Since my Liepold staff post was so valuable.... I'm even more curious about Bielema's staff, of course, but that's a total unknown at the moment, so I'm going turn my focus to something we can actually know right now: recruiting
2017: 24th in the country (27 signees)
2016: 30th in the country (23 signees)
2015: 25th in the country (23 signees)
2014: 29th in the country (25 signees)
2013: 27th in the country (23 signees)
2012: 34th in the country (24 signees)(in case you're wondering, 12 of them committed after Bielema took the job)
That's a little better than Arkansas had been recruiting in previous years (24, 49, 31, 16, 36 in the country). The thing that stands out to me is that he signed an awful lot of guys. I don't know if he cut them or they all got in trouble but they sure didn't stay. Arky has actually done a little better since he left (61st in 2018 after he left, but 18 and 20 more recently).
At Wisconsin:
2006: 40th in the country (24 signees)
2007: 34th in the country (18 signees)
2008: 41st in the country (24 signees)
2009: 43rd in the country (24 signees)
2010: 87th in the country (24 signees)
2011: 40th in the country (20 signees)
2012: 57th in the country (12 signees) (Wisky only kept 10 of Bielema's commitments and only signed two more players after he left. They were completely caught by surprise when he left)
That's about as well as Wisky has done before: (40, 33, 39 and 49) and after (57, 33, 37, 35)
So, There's not a lot to draw from this, I'd say. He certainly knows the recruiting game but he's generally put together classes just a little better than the classes those schools have typically had. And, of course, this year is going to be a transfer free for all, so he might even ignore the high school ranks and bring in as many experienced players as he can, especially if he's switching systems and the new players fit what he wants to do.
And just for comparison, Zook had classes ranked 20th, 23th, 28th and 30th at this best.
2017: 24th in the country (27 signees)
2016: 30th in the country (23 signees)
2015: 25th in the country (23 signees)
2014: 29th in the country (25 signees)
2013: 27th in the country (23 signees)
2012: 34th in the country (24 signees)(in case you're wondering, 12 of them committed after Bielema took the job)
That's a little better than Arkansas had been recruiting in previous years (24, 49, 31, 16, 36 in the country). The thing that stands out to me is that he signed an awful lot of guys. I don't know if he cut them or they all got in trouble but they sure didn't stay. Arky has actually done a little better since he left (61st in 2018 after he left, but 18 and 20 more recently).
At Wisconsin:
2006: 40th in the country (24 signees)
2007: 34th in the country (18 signees)
2008: 41st in the country (24 signees)
2009: 43rd in the country (24 signees)
2010: 87th in the country (24 signees)
2011: 40th in the country (20 signees)
2012: 57th in the country (12 signees) (Wisky only kept 10 of Bielema's commitments and only signed two more players after he left. They were completely caught by surprise when he left)
That's about as well as Wisky has done before: (40, 33, 39 and 49) and after (57, 33, 37, 35)
So, There's not a lot to draw from this, I'd say. He certainly knows the recruiting game but he's generally put together classes just a little better than the classes those schools have typically had. And, of course, this year is going to be a transfer free for all, so he might even ignore the high school ranks and bring in as many experienced players as he can, especially if he's switching systems and the new players fit what he wants to do.
And just for comparison, Zook had classes ranked 20th, 23th, 28th and 30th at this best.
