Arkansas coach Bret Bielema admits he hates Auburn
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema has always been a guy who speaks his mind, and on Friday night, he expressed his disdain toward another SEC program: Auburn.
According to the Arkansas News Bureau, Bielema was speaking at a fan event in Springdale, Ark., and was going through the Razorbacks’ schedule “to the audience of fans and donors” when he jabbed at Auburn.
From the News Bureau:
The third-year Razorbacks coach was going game-by-game, blow-by-blow through the schedule to the audience of fans and donors. The players had already left, a night free from football constraints. Bielema said Arkansas wasn’t the program he wanted it to be until it beat Alabama, mentioned the bye week that followed this year’s game against the Crimson Tide and how the Hogs beat LSU coming off last year’s bye, then it came.
“Probably doesn’t need to be said in here how much I hate Auburn,” Bielema said.
And in classic Bielema fashion, the comment was made slyly.
Bielema didn’t say with hostility. He also didn’t say it as a complete joke. It felt more like a nod to the old days, two years ago. The Arkansas coach is hardly afraid of speaking his mind. He knew the media were gathered Friday night. Television cameras lined the back of the room directly across from where he spoke at the podium. The day-to-day print folks gathered at a table nearby.
The words were calculated. They were moderately tongue-in-cheek, but definitely purposeful.
This isn’t the first time Bielema has ruffled some feathers at Auburn during his tenure in Fayetteville.
Bielema and Tigers coach Gus Malzahn had a nice back-and-forth through the media about up-tempo offenses back in 2013. Later that year, Bielema voiced his issues with the game film provided by Malzahn and the Tigers.
The two had reportedly patched things up since then, but it appears Bielema couldn’t resist on Friday, especially now that the Razorbacks are on the rise in the SEC.
It certainly makes Auburn’s Oct. 24 trip to Arkansas that much more intriguing.
For more Arkansas news, HawgSports.com.
For more Auburn news, visit AuburnSports.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
