Arnie Bielema said he was relaxing in his living room in Prophetstown, Ill. Was there a round of golf earlier in the day?
“No, just running some errands,” he said. “I will be back out there soon, though.”
The phone conversation had been planned since Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, Arnie’s son, mentioned he’d just returned from home where he’d played in a golf foursome.
“Yes, all three boys and myself,” Arnie said. “I’ve been rewarded many times for starting out all of them on the golf course when they were six or seven. We still go. It’s like riding a bike. Once you learn it, it’s with you for life.”
It was a delightful phone conversation, a little over 30 minutes. There was football talk, some on golf and a tease for the next visit.
“I’ll be in Fayetteville in a few weeks and I’m going to tell you about my fly fishing trip as a youngster,” he said. “You’ll have to wait.”
It might be over a round of golf. There are plans for that in September when Arnie and wife Marilyn will spend several weeks in Arkansas.
It’s not hard for Arnie to understand the ties that exist from Arkansas around the college football world.
“Really, you go anywhere and there are ties to another place and they just continue to spread,” he said. “It’s one big circle. You look at Iowa and the tree from Coach Fry around college football. It’s a tight circle, actually, all around the college football world.”
Arnie compares what’s going on now at Arkansas as the program returns to prominence with what happened at Iowa when Fry arrived.
“I was a season ticket holder long before my son went to school there,” he said. “Iowa was one of my clients (as a sporting goods salesman) so I bought two season tickets. I sat though some lean years. Then, when Coach Fry arrived, he built a solid base and you could see it coming.
“I see what Bret is doing now a lot the same way. The fans had endured a lot. They are great fans. I don’t know any better anywhere, the most loyal I’ve seen.”
Bret Bielema is considered an old school coach and maybe his style smacks of that. He’s going to stick with ground and pound. But Arnie knows his son is an innovator. He was always looking for a better way as they raised hogs on the farm.
Bret is no different as a coach. He’s made news of late for a decision to eliminate double days from the August practice schedule. No one knows of another Division I coach trying that approach. Bielema said he’s seen a correlation between fewer double days and better play.
“This is innovation. And, of course, he’s adapted to the Virtual Reality technology,” Arnie said. “It came about because of an old friendship.”
The rise of the defense came about because of an old relationship with Robb Smith, the new defensive coordinator.
“I remember when Bret and Robb were roommates at Iowa,” Arnie said. “It’s been great to see them back together. They are so good together. They do have fun with each other.”
Bret told the story about the golf game on Saturdays growing up on the farm as a reward for hard work during the week. He said, “If we did everything right, we got to play golf with dad and he bought us a pop.”
Arnie said that’s only partly true.
“I took them every Saturday regardless,” he said. “Did they work hard and deserve it? Yes, but I was always going to take them to play golf. Every Saturday.”
And, they walked and carried their bag. Arnie doesn’t believe in the golf cart.
“I think you play your best golf walking,” he said. “You have time to think. It just sets you up to play better.”
Arnie Bielema speaks the truth. I agreed with that and figure my round with him in September will be walking.
Clay Henry is publisher at Hawgs Illustrated, an NWA Democrat-Gazette publication. Email him at chenry@nwadg.com