Like It Is

Bielema has Hogs pointed in right direction

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema laughs with a group of coaches and reporters before the Razorbacks' spring NCAA college football game, Saturday, April 25, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Spring practice is in the books and now come the dog days of summer when all the football news is a little bit of recruiting and sometimes off-field troubles.

Bret Bielema has had fewer arrests than any coach in recent memory.

If you listen to his players, from the starters to the scrubs, they are all on a personal level with "Coach B."

There are all types of players' coaches. For Arkansas, Kenny Hatfield was one, as was Houston Nutt, to a different degree.

Nick Saban may seem like a surly, self-centered curmudgeon to most of the public, but his players seem to love him.

Les Miles at LSU gets more out of his guys than most.

Georgia's Mark Richt, Auburn's Gus Malzahn and Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze would certainly come under that heading.

Maybe all of them are as interested in the personal lives of the kids as Bielema, but there is no disputing that the Razorback players trust and respect their coach.

So don't expect too many reports out of the cop shop this spring or summer, which are generally the seasons with the most problems because the NCAA limits contact between coaches and athletes.

The number one thing that happens at this time, though, is fans start to speculate about the record for the upcoming season. And while it is way too early for that, there is some reason to believe there will be more improvement for the Hogs on the field and in the win column.

This is not a prediction -- that will come in August -- but across the nation the Razorbacks seem to be garnering more respect, and much of that has to do with the team buying in to Bielema and his system.

A lot of coaches and fans believe that to be successful in the Southeastern Conference, a team needs to be a little unconventional.

That Alabama, LSU, Georgia and, to a degree, South Carolina have etched in stone how to play conventional, smash-mouth football.

To compete with them, you must be different. Former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and Malzahn are the proof of that theory.

That was why there was a hint of skepticism with Bielema's pound-the-ground theory, which should be more evident under new offensive coordinator Dan Enos than under Jim Chaney, who made a lateral move to Pittsburgh, presumably so he will have more play-calling authority.

Yet Bielema, just as he did at Wisconsin, brought in big, strong offensive linemen who had the talent to improve, and he and line coach Sam Pittman have helped them do that. Both are excellent teachers of technique, and for the first time in a long time the Razorbacks switch from run blocking to pass blocking seamlessly.

Remember that Bielema, with the help of Athletic Director Jeff Long, fought off Alabama when Saban tried to hire Pittman.

Arkansas lost Brey Cook from the offensive line. That's it. There have been some tweaks, but this may be the best returning offensive line since Nutt's first year, when he inherited an experienced, talented and tough line.

By NFL prospects, this one could be deemed better.

Add to that veteran running backs and a senior quarterback who has improved every season, and it is easy to see why optimism is running high among the fans right now.

Yes, there are some questions at wide receiver, but the answers appear to be on campus.

Defensively, the Hogs made a huge jump last season and have a chance to improve again.

The players still have offseason conditioning, a group of freshmen will be on campus in a few weeks, and there's some classwork to finish, but mostly the next 10 weeks will be the dog days of summer as far as football is concerned.

Sports on 04/26/2015