, and that he spoke to Williams about it Saturday.
"I think the big thing with our program, we're not looking for individuals, we're looking for team members," Bielema said. "I know Jonathan has a lot of history with Missouri, obviously, being committed there, flipping his decision to come here. ... But when you're on the football field and you do anything more than celebrate with your teammates, it's never a good thing. So we'll take this opportunity to learn and move forward."
Bielema said he thought Williams felt remorse about making the gesture and that he asked the junior to refrain from commenting on it for awhile.
Headed out
Bret Bielema said he's working with lineman Grady Ollison, cornerback Will Hines and running back Korliss Marshall to help them find a school to transfer to and that none of the three will participate in bowl practices with the Razorbacks.
Hines fell behind on the depth chart at cornerback during camp and Bielema asked him to take a redshirt year. Ollison lost a starting job on the offensive line during preseason camp, moved to the defensive front and played sparingly. Marshall served two different suspensions during the year for off-the-field issues and would be looking at a longer suspension if he elected to remain with the team.
Coming up
The Razorbacks will undergo three sessions of conditioning work this week while the coaches are all on the road recruiting before practices resume Sunday.
"Right now, the first three practices for Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week will be all Arkansas, Arkansas, Arkansas," Bret Bielema said. "We might do a little bit of introduction on Tuesday and Thursday, depending on how much work my staff can get on our opponent, but for Sunday, for sure we're just Arkansas."
Invites
Offensive linemen Brey Cook and Cameron Jefferson, cornerback Tevin Mitchel and receiver Demetrius Wilson have received invitations to play in the Medal of Honor Bowl, which will be played on the campus of The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 10.
Sports on 12/04/2014