Arkansas Fires Head Football Coach Bret Bielema

Arkansas has fired head football coach Bret Bielema just after their loss to Missouri this evening.  So, let's take a look at the Razerbacks during Bielema's tenure.  As you will see below, in terms of overall productivity, Arkansas was a top 25 team in two of the five seasons that Bielema was at the helm of the Razorbacks football program, which playing against a "tougher" or harder strength of schedule for each of the five seasons.

Below is a chart of offense, defense and total production of the University of Arkansas football program during Bielema's tenure as head football coach, along with who would be the lowest ranked team during this time period (in purple) and the average team (sky blue).  As you can see below, Arkansas was extremely productive after a difficult start, but the last two seasons have been below average overall.  All rankings in this blog come from my Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.  More details about the program under Bielema are after the chart below, including a link to his employment contract are below.

Bret Bielema [2013 - 2017]

2013
The Razorbacks finished the regular season at 3-9 and bowl ineligible.  Arkansas played against a "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that the Razorbacks SOS was between one and two standard deviations below the "league" average SOS.  The Razorbacks best game again was their victory over #52 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette (34-14) and their worst loss was to #95 ranked Rutgers (24-28).  Arkansas had the #102 ranked team in total production with the #96 ranked offense and the #92 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2014
Arkansas finished the regular season at 6-6 and were bowl eligible, and defeated by #71 ranked Texas (31-7) in their post-season bowl game to finish 7-6 overall.  The Razorbacks played against a "much tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that their SOS was more than two standard deviations below the "league" average SOS.  The Razorbacks best game was their victory over #16 ranked Mississippi (30-0) and their worst loss was again to #65 ranked Texas A&M (28-35).  Arkansas had the #22 ranked team in total production with the #37 ranked offense and the #22 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2015
The Razorbacks finished the regular season at 7-5 and were bowl eligible, and defeated #113 ranked Kansas State (45-23).  Arkansas again played against a "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Razorbacks best game was again their victory over #6 ranked Mississippi (53-52) and their worst loss was to #90 ranked Texas Tech (24-35).  Arkansas had the #17 ranked team in total production with the #12 ranked offense and the #54 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model. This was again a top 25 team in terms of overall production, even though the wins did not materialize.

2016
Arkansas finished the regular season at 7-5 and were bowl eligible and lost to #32 ranked Virginia Tech (24-35).  The Razorbacks again played against a "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Razorbacks best game again was their victory over #23 ranked Louisiana Tech (21-20) and their worst loss was again to #68 ranked Missouri (24-28).  Arkansas had the #85 ranked team in total production with the #48 ranked offense and the #104 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017
Bielema was fired immediately after their last regular season game with the Razorbacks finishing 5-7 overall and being bowl ineligible.  Arkansas for the fifth season played against a  "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Razorbacks best win was against #42 currently ranked Texas A&M by a score of (50-43) and their worst loss was to #34 currently ranked South Carolina by a score of (22-48).  At the time of Bielema's firing, Arkansas had the #96 ranked team in total production, with the #72 ranked offense and the #103 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017 NCAA FBS Head Coach Changes
Minnesota and Tracy Claeys
California and Sonny Dykes
Oklahoma and Bob Stoops
Mississippi (Ole Miss) and Hugh Freeze
UTEP and Sean Kugler
Oregon State and Gary Andersen
Georgia Southern and Tyson Summers
Florida and Jim McElwain
Tennessee and Butch Jones
UCLA and Jim Mora
South Alabama and Joey Jones