FAYETTEVILLE - Add Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema to the growing list of people to receive apologies from Ohio State President Gordon Gee.
Bielema tweeted a copy of an apology sent to him Friday after unflattering remarks Gee made about Bielema at a meeting - including referring to Bielema as “a thug” - became public.
According to Sports Illustrated, which through an open records request obtained an audio recording of Gee’s comments at an Ohio State Athletic Council meeting in December, Gee said it “was a blessing for Wisconsin and they knew it” when Bielema resigned as the Badgers’ coach to take the Arkansas job after the 2012 season.
“Because he was under tremendous pressure,” Gee said, according to Sports Illustrated. “They didn’t like him. Barry Alvarez thought he was a thug. And he left just ahead of the sheriff.”
Alvarez, Wisconsin’s athletic director and Bielema’s predecessor as the Badgers’ coach, issued a statement Friday denying that he said what Gee attributed to him.
“Gordon Gee called me to apologize last week regarding comments he knew would be made public,” Alvarez said in a statement. “I have never said that about Bret, nor had those feelings toward him. I accepted Gordon’s apology and consider the matter closed.”
Bielema was Alvarez’s defensive coordinator at Wisconsin and his hand-picked successor.
Bielema posted on his twitter account an email apology he received from Gee that read:
“Dear Bret,
“I write to apologize for my comments about you, as well as remarks I made that were entirely unfounded and speculative about your relationship with Barry Alvarez and the University of Wisconsin.
“My comments were unfair, inaccurate, and wholly wrongheaded. To be sure, you have a record of accomplishment with student-athletes both on the field and in the classroom.
“I am deeply sorry for my comments and for any and all pain they have caused.
Sincerely,
E. Gordon Gee”
Bielema tweeted: “It’s a start with Mr. Gee. Will take his apology and phone call soon.”
Bielema, who had a 68-27 record in seven seasons as Wisconsin’s coach and led the Badgers to Big Ten championships in his final three years at the school, is among a large group of people to be insulted by Gee during his December meeting.
Gee also said Notre Dame wasn’t allowed to join the Big Ten because its leaders were not good partners. He said its Roman Catholic priests were “holy hell” on days other than Sunday and joked “those damn Catholics” can’t be trusted.
Gee also questioned the academic integrity of Louisville, which is leaving the Big East Conference to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, and insulted the intelligence of SEC schools.
“You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we’re doing,” Gee said when asked by a questioner how to respond to SEC fans who say the Big Ten can’t count because it now has 14 members.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said Gee called to apologize for the comments about a week ago, saying they might become public. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany also called Slive to apologize. Both apologies were accepted, Slive said.
Gee has gotten in trouble before for offhand remarks, including after Ohio State’s football program was under NCAA investigation because some players received cash and tattoos in exchange for memorabilia while Jim Tressel was the Buckeyes’ coach and knowingly covered it up.
Gee was asked in March 2011 whether he had considered firing Tressel. He responded: “No, are you kidding? Let me just be very clear: I’m just hopeful the coach doesn’t dismiss me.”
Tressel resigned three months later, after the Buckeyes had beaten Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl using several players who were suspended for the start of the following season.
In November 2010, Gee boasted that Ohio State’s football schedule didn’t include teams on par with the “Little Sisters of the Poor.” An apologetic Gee later sent a personal check to the real Little Sisters of the Poor in northwest Ohio and followed up with a visit to the nuns months later.
Last year, Gee apologized for comparing the problem of coordinating the school’s many divisions to the Polish army, a remark that a Polish-American group called bigoted and ignorant.
Gee, 69, who was named the country’s best college president in 2010 by Time magazine, also has been president at West Virginia, Colorado, Vanderbilt and Brown. He was Ohio State president in 1990-1997 and returned in 2007.
Gee, who earns about $1.9 million annually, could be fired for any more gaffes. Ohio State trustees told him in a letter that said his mockery of Notre Dame, Roman Catholics and the SEC have embarrassed and divided the university and run the risk of diminishing the effectiveness of its efforts.
Trustees warned Gee that comments or actions he makes detracting from Ohio State’s core values are not productive and are unacceptable, according to a copy of the March 11 letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
“Although none of us expects this to be the case, should future instances take place, they could constitute cause for even more punitive action, including dismissal, and the board will have no choice but to take such action,” the letter said.
Gee apologized in a statement Thursday, again on Twitter on Thursday night and in a campus-wide email sent Friday.
The Associated Press contributed information for this report
Sports, Pages 21 on 06/01/2013