Not sure I saw an apology but he totally changed his message about Hedlund as a kicker.
Well the reality is that Hedlund is a scholarship kicker who has done nothing since he got to campus. Every year he gets beat out by walk ons but he stays on scholarshilp despite producing little. Bielema has supported the kid he has been patient hoping his patience would pay off and it hasn’t. Most other coaches would have "encouraged " Hedlund to transfer and free up a scholarship.
I agree with every thing you’ve said here. I just thought that even in his state of frustration, Bielema could have handled the situation better. Sounded to me as if Bielema was trying to deflect criticism from his and his assistants’ game management and put the whole reason for losing on Hedlund. Which, is absolutely insane. There was the not so little mater of team failures after reaching the 3 and five yard lines, which I don’t recall BB dwelling upon as matters of importance when summing up the game.
What is so mystifying about Hedlund is his high school career compared his performance at Arkansas. I watched him in high school. Argyle HS was the Class 3A Div 2 champion in 2013, his senior year. He had many, many successful kicks, and there was no inconsistency or slumps that I can recall. And, without knowing what his percentage was, he was very successful at putting kickoffs into the end zone. Just not able to understand it. He’s in his fourth
I’m respectful of BB as a person on the boards, haven’t attacked him personally. But was not convinced at the time he was hired that he was the right coach to establish a winning program at Arkansas. His offensive attack requires a stud offensive line, TE and fullback. Something he has never quite established in his time here. He should have at the least a red shirt junior dominated starting line this year. We obviously don’t, but he goes off on the kicker. I’m finished with any kind of hope that he will restore the football program to meaningful success.
I agree with most of what you said. Hedlund was indeed a great HS kicker…Parade All-American, US Army All-American, etc…etc. I think Bielema in his post game press conference was frustrated with Hedlund not trying to blame the loss on him. I honestly think the problem is that Hedlunds issue is between the ears and I think that is the problem with this team in general. Not sure why it is or what the solution but Bielema needs to figure it out. And that is coming from a guy who liked and supported the Bielema hire.
CBB was probably a bit more harsh than he meant to be. Or at least he regrets being as harsh as he was. Like all of us, he’s got to be very frustrated with the kid. He was a great HS kicker, but he’s missed several key FG’s. Still, it’s not like the kid is trying to miss or is refusing to do what it takes to get better. It’s obviously a mental block. Doesn’t mean we should let him kick, but it does mean we shouldn’t act like he’s some low-life jerk who has made it his life’s mission to ruin Razorback football. I feel sorry for the kid. I wouldn’t let him kick a FG that mattered if I could avoid it, but let’s not confuse business failures with moral failures.
I feel for Cole. I don’t think CBB said anything in the post-game presser that Cole wasn’t already thinking himself. He knew he’d let the team down. Everybody wanted to know CBB’s response to the missed field goals (I can’t remember if they specifically asked about the inside the 5-yard-line woes in that press conference, but I know it’s been asked since, so I don’t know if he talked about it in that post-gamer). He gave it to them, maybe more harshly than necessary. I never felt he blamed the loss on the kicker, just that those missed field goals were huge. And they were, because all things being equal, it would have been 14-13 late in the game and a field goal (oh, the irony) could win it.
Cole seems like a good young man. The problem with being the placekicker is any miss causes him to stand out like a sore thumb. You can have a high snap or a bad hold, but the miss goes on your stats. That wasn’t the case with those two field goals but is often the case.
Well the fact is that Hedlund should never have been kicking either one of those field goals in the first place! Didn’t we have 1st-Goal inside the 5 yrd line both times and got nada-nada-nada on three plays both times??? That is where most of the frustration should have been directed!
Your on the money MID, Cole was feeling the pressure just like JRed, AA,DS just to name a few of the guys who really didn’t show up and passed the buck to Cole. There’s no excuse for missing the kicks but there’s plenty of blame to go around in my book. WPS
I agree with both of you. The offense has to punch it in. And they deserve the blame along with the head coach and all the offensive coaches. And, at the same time, CH has to do his job when the offense fails. Plenty of blame for everyone.