Bret Bielema recounts how he found out he was going to be a father

NWA Democrat-Gazette/CARIN SCHOPPMEYER Razorback football head coach Bret and Jen Bielema stand for a photo at the Razorback football kickoff luncheon Aug. 19 at the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center in Springdale.

— Bret Bielema didn’t know what to expect when he came home on a Thursday night during the season to find his wife, Jen, with a GoPro and wanting to show off a new piece of art she’d purchased.

The art, part of a home renovation, didn’t necessarily impress him.

“You’ve got to act like you love it,” Bielema said. “It looked like a big piece of concrete. I know I could’ve done it for half the cost. But I’m like, ‘Well, that’s great’ and act excited.”

But the art quickly took a backseat to what he saw he when he turned around.

“She had balloons and a little saying we always say in our house,” Bielema said.

The saying was Papa. That’s how Bielema found out he and Jen were expecting their first child.

“It was a pretty cool night,” Bielema said. “You don’t get those very often. Obviously I’d never had one in my life, so it was pretty cool.”

Jen announced the pregnancy with a tweet Friday. Bielema said Monday the due date is in July.

“It was actually the SEC media day date was the exact date, so we’ll navigate that,” Bielema said.