Coaching from the heart

MEMPHIS -- In Bret Bielema's world, it's OK for nose guards to cry.

Coaches, quarterbacks, linebackers, defensive ends -- anybody -- within the orbit of Arkansas' head coach can shed tears without their toughness being called into question.

A highlight reel of Bielema's first three seasons with the Razorbacks would include shots covering the full range of the coach's emotions -- his impromptu twist-and-shout celebration after a key interception return and a penalty at Alabama, his look of devastation after gut-wrenching losses, his glee after a successful two-point conversion call beat Ole Miss, and his unashamed weeping when he has been so moved.

Midwestern-based coaches before him -- such as Iowa's Hayden Fry, Nebraska's Tom Osborne and Bill Snyder, the longtime Kansas State head coach and Bielema's opponent in today's 2:20 p.m. Liberty Bowl game -- made stoic poses part of their personas.

Bielema is the opposite. Whatever he's feeling on the sideline or in pregame festivities or postgame comments, it's written all over his face.

"I think it's cool," receivers coach Michael Smith said. "I think a guy that can wear his emotions on his sleeve is cool. That doesn't bother me at all."

One of the most publicized Bielema clips at Arkansas has been his senior day moment with defensive end Trey Flowers, when both player and coach hugged it out and cried.

"That's just who he is, and we know how much he cares," Arkansas tackle Dan Skipper said.

"It just shows that he's human," tight end Jeremy Sprinkle said. "I don't see anything wrong with it. It shows he's not above any of us."

Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith, who is finishing his second season as an assistant for Bielema, said a more genuine person than Bielema is hard to find.

"He cares about this program, he cares about the people that are around him, and when you're genuine and you care, sometimes you wear your emotions on your sleeve a little bit," Smith said. "Everybody knows where they stand with him."

Running back Kody Walker has seen the full gamut of Bielema emotions, including the elation the coach showed when he told Walker the NCAA had awarded him a sixth year of eligibility.

"You love playing for a guy like that, who cares for his players so much," Walker said.

Bielema said he's learned in life that showing grief was only natural, such as when his sister, Betsy, died after falling off a horse in 1990.

"I had some things happen early in life that were a little difficult," Bielema told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "My sister passed, and that's when I truly learned it's OK to show your emotions.

"It's come up time and time again with people that I care about. It goes the other way, too. I don't mind getting mad when I need to get mad at someone I don't like."

Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos has seen the various sides to Bielema in his first season with the Razorbacks.

"He's a real guy," Enos said. "He's got a big heart. I love to see that from coaches. You know exactly what he's thinking.

"He's demanding, and he's demanding to the players, too, but here's one thing you know about him, you know that he cares about you, and he cares about your family, and he cares about those young men deeply. That's really all you can ask for from a boss."

Snyder, who had Bielema on his Kansas State staff in 2002-2003, said the younger coach's care factor is evident.

"Bret is into what he does," Snyder said. " Anybody that gets heavily invested in what they're doing is going to have some emotion about it. I think that's good in any profession, whatever it is -- businessman or nurses or doctors or coaches, whoever it happens to be -- you get invested in what you're doing because you want to succeed at it. And when you do, there's certainly some emotion that goes along with it."

Bielema has had to swallow hard on occasion this season -- when talking about the team's seniors as a whole, quarterback Brandon Allen, walk-on linebacker Nicholas Thomas-Smith and even Snyder when bowl pairings were announced.

"There's just certain things that strike me," Bielema said. "I know right when they're going to happen, and I try to bite my tongue.

"But I also think, I always tell the kids you've got to care enough to cry. I think there's a lot of times where people don't maybe show truly what they're feeling because they're afraid it will weaken them. But I think our players know where I'm coming from."

And they do.

"Any time you're genuine and you're up front and you're honest, I don't think that's ever a weakness," Robb Smith said.

"He cares about the people he's met, who he's worked with, his team, and I think it just kind of comes out," Allen said.

"We know how much he cares," Skipper said. "He's a man that's willing to put himself out there and invest everything he has in whatever his cause is."

Sports on 01/02/2016